Anti-crime researchers focus on terrorism: National Institute of Justice seeks innovative technology to protect U.S. homeland.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

The National Institute of Justice, which for 34 years has helped federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies acquire new weapons to fight crime, is turning increasing attention to the war on terror, said David G. Boyd, director of the institute's Office of Science and Technology.

The NIJ--the research arm of the Justice Department--is stepping up its efforts to assist police, first responders and the military services in developing innovative ways to counter the increased terrorist threat, Boyd explained during an interview.

Since the institute was created in 1968, he noted, it has helped develop many devices and techniques that have proven useful both in traditional law-enforcement and the fight against terrorism. Included are such innovations as soft body armor, night-vision equipment, DNA technology and less-than-lethal weapons, which now are used widely throughout law enforcement and the military services.

To develop such gadgets, the NIJ works closely with federal, state and local police agencies, fire departments and other emergency services. During the 1990s, the institute began ramping up its cooperation with Defense Department organizations, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the individual military services, as well as the national laboratories, the Energy Department and the defense industry.

Much of its traditional anticrime work is useful against terrorists, Boyd said. "We believe that all law-enforcement research is relevant to counter-terrorism," he noted. "At its most basic level, terrorism is a criminal act."

As the focus on antiterrorism increased, so has the NIJ budget, from $25 million in 1994 to nearly $300 million requested for 2003. Of the 2003 request, approximately 85 percent is earmarked for research and development, Boyd said.

NIJ's research efforts run the gamut, seeking new tools to prevent terrorist incidents, to investigate those incidents that do occur and to limit casualties among investigators, first responders, military personnel and--most importantly--civilian populations, Boyd said.

"For us, the mission is all of those civilians," he explained. The military services are trying to limit collateral damage during combat operations, he said, but within the United States, "no collateral damage is acceptable."

The best option, Boyd said, is to prevent an event in the first place. To catch terrorists before they can do harm, for example, the institute has funded development of a walk-through weapons-detection portal by the Energy Department's Idaho Environmental and Engineering Laboratory.

The portal detects...