NIJ's Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Program

• NCJ Number: 249596
• Author(s): Nancy Rodriguez; Hassan Aden; Mark Landahl; Tim Mac Gillis
• Date Published: January 2016
• Length: 1 page
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description; Presentation (Multimedia); Conference Material

Annotation

In this video and accompanying transcript, four panel members, three from law enforcement agencies and one representing the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), describe the features and impact of NIJ's Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) scholarship program.

Abstract

Nancy Rodriquez, NIJ Director, describes the LEADS scholar program as a funding effort that invests in the professional development of mid-level officers who want to pursue their professional careers with a focus on the use of science in law enforcement. Hassan Aden, Director of Research and Programs for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, explains that the LEADS program prepares mid-level career police officers with research as part of their skill-set to be future science-oriented senior commanders and chiefs. Mark Landahl - 2014 LEADS scholar and sergeant in the Frederick (MD) County Sheriff's Office - discusses how the LEADS program has enhanced his professional development by providing access to experts in research fields to which he had not been previously exposed. This has enabled him to bring new science-based concepts to his agency. Tim Mac Gillis - 2014 LEADS scholar and Lieutenant in the Milwaukee Police Department - comments that the LEADS program assisted in his professional development by facilitating his collaboration with subject-matter experts and practitioners from around the country who share an interest in applying academic research to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement.