Analytic Resource Center

The BJS-ARC project was designed to complete methodological research that would complement BJS’ routine collection and reporting of criminal justice system statistics under its Criminal Justice Statistics Program (CJSP).

The work of the BJS-ARC focuses on three areas: (1) assist BJS in expanding its use of administrative records; (2) assist BJS in implementing new sampling and survey methodologies such as continuous data collection to enhance the timeliness of release of BJS statistics; and (3) enhance the utility of BJS data though records linkage to produce topical reports.

The BJS-ARC provides analytic services to BJS in these areas to both complement the work of BJS’ staff and expand BJS’ capacity to develop and implement new methodologies. The BJS-ARC is designed to serve needs in several BJS units and the projects to be undertaken cover a range of topics, including: those related to implementing and testing new sampling methods (e.g.: methods for continuous collection of data about police organizations); those requiring assessments of booking data; those linking existing BJS data for the purposes of publishing reports and further increase the utility of BJS data.

Throughout the course of the five-year project, the priorities of the BJS-ARC are determined by the BJS principal deputy director in consultation with the director, the other BJS deputy directors, and BJS unit chiefs.

The $1,050,000 to be added to the BJS-ARC during FY 2015 has been designated for three specific projects:

(1)$500,000 to collect data for a BJA project on body worn cameras in law enforcement.

(2)$300,000 to fund data collection on arrest related deaths. The 2013 Deaths in Custody Reporting Act (PL 113-242) mandates that the Attorney General collect data on the “death of any person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated”. While BJS has had a program to collect these data directly from law enforcement agencies in previous years, participation was low, leading to unstable estimates of the number and nature of deaths. The project proposed for funding through the BJS-ARC would examine whether open knowledge sources would provide a better estimate of the number of arrest related deaths than direct report.

(3) $250,000 to fund the construction of a law enforcement agency roster. Data collections on law enforcement characteristics conducted by BJS and other agencies (including the FBI) currently use multiple frames and have different definitions for what constitutes a law enforcement agency. This project would standardize the frame so that analysts could pull consistent samples for future collections on these agencies.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

CA/NCF

The BJS-ARC project was designed to complete methodological research that would complement BJS’ routine collection and reporting of criminal justice system statistics under its Criminal Justice Statistics Program (CJSP). The work of the BJS-ARC focuses on three areas: (1) assist BJS in expanding its use of administrative records; (2) assist BJS in implementing new sampling and survey methodologies such as continuous data collection to enhance the timeliness of release of BJS statistics; and (3) enhance the utility of BJS data though records linkage to produce topical reports. The BJS-ARC provides analytic services to BJS in these areas to both complement the work of BJS’ staff and expand BJS’ capacity to develop and implement new methodologies. The BJS-ARC is designed to serve needs in several BJS units and the projects to be undertaken cover a range of topics, including: those related to implementing and testing new sampling methods (e.g.: methods for continuous collection of data about police organizations); those requiring assessments of booking data; those linking existing BJS data for the purposes of publishing reports and further increase the utility of BJS data. Throughout the course of the five-year project, the priorities of the BJS-ARC are determined by the BJS principal deputy director in consultation with the director, the other BJS deputy directors, and BJS unit chiefs.

Unlike other BJS collaborative agreements, RTI was awarded the full award amount ($1,599,925) at the outset of the project, with funds appropriated in FY 2012 to cover five years’ worth of activities. It was understood at the time of the award that supplemental funds could/would be awarded in the subsequent years as larger projects, such as the redesign of the Law Enforcement, Management, and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) program and a research project using the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data to support the Office of Victims of Crime and the Office of Violence Against Women, were added to RTI’s task list under the BJS-ARC. For FY 2014, $1,460,000 was added to supplement the original award, and additional tasks, including development of infrastructure for extension to the Law Enforcement Management and Administration Survey (LEMAS), analysis of National Inmate Survey (NIS) drug data, transition of Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) from a midyear to a yearend collection, and data imputation and time series database construction of the Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole (ASPP), were begun using these funds. In FY 2015, $1,050,000 was added to the BJS-ARC to collect data for a BJA project on body worn cameras in law enforcement; investigated whether open knowledge sources would provide a better estimate of the number of arrest related deaths than direct report to fulfill the mandate of the 2013 Deaths in Custody Reporting Act (PL 113-242); and to construct a law enforcement agency roster.

The $1,590,000 to be added to the BJS-ARC during FY 2016 has been designated for one project extension: the Arrest Related Deaths (ARD) program. BJS is continuing to collect and test the methodology associated with identifying, enumerating, and describing deaths occurring while under arrest or in the process of arrest by state, local or federal law enforcement agencies. BJS will collect this information for FY 2016 and FY 2017.

CA/NCF

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.