The institute was established by Government of India in 1972 within the Bureau of Police Research and Development following recommendations of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The institute has trained around 41,000 officers from Police, Judiciary, Prisons, Prosecution, Defence, Customs, Forest, Medical, Public-Sector Undertakings, Nationalized Banks as well as Scientists from Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories.

The UGC set up an expert committee to suggest steps to bring Criminology and Forensic Science into the general stream of university education, based on the resolution taken at a Symposium organized by UNESCO in London in 1955.

It suggested that systematic understanding of Criminology and Forensic Science was necessary for Law Enforcement Officers and the Universities should be encouraged to include these disciplines in their curriculum.

[5] Over the years, NICFS has trained more than 40,000 officers from Police, Judiciary, Prisons, Prosecution, Defence, Customs, Forest, Medical, Public Sector Undertakings, Nationalized Banks as well as Scientists from Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories.