Learn more about BJS’s activities in August 2025. Click on the headings below for details.
Now available: Criminal victimization statistics for the 22 largest U.S. states
BJS released Criminal Victimization in the 22 Largest U.S. States, 2020-2022, which examines victimization rates across the 22 most populous U.S. states and how reported and unreported crime levels vary across these states and over time. The report analyzes selected state-level estimates of violent and property victimization for the 3-year aggregate periods of 2017–19 and 2020–22 in the 22 largest U.S. states
Findings are based on data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the nation’s primary source of data on criminal victimization. State-level data, available following an increase in the NCVS sample that began in 2016, can provide more detailed information than the national NCVS estimates and other NCVS estimates historically produced for BJS reports, such as regional estimates.
BJS releases statistics on background checks for firearm transfers
BJS released Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2021. This report presents statistics on the number of applications for background checks for firearm transfers and permits received by the FBI and state and local checking agencies in 2021 and on the number and percentage of applications that were denied. It also describes the types of permits or checks used by each state, the number of denials issued by these agencies, and the reasons for denial. The report is the 19th in a series produced by BJS.
Data used for this report were collected and prepared by the Regional Justice Information Service Commission (REJIS) through a cooperative agreement with BJS under the Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) program. Conducted annually since 1999, the FIST survey collects data on applications for and denials of firearm transfers from all state checking agencies and a representative sample of local checking agencies.
BJS-funded report details redesign and pretest of BJS local jail inmate survey
BJS third-party report released: Survey of Inmates in Local Jails Redesign and Pretest. The report presents Abt Global’s and BJS’s review of and recommended revisions to the existing SILJ instrument. The redesign project was divided into three phases: 1) the design of the survey instrument, 2) the pretest phase, and 3) the final report and recommendations, which support the national implementation of the redesigned SILJ.
The SILJ is the only nationally representative survey that collects self-reported, individual-level information on hard-to-reach jail populations, making it a vital resource for policymakers, facilities, government agencies, and researchers. Since the survey was last administered in 2002, the characteristics of jail populations have changed, and new policies and policing reforms have been enacted. Abt Global and BJS entered into a cooperative agreement in 2015 to address gaps in the 2002 version of the instrument with the goal of producing reliable national estimates of local jail populations through the redesigned survey instrument.
Updated access instructions for NIBRS and NCVS APIs
BJS updated access protocols for its Application Programming Interface (API) infrastructure. These changes affect two APIs: the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) National Estimates API and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) API. All datasets remain fully available and accessible, but now require connection through modified endpoints. Instructions are available on each web page.
Access previous Months in Review. Subscribe to JUSTSTATS to receive real-time updates from BJS.