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An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Programs & Initiatives

The National Survey of Crime and Safety (NSCS) is a household survey about community safety, police, and experiences with victimization and crime. It is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and is being conducted by Westat.

Data on deaths that occur while inmates are in the custody of local jails, state prisons, or the Federal Bureau of Prisons are collected through the Mortality in Correctional Institutions (MCI) data collection.

LECS is a cohesive law enforcement data collection program focused on agency performance and contemporary topics related to law enforcement staffing, regulations, and policies.

The National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) collects offender-level administrative data annually on prison admissions and releases, and yearend custody populations, and on parole entries and discharges in participating jurisdictions.

BJS, in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Systems, is spearheading the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X), a program designed to generate nationally-representative incident-based data on crimes reported to law enforcement.

 

Through the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), BJS provides direct awards and technical assistance to states and localities to improve the quality, timeliness, and immediate accessibility of criminal history records and related information.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; Public Law 108-79) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to carry out a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape for each calendar year.

The NICS is a national system that checks available records in three databases to determine if prospective transferees are disqualified from receiving firearms. It is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state's capacity to address criminal justice issues through the collection and analysis of data.

BJS's VSSRP aims to build knowledge about victim services by collecting and analyzing national data from victims and the diverse entities that serve victims. The research program includes several components that together help to define and describe the victim services field.