NCJ Number
82946
Date Published
1977
Length
54 pages
Annotation
This is a report of a brief study reviewing and analyzing publications that provide systematic information on the organization, administration, personnel, and costs of State and local criminal justice agencies.
Abstract
The review focuses on statistical reports and organizational directories. Information was gathered by interviews and library research in the Washington, D.C., area and by telephone calls or correspondence to other areas. Findings reveal that administrative reports about criminal justice agencies vary greatly in timeliness, scope, quality, coverage of the field, and cost. Reports need to be more related to measures of clientele and of output. Some reports publish 4-year-old data. Many series, however, report more timely data as they become refined and routinized. High costs are related to initial design, surveys, followup efforts, tabulation design, and correction of anomalies in sampling and processing. The main gaps to be filled include a series on prosecutors and public defenders, current data on unionization, pay and benefit data for correctional personnel, and organizational information in areas other than the courts. Substantial duplicative reporting exists on State court organization, judicial salaries, and pay benefits for police. There are also overlaps among directories. The utility of the 'Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics' is open to question. (Author summary modified)