This report is part of a series that began in 1996 and examines the nature and frequency of contact with police as reported by U.S. residents, including demographic characteristics, types of contact, and perceptions of police misconduct, threats of force, or use of nonfatal force. Contact with police includes instances where U.S. residents contacted police, where police approached or stopped residents (police-initiated contacts), and where a traffic accident was involved. The report presents findings on the types of contacts U.S. residents had with police and the demographic characteristics of those who had contact. It also provides data on U.S. resident-reported use of force during the contact and on enforcement actions.
These reports provide data on full-time sworn officers and civilians employed by local police departments and sheriffs’ offices. Specifically, they describe the number, sex, race or Hispanic origin, and responsibilities of these employees. The reports also provide information on the policies and procedures that local police departments and sheriffs’ offices adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This report presents statistics about school resource officers, based on data from the first-time BJS Survey of Law Enforcement Personnel in Schools (SLEPS) agency survey, which was developed as a part of the Department of Justice Comprehensive School Safety Initiative. SLEPS was designed to address gaps in national statistics by compiling data on the characteristics of law enforcement agencies employing school resource officers and the characteristics and functions of the officers. It also describes the policies related to school resource officers, including law enforcement, mentoring, and teaching duties performed; hiring processes; and required training.
This report describes the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) efforts to determine whether it is possible to gather reliable national data on misdemeanor charges filed in state, county, and municipal courts—currently a substantial gap in criminal justice statistics. BJS undertook a feasibility study in this area in response to a report from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations that expressed concern for the lack of reliable data on the processing of misdemeanor arrests and urged BJS to collect the data. The congressional report urged BJS to collect demographic data of misdemeanor defendants, the type of offense charged, and the sentence imposed from a select number of large metropolitan jurisdictions. BJS will use the findings of this study to help determine whether a more extensive data collection effort would yield national estimates.
This report describes characteristics of juvenile justice facilities related to youth-reported sexual victimization. It presents sexual victimization rates reported by youth in juvenile facilities by topics such as facility organizational structure, staff, and atmosphere. The report also provides facility-reported data on staff hiring in juvenile facilities, staff training, and youth PREA education. These tables supplement the full BJS report Sexual Victimization Reported by Youth in Juvenile Facilities, 2018, which provides national estimates of sexual victimization in juvenile facilities and identifies 12 high-rate and 14 low-rate facilities. The statistics are reported pursuant to the goals of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108–79).
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released 18 datasets from the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) for the 2019 data year through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. The FJSP covers seven stages of federal criminal case processing:
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Arrest refers to the arrest of a suspect by a federal law enforcement agency.
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Prosecution refers to the investigation of criminal matters.
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Pretrial release includes the release and detention of defendants before adjudication.
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Adjudication covers the criminal court proceedings through case disposition.
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Sentencing covers the sentences imposed on convicted defendants.
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Appeals covers the cases filed and terminated on appeal.
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Corrections includes the offenders under supervision (i.e., probation, supervised release, or parole) and offenders in prison.
The program receives source data from the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, U.S. Sentencing Commission, and Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS), 2020 data collection from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. The PPCS provides detailed information about—
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the nature and characteristics of contacts between police and the public, including the reason for and outcome of the contact and the respondent's perception of the contact
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estimates on the likelihood of different types of contact for residents with different demographic characteristics, including contacts involving the use of nonfatal force by police
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data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents age 16 or older as a supplement to the NCVS.
BJS seeks applications for funding for the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 National Criminal History Improvement Program Supplemental Funding (NCHIP-SF). This program furthers the DOJ’s mission to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal history and related records in support of national record systems and their use for name- and fingerprint-based criminal history record background checks. This program was developed to implement Title III, Division B (3) – Appropriations outlined in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (P.L. 117–159).
BJS seeks applications for funding to continue the delivery of training and technical assistance to support activities under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP), and portions of the recently enacted Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (P.L. 117–159) in fiscal year 2023. Direct technical assistance is provided to states, territories, and tribal jurisdictions to ensure that record systems are developed and managed to conform to FBI standards, ensure jurisdictions are using the most appropriate technologies, and adhere to the highest standards of practice with respect to privacy and confidentiality. This program also routinely collects and evaluates performance measures to assess the level of improvement of state and national records holdings and information sharing and exchanges.
 JRSA's 2022 Fall Virtual Research Gathering
BJS Director Alex Piquero shared updates from BJS at the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) Fall Virtual Research Gathering.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) staff presented at the 2022 American Society of Criminology (ASC) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. ASC is an international organization whose members pursue scholarly, scientific, and professional knowledge concerning the measurement, etiology, consequences, prevention, control, and treatment of crime and delinquency.
BJS Director Alex Piquero attended the 2022 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting
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Director Piquero joined BJS experts and others to discuss The Future of Criminology at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting.
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As an ASC Presidential Panel, Director Piquero, NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne, and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director of the Division of Violence Prevention James A. Mercy discussed their visions for data and research priorities in federal agencies.
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Director Piquero also participated in a policy panel with other leaders from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs to share their visions for infusing data and research evidence into all facets of DOJ’s grantmaking, justice reform initiatives, policy leadership, and practitioner engagement. Attendees were able to ask questions and share their views on the most pressing research priorities.
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The American Society of Criminology, Division of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology honored Dr. Piquero with the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual meeting.
Sixth International Conference on Governance, Crime and Justice Statistics
Heather Brotsos, Victimization Statistics Chief at BJS, presented at the Sixth International Conference on Governance, Crime and Justice Statistics in Seoul, South Korea.
Forum on Criminal Justice of the National Criminal Justice Association
BJS Director Alex Piquero and NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne presented “A Look at the Focus for DOJ Research,” where Director Piquero discussed his priorities for BJS.
Watch as BJS Director Piquero discusses Trends in U.S. Crime with the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
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What trends in violent crime have we seen in recent years in the U.S.?
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What trends in property crime have we seen in recent years in the U.S.?
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How are crime statistics assembled, and what are the strengths and limitations of these statistics?
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When evaluating crime-reduction proposals, what should members of the public keep in mind?
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