title: American Criminal Justice Policy: An Evaluation Approach to Increasing Accountability and Effectiveness
author:  Daniel P. Mears 
description: "Criminal justice policy in the United States is most often based on outdated customs, ideologically based politics, and ill-conceived common sense. Sober but also optimistic in his outlook, Daniel Mears seeks to sophisticate crime control discussions by showing us how to use various evaluation strategies to create informative, policy-relevant evidence. Masterfully written and rich with real-world examples, this volume is, at once, essential reading for scholars, ideal for teaching students the nature and importance of evaluation research, and invaluable as a blueprint for policymakers wishing to design effective and humane criminal justice interventions." - Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati<br /><br />"Dan Mears has written an important book for criminal justice. He provides a compelling and comprehensive case for the role of evaluation in criminal justice. The stakes for an effective and efficient criminal justice system have never been higher. Mears argues that the system is broken, but can be fixed. Sound evaluation research provides a foundation for repairing the system. This book should appeal to a broad readership. Those who don't heed its lessons will do so at their own peril. There is a sound prescription for fixing criminal justice, and Mears has it." - Scott Decker, Arizona State University<br /><br />"Reading this book made me excited about teaching a course in evaluation. Mears addresses research and policy issues in a new way and clearly places evaluation as a priority in achieving an accountable and effective criminal justice system. American Criminal Justice Policy forces the reader to reevaluate our criminal justice policies. It is a must-read for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers interested in or advocating for an evidence-based criminal justice system." - Doris Layton MacKenzie, The Pennsylvania State University<br /><br />"The world would be a better place if evaluation methods and findings were understood, valued, and most importantly used as the basis for criminal justice policy. Policies and programs would be designed in response to the causes of social problems. Gone would be the days of social experiments and engineering that are ideologically based. Dan Mears's American Criminal Justice Policy illuminates how policy would change. Even more so, he illustrates how solid evaluation methodologies can eliminate idiosyncratic policymaking. No doubt, every elected official could use a copy of this book. Then again, every staffer of the same elected politicians should be required to read this book and also pass a test on evaluation methods before they can develop policies and legislation. This book signals how new policies can be shaped by better methods." - Faye S. Taxman, George Mason University<br /><br />"...this highly readable book is an excellent introduction to evaluation research in criminal justice. Moreover, because it is written at a fairly high level, established scholars will find it useful in their own research. Ideally, the book would be a part of a graduate course, but at the very least, we should expect our students to have read it.... The book should be required reading for all criminal justice researchers who seek federal and state funding, for all staff of federal and state agencies that fund criminal justice research, and for scholars and practitioners who serve on grant review panels for these agencies. Doing so will lead to better quality proposals, better quality reviews, and ultimately better quality research." - R. Barry Ruback, Pennsylvania State University, Criminal Justice and Behavior
zlib_text: Law Enforcement and Corrections Standards and Testing Program
  U.S. Department of Justice
  Office of Justice Programs
  National Institute of Justice
  National Institute of Justice
  Antenna System Guide
  NIJ Guide 202–00
  
  The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice
  Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the
  Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and
  Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
  ABOUT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CORRECTIONS 
  STANDARDS AND TESTING PROGRAM
  The Law Enforcement and Corrections Standards and Testing Program is sponsored by the Office of Science and
  Technology of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice.  The program responds to the mandate
  of the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979, which directed NIJ to encourage research and development to improve
  the criminal justice system and to disseminate the results to Federal, State, and local agencies.
  The