Just Science

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Stacy Sechrist, community violence researcher at RTI International, Jesse Brey, criminal justice researcher and PhD student at Temple University, and Harrod Emmanuel Clay Jr., pastor and community-based advocate, to discuss findings from RTI’s Victim and Witness Participation research project, which is supported by the philanthropy Arnold Ventures. For individuals who have experienced or witnessed severe community violence, there is often hesitation to report the crime, participate in law enforcement interviews, or engage in court proceedings. To better understand these barriers, community violence researchers at RTI International and Temple University conducted interviews with individuals who had recently experienced incidents of severe community violence, and found that fear of retaliation, concerns about social consequences, and poor communication from law enforcement are among the most significant obstacles to victim and witness engagement in the criminal legal system. Listen along as Stacy, Jesse, and Pastor Clay describe the importance of giving victims and witnesses a voice after violent crime, common themes found across the research interviews, and important considerations for improving the legal system’s response to victim and witness participation. This episode is funded by RTI International’s Justice Practice Area.

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Chuck Heurich, Senior Physical Scientist with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and Dr. Jennifer Snippen, experienced medicolegal death investigator and consultant, to discuss recent updates to NIJ’s Guide for the Death Scene Investigator. Twenty-five years ago, NIJ released a guide to help medicolegal death investigators navigate complex scenes and cases; a document that has since evolved with the development of best practices and technological advancements. In 2024, a new version was released after a multi-disciplinary group of experts collaborated to make four major changes, including updates to documentation for death notifications to the office, procedures for child death investigations, partnering with law enforcement, and more. Listen along as Chuck and Dr. Snippen describe why the Death Investigation Guide was developed, how the newest updates came to be, and implications for day-to-day operations for medicolegal death investigators. This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU).

In episode three of our Case Studies season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Michael Nirenberg, a clinical and forensic podiatrist and current President of the American Society of Forensic Podiatry, to discuss how analyzing a perpetrator’s gait and footprint evidence located at a crime scene can help advance investigations and resolve cases. While locomotive characteristics, like the way our hips swing when we walk, are not as individualizing as fingerprints or DNA, forensic podiatrists can analyze and compare video footage of a perpetrator’s gait to a person of interest’s gait to develop supplemental forensic evidence. This additional information can be used to support a conviction or the exoneration of a falsely accused individual. Listen along as Dr. Nirenberg describes the role digital evidence plays in gait analysis, how forensic podiatrists analyze and compare the gait of a perpetrator to a person of interest, and several cases where the analysis of gait or footprint evidence were key to supporting investigations. This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU).

In episode one of our Case Studies season, Just Science sat down with Anthony (Tony) Earles, Forensics/Identification Unit Supervisor at the Maui Police Department, to discuss the Maui wildfires that occurred on August 8, 2023, including the collaborative nature of the mass disaster emergency response effort; the forensic methodologies and technologies used to identify recovered human remains; and the various challenges encountered during response mobilization due to the isolated geographic location of Maui County, Hawaii. When deadly wildfires impacted Maui County, available resources and existing infrastructure were put under strain. Despite these initial obstacles, through the collaborative response of over one-hundred individuals from federal agencies, external partners, state and local forensic science service providers, as well as members of the Lahaina community, Maui Police Department was able to expand its response capacity, recover unidentified human remains, and identify these remains using a variety of forensic identification techniques including Rapid DNA technology, and more. Listen along as Tony describes how Maui Police Department and the many forensic professionals and first responders involved were able to locate and identify unidentified human remains, the importance of collaboration and communication in mass disaster response, and lessons learned that may support mass disaster response preparedness planning efforts within the forensic community. This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU).

In episode 2 of our economic empowerment season, Just Science sat down with Lenore Shaffer of Restore NYC, Tiffany McGee of Survivor Ventures and Laura Hackney of Annie Cannons experts in the anti-trafficking field to discuss their economic empowerment work. Economic empowerment programs include skill building, job training, and career development for people who have experienced human trafficking. These programs seek to overcome barriers many survivors experience in the workforce and set them on a path for long-term economic mobility. Listen along as Tiffany, Lenore, and Laura talk about their programs, common barriers survivors encounter, and practical solutions for supporting survivors’ economic empowerment journey. This season is funded by the Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analyses Project. The views expressed in this podcast belong to the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Dr. Pattie Melton, Co-Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Forensics Training and Technical Assistance, or TTA, Program, and Paige Presler-Jur, Associate Project Director for State-based Awards TTA team on BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use (COSSUP) Program and the COSSUP Post-arrest, Pretrial, Defense Counsel, and Courts TTA team, to discuss the importance of TTA – a component of many federal grant programs that helps grant recipients meet their goals and improve program outcomes. When an agency receives a federal grant, they may be faced with a myriad of challenges including setting scalable goals, tracking important program metrics, and planning for sustainability. As a result, training and technical assistance is built into many federal grant programs, so that experts from a separate organization can provide resources and support grant recipients throughout their period of performance. Listen along as Dr. Melton and Paige describe the strategies that TTA providers use when working with grant recipients, the importance of tailoring TTA to meet the unique needs of a community, and how TTA enhances the impact of important federally funded projects. This episode is funded by RTI International’s Justice Practice Area.

In episode seven of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Cristi Cain, Local Public Health Section Director at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and Sally Wright, the All Hands on DECK, or Drug Endangered Children Kansas, Program Manager for the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, to discuss their COSSUP-funded All Hands on DECK Program, which helps support drug endangered youth and families across the state of Kansas. In Kansas and across the country, many children and infants are living in an environment where a caretaker uses substances or where they are born exposed to substances. In response, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment supports eighteen local jurisdictions who are implementing a range of activities to support drug endangered youth, including providing family care bags, administering community and school-based drug awareness trainings, distributing naloxone, and more. Listen along as Sally and Cristi discuss some of the catalysts for creating a youth-focused program in their state, how each local site is identifying and addressing unique needs within their community, and some of the challenges and successes the DECK program has experienced so far. This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

In episode five of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Dr. Nicole Swiderski, New Jersey Path to Recovery Grant Manager, and Jass Pelland, New Jersey Path to Recovery Program Manager, to discuss how the New Jersey State Parole Board’s 2021 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program award is supporting peer recovery and other services that help individuals with a substance use disorder navigate reentering the community after release from prison. Those who are reentering the community after being released from prison can face a myriad of challenges, including navigating community supervision requirements, finding housing and treatment services, and facing an increased risk of drug overdose. In response to these challenges, the New Jersey State Parole Board has created the Path to Recovery Program, where peer health navigators partner with parole officers to help guide participants through the difficult reentry process. Listen along as Dr. Swiderski and Jass discuss why they decided to implement a peer-led initiative in the state of New Jersey, what barriers they faced when planning and implementing the program, and how Path to Recovery has made a positive impact both in the lives of individuals and for their state a whole. This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

In episode three of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Dr. Chris Delcher, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and Director of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the University of Kentucky, to discuss how his team tracks community drug use through wastewater analysis. Much like analyzing a urine sample to determine what drugs an individual is using, analyzing wastewater from a community offers insight into drug trends across an entire region of people. The NIJ-funded weTEST program allows for the collection and analysis of wastewater from rest areas and truck stops in Kentucky to track current drug trends in a timely manner. Listen along as Dr. Delcher discusses his inspiration for using wastewater to monitor drug use, the sometimes-messy process of collecting wastewater samples, and how scientists approach ethical considerations that come with collecting data from wastewater systems. This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

In episode one of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Dr. Samantha Tolliver, Chief Toxicologist for the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, or DC OCME, to discuss how their agency uses their Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program, or COSSUP, funding to improve their drug testing and analysis processes. For forensic toxicologists, it is important to be able to quickly and accurately identify which substances have contributed to an accidental overdose, so that they can monitor emerging drug trends in the area. The DC OCME’s COSSUP funding has allowed their office to use reference labs to reduce their casework and focus on adopting new methods for drug testing and analysis. Listen along as Dr. Tolliver discusses challenges faced by forensic toxicologist in keeping up with drug trends, the benefits of adopting technology such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, and how improving drug testing methods can contribute to broader community overdose prevention efforts. This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Deputy Chief, recently promoted to Assistant Chief, Catherine Cummings of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and Jennifer Cianelli, licensed mental health counselor at the Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center, to discuss the implementation of the Indianapolis co-response team program, which provides an alternative to traditional police responses. When a community member requires emergency services during a mental health or substance use crisis, they may benefit from a range of additional or alternative services in conjunction with a traditional law enforcement response. To understand the impact of these alternative responses, public safety and treatment practitioners in Indianapolis collaborated with researchers to pilot a co-response mobile crisis assistance team program, where a mental health clinician is partnered with a police officer for response to any behavioral health related emergency calls. Listen along as Assistant Chief Cummings and Ms. Cianelli describe how providing immediate mental health services and follow-up care can benefit community members while also providing support to police on-scene, helpful advice for practitioners who may want to implement co-response teams, and the importance of partnering with researchers to effectively evaluate these types of programs. This episode is funded in part by RTI International’s Justice Practice Area and the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team program supported by Arnold Ventures. Some content in this podcast may be considered sensitive and may evoke emotional responses or may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

In episode four of our Innovations in Corrections season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Sam Scaggs, research criminologist and corrections expert at RTI International, to discuss how automatic appointment reminders help justice-involved individuals better navigate probation-mandated behavioral health care management appointments. For those involved in the criminal justice system, missing a mandatory appointment such as a court date, treatment service, or parole visit could have serious legal consequences. To help clients manage these obligations, researchers piloted an automated digital appointment reminder system which provides users with quick and concise information about upcoming behavioral health management appointments. Listen along as Dr. Scaggs describes a two-phased approach for developing this system, preliminary results about the efficacy of appointment reminders, and the broad applications that this technology could have in the future. This episode is funded by RTI International’s Justice Practice Area. Some content in this podcast may be considered sensitive and may evoke emotional responses or may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

In episode two of our Innovations in Corrections season, Just Science sat down with Joe Russo, institutional and community corrections researcher with the University of Denver, to discuss how advancements in technology can improve the probation and parole experience for both officers and clients. Community supervision agencies, such as probation and parole offices, are responsible for providing many services to their clients, including case management, location monitoring, and drug and alcohol testing. As these agencies become more understaffed and underfunded, technological innovations can help reduce the casework of officers, while also reducing the burden on clients. Listen along as Joe describes the need for change in community supervision, the pros and cons of technology such as check-in kiosks and smartphone monitoring, and the future of research and development in this field. This episode is funded by RTI International’s Justice Practice Area. Some content in this podcast may be considered sensitive and may evoke emotional responses or may not be appropriate for younger audiences.