NCJ Number
164490
Date Published
May 1997
Length
59 pages
Annotation
After describing the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and its work, this booklet describes the new work of BJS, its ongoing statistical series and programs (including the data produced), and how to use BJS services and order BJS products.
Abstract
BJS, a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in the U.S. Department of Justice, is the primary source for justice statistics in the United States. BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. In fiscal year 1997, BJS in partnership with OJP and other Justice Department components will undertake new statistical efforts. These will include a criminal case-tracking system for tribal jurisdictions, a national survey of indigent defense systems, city-level victimization and citizen attitude surveys, a community policing supplement to the LEMAS survey, data on the police use of force, and a national study on campus sexual assault. A section on ongoing BJS statistical series and programs both describes them and presents recent statistics produced by each program. They encompass the following topics: crimes and victims, criminal offenders, the justice system, firearms and crime, international statistics, general criminal justice statistics, State justice statistics programs for statistical analysis centers, visiting research fellowship program, and criminal record systems.