Criminologists are often frustrated by the disconnect between sound empirical research and public policy initiatives. Recently, there have been several attempts to better connect research evidence and public policy. While these new strategies may well bear fruit, I believe the challenge is largely an intellectual one. Ideas and research evidence must guide public policy and practice. In this article, I present highlights from my tenure as the Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research, development, and evaluation agency in the Department of Justice. One of the ideas that I emphasized at NIJ was “Translational Criminology.” I believe translational criminology acknowledges NIJ’s unique mission to facilitate rigorous research that is relevant to the practice and policy. I also discuss the challenges I faced in bringing research to bear on public policy and practice. I end with a call for my colleagues in criminology and criminal justice to become more involved in government.

可靠的实证研究与公共政策倡议之间的脱节常常使犯罪学家感到沮丧。最近，人们进行了一些尝试，以更好地将研究证据与公共政策联系起来。尽管这些新策略可能会结出硕果，但我认为挑战主要是知识上的挑战。观点和研究证据必须指导公共政策和实践。在本文中，我将介绍担任司法部研究，开发和评估机构国家司法学院（NIJ）主任期间的要点。我在NIJ强调的想法之一是“转化犯罪学”。我相信翻译犯罪学认可NIJ的独特使命，即促进与实践和政策相关的严格研究。我还将讨论将研究纳入公共政策和实践所面临的挑战。最后，我呼吁犯罪学和刑事司法领域的同事更多地参与政府工作。