DNA and the Criminal Justice System: A Web-Based Community of Practice

Introduction The development of the Internet is strongly intertwined with the possibility of increasing the flow of information among knowledgeable actors. This is particularly important for today’s government, which is characterized by increasingly complex tasks and decentralized structures. As we move to integrate technologies into our government, such as DNA into the criminal justice system, the need for a dialog within and across government agencies becomes ever more crucial. In this project, we examine DNA in the criminal justice system to uncover the role of the Internet in the diffusion of learning across governmental units. Our objective is twofold: First, we offer a model to augment existing institutions in creating a discourse around DNA and the criminal justice system by creating a community website on the subject. Second, we outline a research design to study the impact of that website on the criminal justice system.