U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics ----------------------------- Guide to the BJS Website December 2002, NCJ 187735 --------------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/gbjsw3.htm This report is one in series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2#guide --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- In addition to traditional paper publications, BJS electronically publishes a variety of materials including statistical graphics and spreadsheets on the BJS website. Every publication produced by BJS since 1995 and a small selection from 1994, when the website was launched, are available electronically. To keep up with the latest at BJS visit What's new at BJS www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/whtsnw2.htm. This page consists of -- * Announcements of BJS-sponsored conferences, presentations, and other recent items * BJS publications and products (released in the past 6 months) * Solicitations for BJS grant programs and contracts * Latest data-spreadsheets and charts For more information about the site, take the tour of the BJS website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/tour/intro.htm. ---------------------------------------------- This guide is issued periodically to notify you of updates and additions to the material that is available on the website and not otherwise published. New features Crime & Justice Data Online www/ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dataonline/ This new interactive application provides quick access to comprehensive and easy to use crime and justice data. Now, at the touch of a button, you can extract the data you need to build your own tables on crime and homicide trends and law enforcement. Reentry Trends in the United States www/ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/reentry.htm/ This new section summarizes the lastest data concerning inmates returning to the community after serving time in State or Federal prison. New listserve Subscribe to JUSTSTATS and get e-mail notices of all new and updated statistical materials from: * Bureau of Justice Statistics * Federal Bureau of Investigation * Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention To subscribe, send an e-mail to listproc@ncrjs.org, leave the subject line blank, and in the message, type "subscribe JUSTSTATS" and your name. Crime & Justice Data Online www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dataonline/ In November 2001 BJS launched an interactive application that provides quick access to comprehensive and easy to use crime data. Data are available on crime trends from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, on homicide trends and characteristics, and on large law enforcement agencies from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics. Before Data Online these data were only available in hardcopy, if at all. Now, you can select the jurisdictions of interest, build a table, and download a spreadsheet version for later use. You will not need to perform data entry again. Crime trends from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Users can construct data tables on the reported criminal offenses from the Uniform Crime Reports for the U.S. totals, all 50 States, and local agencies with a population coverage of 10,000 or more. Included are the numbers and rates for the following index offenses: Violent crimes * murder and nonnegligent manslaughter * forcible rape * robbery * aggravated assault Property crimes * burglary * larceny/theft * motor vehicle theft. State level data are available from 1960, and local agency data are available from 1985. Before this interactive application, these data were only available from annual editions of Crime in the United States. See the electronic samples of crime trends that are available from Data Online. Homicide trends and characteristics from the FBI's Supplementary Annual Reports (SHR) Users can access homicide trends and characteristics for all 50 States since 1976 and local reporting agencies with population coverage of more than 250,000 since 1985. This section displays the total number of homicides reported annually in the UCR and the characteristics of those homicides from the SHR. The characteristics are presented as percentages of the total because not all homicides are reported in the SHR. Six variable groups are covered: * total number of homicides, reported annually in the UCR * age of victim (in age groups) * race of victim (white, black, other) * gender of victim (male, female) * race and gender of victim (white male, black male, and so on) * weapon used(gun, knife, other weapon) Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) Data available from LEMAS describe the organization and administration of large police and sheriffs' departments. The 1997 and 1999 LEMAS data available are for all 49 State law enforcement agencies and local agencies with 100 or more sworn officers and 50 or more uniformed officers assigned to respond to calls for service (about 650 agencies). You can get an agency profile or tables with additional details on one or more agencies. Special topics Reentry Trends in the United States www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/reentry.htm In October 2002 this new section was added to the BJS website. It summarizes the latest national data concerning inmates returning to the community after serving time in State or Federal prison. Reentry Trends in the United States is based on information from 12 statistical publications covering 6 different BJS data collections. As new data become available, the site will be updated. This section provides data on -- * State reentry trends -- * Growth in prison and parole populations * Releases from prison * Entries to parole * Success rates for parolees * Recidivism * Characteristics of releases * Federal reentry trends -- * Supervised release Homicide trends in the United States www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm This section of the BJS website contains over 50 charts that describe homicide patterns and trends in the United States since 1976. Homicide is of interest not only because of its severity but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. At a national level, no other crime is measured as accurately and precisely. All charts, tables, and other information have been updated with the 2000 data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports and the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. Tables are provided that contain the values used in the graphics as well as the numbers on which the percentages and rates are based. Spreadsheets of the data used are also provided. The data on this site may differ slightly from previously published figures because of updates to the data files after publication and because of the imputation methods used. ------------------------------------- To ease printing for Homicide Trends in the United States (NCJ 185988) and Reentry Trends in the United States(NCJ 197334), a consolidated version in portable document format(pdf)is provided. Also, a paper reproduction of the site can be ordered from NCJRS. Use the NCJ number when ordering. ----------------------------------------- Updated sections Key Crime & Justice Facts at a Glance www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance.htm Key Facts at a Glance presents trends in crime and justice in 35 charts that are updated as new data become available. A complete list of the charts in Key Facts at a Glance, including the date of the most recent update, is in Appendix 1. Small versions of the charts (thumbnails) and brief statements of findings are presented. Click on the thumbnail and you will go to a page that contains a full-sized version of the chart and additional information about the data and findings. Click on the full-sized version of the chart and a table with the data used in the chart will appear. Also, spreadsheets with the chart data can be saved to your hard drive and imported into most spreadsheet, charting, and word processing programs. In addition, an electronic file is available that contains full-sized color versions of selected charts suitable for overheads or handouts. This file is updated at the same time the charts are updated on the website. Topics that are covered in Key facts at a Glance are -- * Crime trends * Violent crime * Property crime * Crime victim characteristics * Arrests * Trends in Federal investigations and prosecutions * Trends in felony convictions in State courts * Correction trends including capital punishment trends * Demographic trends in correction populations, by gender and race * Demographic trends in jail populations, by age, gender, and race * Expenditure trends Paper versions of these charts are available from the BJS Clearinghouse. Please reference NCJ 170087 when ordering. Drugs & Crime Facts www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/contents.htm This section of the BJS website is an updated web version of the publication Drugs and Crime Facts, 1994. Statistics on drug-related crimes, law enforcement, courts, corrections, drug use, and public opinion are summarized in an easy to use format. Data from BJS series as well as other government sources provide an online overview of drugs and crime in the United States. Drugs & Crime Facts has been updated with information from 22 statistical publications issued since its launch in May 1999. Links to the source materials for each entry are provided for users seeking more detail. As new data become available, the site is updated and enhanced. Following is a listing of agencies that contribute information to update this site: Department of Justice * Bureau of Justice Statistics. * National Institute of Justice * Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention * Federal Bureau of Investigation * U.S. Sentencing Commission Executive Office of the President * Office of National Drug Control Policy Department of Health and Human Services * National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse * Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMSHA) * U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institute on Drug Abuse To ease printing, a consolidated version of all of these pages in Drugs & Crime Facts is provided. Also, a paper reproduction of the site can be ordered from NCJRS. Use NCJ 165148 when ordering. Other electronic materials and publications from the BJS website Electronic releases Tables from various BJS series which were printed in the past are now being offered exclusively online. All tables are available in spreadsheet format, and several are also presented in portable document format (pdf). Collections of spreadsheets are archived in zip files to facilitate downloading. The following is a list of recent electronic releases by topic: Corrections www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm National Corrections Reporting Program Time served in State prisons 1998 NCJ 195300 1999 NCJ 193210 Sentence length of State prisoners 1998 NCJ 195301 1999 NCJ 193211 Most serious offense of State prisoners 1998 NCJ 195303 1999 NCJ 193212 Probation and Parole in the United States 1999 NCJ 183508 2000 NCJ 188208 Correctional Populations in the United States NCJ 192929 Expenditure & employment www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/eande.htm Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts 1997 NCJ 185672 1998 NCJ 190641 1999 NCJ 190642 Courts & sentencing www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/stssent.htm State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1998 NCJ 190637 Crime & victims www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm Criminal Victimization in United States: 1996 NCJ 174445 1997 NCJ 174446 1998 NCJ 181585 1999 NCJ 184938 2000 NCJ 188290 Users who do not have Internet access can order the spreadsheets on diskette from the BJS Clearinghouse. Please use the NCJ number to order. Survey questionnaires www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/quest.htm Most of BJS publications are developed through data gathered from BJS' surveys. A description of these surveys and data series can be found under the topical references on BJS home page. Links to many of the questionnaires are available on the topical pages with the survey descriptions and on the questionnaire page. Following is a list of the questionnaires, added since the last update. Crime and victims National Crime Victimization Survey * NCVS Survey instrument * NCVS Crime Incident Report * Police Public Contact Survey: A Supplement to the NCVS The NCVS Survey instrument and Crime Incident Report used to interview Spanish speaking respondents. Corrections 2000 Probation Data Survey 2000 Parole Data Survey Law enforcement 1999 Sample Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies (CJ-44) 2000 Law Enforcement Managment and Administrative Statistics (CJ-38L)2000 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CJ-38S) 2001 State Police Traffic Stop Data Collection Procedures (SSP-1) 2001 National Study of DNA Laboratories Prosecution 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors Courts and sentencing 2002 National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems * Program Survey * County Survey Spreadsheets www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dtdata.htm Crime & Justice Electronic Data Abstracts (CJEDA) are a series of spreadsheets that contain data from a wide variety of published sources, usually by jurisdiction and over time. You can use these spreadsheets to find the answer to a particular question, include the data in other analyses, or create your own graphs or maps. These spreadsheets are updated as new data become available. A complete list of spreadsheet updates is available in Appendix 2. To allow you to find what you want, these spreadsheets are indexed in two ways: by topic (Crime and arrest data, Criminal justice data, Corrections data, Demographic data) and by jurisdiction level (National, Federal, State, County, City). You can download these spreadsheets to your computer and open or import them into most spreadsheet, charting, and word processing programs. Most of these files are in .wk1 format. (The MIME type for these files is application/spreadsheet and the file extension is wk1.) Many browsers can be configured to automatically launch a spreadsheet program to display these files. Consult the documentation of your browser for specific instructions. A few of the holdings are a collection of files that are archived into one .zip file to facilitate transfer from the Internet. Additional help to unzip these files is available at http:/www.info-zip.org/pub/info zip. If you do not have Internet access you can order them on diskette from the BJS Clearinghouse. See page 8 for the ordering process. Spreadsheets that support publications BJS also provides data from the tables of most BJS publications in spreadsheet format. Over 4,000 spreadsheets are available on the website. In many instances these files include not only the published tables but also additional detail used to calculate published rates or percentages and the formulas used. You can use these spreadsheets to include the data in other analyses, create your own graphs or maps, or in some instances, view details that are not in the published report. For details on how to access these files, see the description on how to download spreadsheets in the section above. Users who do not have Internet access can order the spreadsheets on diskette from the BJS Clearinghouse. Please use the NCJ number of the publication to order. New additions BJS Data Quality Guidelines www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ dataquality.htm The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)required Federal agencies subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35)to develop and publish their own information quality guidelines and provide the public with administrative means for requesting corrections to disseminated information. The BJS guidelines were finalized in October 2002. They include a description of policies and procedures BJS follows to ensure data quality. BJS Statistical Principles and Practices & BJS Strategic Plan FY 2003-2004 www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/principles.htm A unit of the U.S. Department of Justice, BJS has as its principal function to compile and analyze data and to disseminate information for statistical purposes. This page lists the principles and practices followed by BJS. Also available from this page is the Bureau of Justice Statistics Strategic Plan FY 2003-2004. This report describes BJS's mission, planned activities, and associated outcome measures for FY 2003 and FY 2004. ------------------------------------------ BJS partners roll out new web capabilities Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) www.jrsa.org This website features an improved navigation system, incorporating links to contact information, a site map, and an information request form on every page. There are also a search box at the top of every page and a copyright statement and address information at the bottom of every page. The main page offers prominent sections listing current events/projects and recent publications, as well as direct links to the Statistical Analysis Centers page and the Infobase of State Activities & Research. The JRSA website has been enhanced visually. The main page features more color and graphics, making it easier to distinguish different sections. The web site was designed to maintain a consistent visual look regardless of the setup of a particular visitor's computer. This was accomplished through a graphics- based navigation menu both on the left side and at the top of the page. Many of the graphic-based changes are based on recent research related to web- site user behavior and preferences; despite the increased use of graphics, the JRSA website remains accessible to the visually impaired. National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/index.html In October 2002 NACJD implemented a redesigned version of its website. The new site improves content and navigation and provides detailed resource guides to facilitate the use of some of the more complex data collections. Users can now search for data collections using justice topic keywords, study titles, principal investigators' names, and ICPSR study numbers. They can use the database of bibliographic citations that link to published reports and statistics from other data collections at NACJD. They can also search a list of recent BJS publications, link to the publications, and download the data. Resource guides provide the following: * SPSS programming code that facilitates reproduction of statistics contained in BJS reports * information about funding sources for the support of secondary analysis of justice data * data sets that can be analyzed on-line without downloading to a personal computer, using enhanced variable transformation capabilities and regression analysis. Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC) http://fjsrc.urban.org/ This website, created by the Urban Institute, provides online access to BJS Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) database, which contains information about suspects and defendants processed in the Federal criminal justice system. The FJSP uses data obtained from Federal agencies to compile comprehensive information describing defendants from each stage of Federal criminal case processing. Since the last update, annual data for 1997- 2001 have been made available online. ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- JUSTINFO The Bureau of Justice Statistics and other agencies within the Office of Justice Programs announce new releases in JUSTINFO, the electronic newsletter from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. To automatically receive this biweekly newsletter, subscribe to JUSTINFO at-- www.ncjrs.org/justinfo/index.htm. ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. Lawrence A. Greenfeld is the director. Priscilla Middleton wrote this report, under the supervision of Marianne Zawitz. Lara Reynolds and Ida Hines provided statistical assistance. Tom Hester edited this report and Jayne Robinson administered final production. December 2002, NCJ 187735 ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- To order these materials -- Contact the Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse to request information or to order publications and products. If you do not have Internet access, these materials can be obtained by calling the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (1-800-732-3277). Some are available only in electronic form because they are intended to be used on computers. Internet: www.ncjrs.org/statordr.htm Mail: BJS Clearinghouse/NCJRS P.O. Box 6000 Annapolis Junction, MD 20701 Fax: 1-410-792-4358 Phone: 1-800-732-3277 * Paper reproductions: - 25 pages and below $10.00 - above 25 pages $15.00. -------------------------------------------- End of file 12/16/02 ih