Criminology/Criminal Justice Research Intern

We want a justice-first, field-minded Criminology/Criminal Justice professional to teach our product how real investigations are done, work deeply and directly with our law enforcement partners (both detectives and law enforcement agency executives), and contribute to our mission to give time, money, and safety back to communities and reduce crime in the US by any means necessary. You do not need to write code, but should be able to build the investigative rules, logic, flows, tests, and standards that'll be used in active law-enforcement pilots.Below covers everything you need to know about what this opportunity entails, as well as what is expected from applicants.*Who we are*Nightwave helps detectives stop drowning in terabytes of bodycam, vehicle, mobile, and report data by turning messy files into clear, actionable case work used in live pilots. We're mission-driven: we build tools that return hours and lives to communities by making investigations faster, fairer, and auditable. We use the capabilities of modern AI models to apply it to something actually important and useful for society; public safety. Allowing every detective to have an army of brilliant, but ADHD, easily confused, and inexperienced junior detectives (analogy for our "Sherlock" AI agent, the core of the Nightwave platform)*The Role *Nightwave is looking for a motivated, justice-oriented, and hyper-practical Criminology/Criminal Justice intern who wants to shape how modern investigations actually work. You will be the domain expert for detectives and for the company, designing test cases, auditing outputs, and translating investigative practice into defensible, field-ready rules and training materials that engineers implement. You'll work side-by-side with our product, engineering, and marketing teams, as well as actual detective users daily, and support pilots, and eventually sales, across the US, mostly midwest for now. Currently, have pilots running with the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, Delaware Police Department, and are in discussion for finalization with the Columbus Police Department.*What you'll do*You'll own pieces of Nightwave's investigative logic, system design, and law enforcement network, and make sure the product behaves like a competent junior detective:* *Design Synthetic Cases & Stress Tests:* Build multi-layered, realistic synthetic test cases (Operation Nightfall) to stress-test investigative logic; as well as testing real solved cases and cold cases from customers, from missing persons to complex financial-forensics cases. These are the scenarios we use to prove systems before they touch real cases.* *Investigative Audits:* Review connection graphs, timelines, maps, suggested leads, and responses produced by Nightwave; identify errors, unsafe inferences, and missed investigative steps. Produce short audit reports that engineers can act on.* *Chain-of-Custody & Evidence Rules:* Define and document what "good" evidence handling and sequencing looks like for our platform (e.g., how to record collection times, metadata expectations for bodycam/video, rules for linking mobile forensics to witness statements); maintain compliance with regulatory and security standards like the FBI's CJIS* *Ground-Truth & Annotation:* Create gold-standard annotations, labeling guides, and example solutions for engineers and model-training teams so outputs reflect real investigative reasoning.* *Pilot & Field Support:* Assist with pilot preparation, forward-deployed collaborations, briefings, shadowing across active cases, and on-site testing with our law-enforcement partners (Delaware County Sheriff's Office and others). You'll help translate field feedback, deep criminology expertise, and detective needs and blockers into product fixes and updates.* *User Shadowing & Testing:* Shadow detectives in controlled settings, run think-aloud sessions, communicate regularly with our partners and internal champions, and translate observed decision points into testable product behaviors.* *Policy & Fairness Review:* Identify potential fairness, privacy, or civil-liberties concerns in synthetic and real datasets and recommend guardrails and mitigations.* *Domain Documentation & Training:* Produce concise playbooks, checklists, and "how we think" notes that teach engineers and non-investigator teammates the standards, emerging, and innovative methodology of modern investigative work.This is hands-on work: you'll write, test, defend, and iterate. Your findings will influence what detectives see in the field and what they use to solve cases.*Requirements**Must have** Currently working on or completed an *Undergraduate or Graduate* degree in *Criminology, Criminal Justice, Sociology, or a closely related field*.* Solid working knowledge of *investigative logic, criminal procedure, evidence rules, and chain of custody*. You can explain why an investigative step matters and how to test it.* Excellent, concise *writing* and the ability to produce careful audit notes and reports; precise and exceptional attention to details of modern detective work.* High professional standards around *confidentiality*: willing and able to pass background checks, sign NDAs, and handle sensitive law-enforcement data.* *Curiosity about tech and AI*, enough to partner with engineers; you don't need to code, but you must be able to define what correct behavior looks like in specific, logical terms that anyone could understand.* *Mission alignment*: You care about public safety, reducing crime, and building tools that help make communities safer and help detectives do their job more efficiently and easily.*Nice to have** Experience or coursework in *forensic science, digital forensics (Cellebrite), bodycam/video review (Axon), LPR, GPS/GIS*, or RMS/CAD systems; experience with *high-end modern law enforcement tech systems* is a plus* Experience with data annotation platforms, Excel, SQL, or basic Python for dataset sampling and validation.* Exposure to law-enforcement work, a prosecutor's office, a defense clinic, a victim-services organization, or a criminal-justice research lab.* Strong judgment and demonstrated ability to work with stakeholders and founders under pressure; *holding firm and true to your opinions and beliefs for the mission we share**What we value** *Field-ready, not academic-only.* You'll prefer solutions that actually work in real investigations over elegant but impractical theory.* *Accountability.* You write the tests that prove something works. You document your assumptions and stand by your audits.* *Justice-first thinking.* You understand the stakes; inaccurate outputs can harm people and cases; accuracy and fairness matter more than cleverness.*Perks & Impact** *Direct impact:* Your audits, playbooks, test cases, and built-in investigative logic, techniques, and methods will be used in multiple live law-enforcement pilots and sales and will shape product decisions.* *Mentorship & exposure:* Work directly with Nightwave's COO, founders, and cross-functional teams; interact with detectives and law-enforcement leaders across the country during pilots; attend relevant conferences and related company outreach requirements; build deep and long-lasting connections with advisors, investors, detectives, and law enforcement leaders* *Paid internship:* Competitive pay and reimbursement for required travel to pilot sites; we will pay for any required tools, purchases, food, or other expenses required for you to work to the best of your ability and accomplish what you set out to do* *Career upside and Potential Ownership:* Strong candidates can move into paid research, policy, or product roles after the internship; potential to become a stakeholder in the company based on performance, with direct compensation proportional to how well the company does* *Mission:* Work for a justice-focused company whose goal is to modernize investigations and give time and safety back to communities; We are not a tech company, we are a justice company*Logistics** *Location:* Columbus, OH (Hybrid / Remote). Some in-person work required for collaboration and pilot activities.* *Duration:* Winter/Spring 2026. Flexible scheduling for school credit or part-time work; opportunity for continued work* *Clearances:* Must be able to pass background checks and sign NDAs to access pilot data and proprietary IP*How to apply*Apply via Indeed or send your *resume*, a *one-page cover letter,* and any relevant writing samples or to * *. In your cover letter, tell us: one specific investigative rule you'd insist our product get right, how you'd test it, and how you'd make sure Nightwave's "Sherlock" AI agent actually does get it right and provides value to detectives that previously did not exist.*Nightwave AI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.*Real work. xijylhu Real impact.Pay: $12.00 - $25.00 per hourExpected hours: 25 - 40 per weekBenefits:* Employee assistance program* Flexible schedule* Flexible spending account* Professional development assistance* Referral programWork Location: Hybrid remote in Columbus, OH 43210

Created: 2026-01-25