NCJ Number
250883
Date Published
2011
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This is the user's guide for the arrest data analysis tool accessible on the home page of the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) for the purpose of generating graphs and tables of arrest trends over the 30-year period from 1980 through 2009.
Abstract
The user of the tool can view national arrest estimates, customized by either age and sex or by age group and race, for a variety of offenses. The tool also enables the viewing of agency-level arrest counts from local law enforcement agencies. The data accessible with the tool are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) "Crime in the United States" series. BJS has expanded upon the FBI's data so as to provide the first publicly available national arrest estimates by sex, age, and race. After explaining the features of the arrest data analysis tool, this report explains how to access the tool. The guide then provides details on the tables and graphs of arrest estimates that can be accessed with the tool, both for national arrest estimates and agency-level arrest counts. Differences between national estimates and agency-level counts are explained. The guide concludes with instructions on how to cite data from the tool.