About NLECTC

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) brings technology closer to the frontlines through the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) System. Originally created in 1994 as a program of NIJ’s Office of Science and Technology, the NLECTC System plays a critical role in enabling NIJ to carry out its critical mission to assist state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement, corrections and other criminal justice agencies in addressing their technology needs and challenges.

The NLECTC System provides:

• Scientific and technical support to NIJ’s research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) projects.
• Support for the transfer and adoption of technology into practice by law enforcement and corrections agencies, courts and crime laboratories.
• Assistance in developing and disseminating equipment performance standards and technology guides.
• Assistance in the demonstration, testing and evaluation of criminal justice tools and technologies.
• Technology information and general and specialized technology assistance.
• Assistance in setting NIJ’s research agenda by convening practitioner-based advisory groups to help to identify criminal justice technology needs and gaps.

The NLECTC System recently completed a reorganization that will better enable the system to carry out its critical mission to assist state, major city and county, rural, tribal and border, as well as federal law enforcement, corrections and other criminal justice agencies in addressing their technology needs and challenges. The NLECTC System has realigned its outreach efforts into three new centers serving different demographic regions of the public safety community: the States, Major Cities and Counties Regional Center; the Small, Rural, Tribal and Border Regional Center; and the Alaska Regional Center.

The States, Major Cities and Counties Regional Center offers a resource and outreach mechanism for state, major city and county criminal justice system partners, with a mission of ensuring that larger criminal justice agencies (those having 50 or more sworn personnel) have unbiased access to a full range of relevant scientific and technology-related information. The Small, Rural, Tribal and Border Regional Center publicizes its programs and services to small, rural, tribal and border agencies across the country. The Alaska Regional Center serves as a conduit for agencies in Alaska.

The efforts of these centers complement those of NLECTC-National, which coordinates NIJ’s Compliance Testing program and standards development efforts for a variety of equipment used in the public safety arena, and the Centers of Excellence (CoEs), which support NIJ’s RDT&E efforts in specific portfolio areas. The CoEs focus on the following topic areas: Communications Technologies, Electronic Crime Technology, Forensic Science Technologies, Information and Sensor Systems Technologies, and Weapons and Protective Systems Technologies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Office of Law Enforcement Standards provides scientific and research support to these efforts.

You may contact the NLECTC Centers at:

• NLECTC-National
• States, Major Cities and Counties Regional Center
• Small, Rural, Tribal and Border Regional Center
• Alaska Regional Center
• Communications Technologies Center of Excellence
• Electronic Crime Technology Center of Excellence
• Forensic Science Center of Excellence
• Information and Sensor Systems Center of Excellence
• Weapons and Protective Systems Technologies Center of Excellence
• Office of Law Enforcement Standards

Helping to Ensure Research Priorities Are Based on Practitioner Needs

The NLECTC System supports NIJ’s RDT&E process and goal of setting research priorities based on practitioner needs by sponsoring a series of Technology Working Groups (TWGs) and Constituent Advisory Groups (CAGs), which provide input to the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council (LECTAC). Together, these groups form a bridge between the criminal justice community and the NIJ Office of Science and Technology.

Last updated: July 15, 2010