U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics ------------------------------------------------------ This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in PDF format are available on BJS's website at: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5907 ------------------------------------------------------ ****************** Special Report ****************** ************************************************ Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015 ************************************************ Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D., BJS Statistician ****************************************** An average of 1.3 million nonfatal domestic violence victimizations occurred annually in the United States during the 10-year aggregate period from 2006 to 2015. Police were notified of more than half (56%) of these victimizations (figure 1). When police responded to the scene, they took a report 78% of the time. The victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against the offender in about half (48%) of victimizations reported to police. The offender was arrested or charges were filed in 39% of reported victimizations, either during the initial response or during the follow-up period. This report primarily uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) for the 10-year aggregate period 2006-15 to examine the reporting of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations to police and police response to these victimizations. Nonfatal domestic violence includes serious violence (rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) and simple assaults committed by intimate partners, immediate family members, or other relatives. ***Footnote 1 For offense definitions, see Criminal Victimization, 2015 (NCJ 250180, BJS web, October 2016, p. 15) and Terms and Definitions: Victims on the BJS website.*** Data are based on victims’ descriptions of police actions during their initial response and any follow- up actions. This report also includes data on the prevalence of arrests or charges filed related to these domestic violence victimizations and on the role of signed criminal complaints. Unless otherwise noted, the comparisons in this report are significant at the 95% confidence level. ********************************************************** ************ Highlights ************ For nonfatal domestic violence victimizations occurring during the 10-year aggregate period from 2006-15-- * More than half (56%) of all victimizations were reported to police. * Police responded to nearly two-thirds (64%) of reported victimizations in 10 minutes or less. * Reasons victims did not report a victimization to police included personal privacy (32%), protecting the offender (21%), the crime was minor (20%), and fear of reprisal (19%). * Female victimizations (24%) were four times as likely as male victimizations (6%) to go unreported due to fear of reprisal. * Overall, the offender was arrested or charges were filed in 39% of victimizations reported to police. * In 23% of reported victimizations, police arrested an offender during their initial response. * The victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against the offender in about half (48%) of victimizations reported to police. * The offender was arrested or charges were filed in 89% of the victimizations reported to police where a victim was seriously injured and signed a criminal complaint. * About 9 in 10 local police departments serving 250,000 or more residents operated a full-time domestic violence unit. ********************************************************** *************************************** More than half of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations were known to police *************************************** During 2006-15, an estimated 56% of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations were reported or otherwise known to police (table 1). ***Footnote 2 Police became aware of about 2% of victimizations through means other than someone reporting it to them. These are included as reported victimizations. *** ***Footnote 3 In this report, police refers to any law enforcement agency responding to a domestic violence victimization. The agency or agencies responding to a victimization may have included a state police agency, local police department, sheriffs’ office, special jurisdiction agency (such as campus police), or another type of law enforcement agency.*** Reporting rates were the same for victimizations involving an intimate partner (spouse, former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) as for other victim-offender relationships (parent, child, sibling, or any other relative except spouses). Reporting rates were also the same for victimizations involving serious violence as for those involving simple assault. (See appendix table 3 for more information on reporting rates.) Female victimizations involving a serious injury (54%) were reported to police at about the same rate as victimizations with no injury (55%) (figure 2). A greater percentage of male victimizations were reported to police when a serious injury was involved (77%), compared to when there was a minor injury (57%) or no injury (49%). The victim reported the incident to police in about three- quarters (76%) of reported victimizations (table 2). This was more often the case when the victimization involved intimate partners (80%) than other victim-offender relationships (68%). An additional 10% of victimizations reported to police came from a household member other than the victim. An estimated 15% of reports originated outside the household, including 4% from an official such as a security guard or a school administrator. **************************************** An annual average of about 582,000 domestic violence victimizations went unreported during 2006-15 **************************************** During 2006-15, an annual average of about 716,000 nonfatal domestic violence victimizations were reported or otherwise known to police, compared to about 582,000 victimizations that went unreported. In about a third (32%) of the victimizations not reported to police, victims cited the personal nature of the incident as a reason for not doing so (table 3). About a fifth of victimizations were not reported because the victim wanted to protect the offender (21%), felt the crime was minor or unimportant (20%), or feared reprisal from the offender or others (19%). ******************************************************* **************************************** Measuring domestic violence with the National Crime Victimization Survey **************************************** The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects information on nonfatal crimes, both reported and not reported to police, against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. The survey collects information on personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, and personal larceny) and household property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, and other theft). The domestic violence victimizations analyzed in this report were categorized as either serious violence (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault) or simple assault. The victimizations were also grouped into two categories of victim-offender relationships: those involving an intimate partner (current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) and those involving other domestic victim-offender relationships (parent, child, sibling, or any other relative except spouses). Additional violent victimizations captured by the NCVS involving acquaintances or strangers did not fall under the definition of domestic violence and were excluded. According to the NCVS, an annual average of 2.1 million victimizations involving serious violence and 4.1 million victimizations involving simple assault occurred during 2006-15. When the victim-offender relationship was known (91%), about a quarter of violent victimizations were classified as domestic violence regardless of whether they involved serious violence (25%) or simple assault (23%) (table 4). Victimizations involving serious violence were more likely to be domestic violence when the victim was female (38%) than when the victim was male (12%). Female victims (27%) of serious violence were about four times as likely as male victims (7%) to have been victimized by an intimate partner. Similar patterns were observed for simple assault victimizations. ***Footnote 4 For more information on the characteristics of domestic violence, see appendix table 1 and Nonfatal Domestic Violence, 2003-2012 (NCJ 244697, BJS web, April 2014) or the NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool on the BJS website.*** ************************************************************ **************************************** About a quarter (24%) of female victims who did not report an incident cited fear of reprisal as a reason **************************************** Overall, domestic violence victimizations involving serious violence (31%) were more likely than victimizations involving simple assault (13%) to go unreported due to fear of reprisal. Regardless of the severity of the incident, female victimizations (24%) were four times as likely as male victimizations (6%) to go unreported to police due to fear of reprisal (figure 3). Male victimizations (28%) were more likely than female victimizations (17%) to go unreported to police because the victim felt the crime was minor or unimportant. **************************************** Police responded to most reported nonfatal domestic violence victimizations within 10 minutes of notification **************************************** In about 7% of reported domestic violence victimizations, the victim went to police rather than have police come to them. In another 7% of victimizations, the victim said police did not come when informed. ***Footnote 5 Victimizations that police did not respond to, or that they responded to slowly, may not have required an immediate response because, in some instances, the victimization reported may have occurred days or weeks prior to police being notified. This cannot be determined from the NCVS *** For the remaining victimizations, police responded to the scene within 10 minutes of being notified nearly two- thirds (64%) of the time (table 5). The percentage of police responses that occurred within 10 minutes was about the same for victimizations involving serious violence (65%) as those involving simple assault (64%). Victims reported that nearly all (94%) police responses occurred within an hour. According to victims, the most common police action during their initial response was to take a report (78%) (table 6). Police questioned persons during 36% of their initial responses. Less frequently, they conducted a search (14%) or collected evidence (11%). Police arrested the offender in 23% of initial responses to nonfatal domestic violence victimizations. Police arrested the offender during about a quarter (23%) of their initial responses to nonfatal domestic violence victimizations (table 7).*** Footnote 6 Some states and localities have mandatory or pro-arrest policies related to domestic violence. These policies may include special conditions for when an incident involves intimate partner violence, commission of a felony, or a protection order violation.*** In some cases, police may not have been able to make an arrest during an initial response, whether mandatory or discretionary, because the offender was not present at the scene. Initial arrest rates were about the same whether the victimization involved serious violence (24%) or simple assault (23%). The offender was arrested slightly more often for victimizations involving intimate partners (25%) than for other victim-offender relationships (20%) (90% confidence interval). When domestic violence victimization involved a female victim, the offender was arrested during the initial police response 32% of the time when the victim was seriously injured, compared to 16% of the time when the victim was uninjured (figure 4). When the victimization involved a male victim, the offender was arrested during the initial police response 44% of the time when the victim was seriously injured, compared to 16% of the time when the victim was uninjured. **************************************** About half of reported nonfatal domestic violence victimizations resulted in a signed criminal complaint **************************************** During 2006-15, the victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against the offender in about half (48%) of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations reported to police (table 8). A criminal complaint was usually filed by the prosecutor in cooperation with police, and in some cases the victim, to begin court proceedings. Signed complaints were obtained more often when the victimization involved intimate partners (52%) than when it involved other victim-offender relationships (40%). Complaints were also more likely when the victimization involved serious violence (56%) than when it involved simple assault (44%). (See appendix table 5 for more information on signed criminal complaints.) Signed criminal complaints were obtained in 51% of female victimizations, compared to 38% of male victimizations (figure 5). About three-fifths of female victims signed a complaint when they received a serious or minor injury, compared to fewer than half of those who were uninjured. When a serious injury was involved, female victims (58%) were nearly twice as likely as male victims (32%) to sign a criminal complaint. **************************************** Police took follow-up action in a third of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations **************************************** In addition to contact with police during their initial response to the victimization, an estimated 40% of victims had contact with police at a later date about the same victimization (table 9). In about a third (34%) of victimizations, police took specific follow-up actions during this later contact, such as taking a report, questioning persons, conducting a search, collecting evidence, or making an arrest. Police follow-up was more common with victimizations involving intimate partners (36%) than with other victim-offender relationships (30%) (90% confidence interval). Police arrested the offender as part of their follow-up response in about 10% of victimizations. Police arrested the offender when following up with 12% of the victimizations involving intimate partners, compared to 6% of the victimizations involving other victim-offender relationships. ************************************************************ **************************************** Nearly all local police departments serving 250,000 or more residents operated a full-time specialized unit for domestic violence **************************************** In 2013, about 9 in 10 sheriffs’ offices (92%) and local police departments (89%) and 7 in 10 state law enforcement agencies (such as state police and highway patrol agencies) formally addressed domestic violence with a specialized unit, other dedicated personnel, policies, procedures, or training (table 10). Overall, about half (47%) of state and local law enforcement agencies employing 100 or more full- time sworn personnel operated a full-time domestic violence unit in 2013, which was the same proportion as in 2003 (not shown). Specialized domestic violence units often consist of detectives and counselors or social workers and serve various roles, including-- * investigating serious domestic violence cases * interacting with service and treatment agencies to prevent further violence * assisting victims * training officers, victims, and community members * acting as a liaison for officers. Larger agencies were the most likely to operate a specialized domestic violence unit. In 2013, 9 in 10 (90%) local police departments serving a population of 250,000 or more operated a domestic violence unit with personnel assigned full time. About 4 in 10 sheriffs’ offices serving 250,000 or more residents (40%) and local police departments serving 50,000 to 249,999 residents (41%) had a full-time domestic violence unit. About 2 in 10 state law enforcement agencies had a domestic violence unit with personnel assigned full time (14%) or part time (5%). ************************************************************ **************************************** Police were more likely to follow up on nonfatal domestic violence victimizations involving injuries **************************************** After the initial contact, police followed up with about 4 in 10 reported nonfatal domestic violence victimizations involving a serious injury, regardless of whether the victim was female (42%) or male (43%) (figure 6). Police follow-up was more likely to occur with female victimizations than male victimizations when there was a minor injury (43% for female compared to 28% for male) or no injury (32% compared to 20%). **************************************** Police followed up with about half of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations that included a signed complaint **************************************** When a victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against an offender, police followed up 52% of the time (figure 7). In comparison, police followed up with 17% of victimizations without a signed complaint. Police were more likely to follow up with victimizations for which a signed complaint was obtained than those without a signed complaint, regardless of whether the victim was seriously injured (60% with a complaint compared to 22% without), received a minor injury (57% compared to 18%), or was not injured (46% compared to 17%). **************************************** The offender was arrested or charges were filed in about 2 in 5 nonfatal domestic violence victimizations reported to police **************************************** In an estimated 39% of domestic violence victimizations reported to police, the offender had been arrested or charges were filed by the time of the NCVS interview (table 11).*** Footnote 7 For all victimizations included in the analysis, the median time from incident to interview was about 4 months. See Methodology.*** Arrests or filed charges were more likely for victimizations involving intimate partners (42%) than other victim-offender relationships (33%). Arrests or filed charges occurred in about two-fifths of victimizations whether they involved serious violence (42%) or simple assault (38%). (See appendix table 7 for more information on offenders arrested or charges were filed.) **************************************** Offenders who seriously injured the victim were more likely than other offenders to be arrested or charged **************************************** In a majority of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations that involved serious victim injury, the offender was arrested or charges were filed whether the victim was female (62%) or male (63%) (figure 8). The offender was arrested or charges were filed when the victim was female in more than half (56%) of the victimizations that involved a minor injury, compared to 38% of the victimizations when the victim was male. When there was no victim injury, the offender was arrested or charges were filed in 29% of the victimizations involving a female victim, compared to 22% of those involving a male victim. **************************************** About 9 in 10 offenders were arrested or charged when the victim was seriously injured and signed a complaint **************************************** Among nonfatal domestic violence victimizations, offenders were arrested or charges were filed 59% of the time when the victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against the offender, compared to 21% of the time when they did not sign a complaint (figure 9). When the victim was seriously injured, the offender was arrested or charges were filed in 89% of the cases with a signed complaint, compared to 35% of the cases without a complaint. When the victim was uninjured, an arrest was made or a charge was filed in 47% of the cases with a complaint, compared to 14% of the cases without. ************************************************************ **************************************** About half of local police departments and a third of sheriffs’ offices serving 250,000 or more residents operated a full-time victim assistance unit **************************************** Victim assistance is an important part of the response to domestic violence for many law enforcement agencies. Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey indicated that, in 2013, about 8 in 10 sheriffs’ offices (82%) and local police departments (79%) formally addressed victim assistance through a specialized unit, other dedicated personnel, policies, procedures, or training. About two- thirds (66%) of state law enforcement agencies did so (table 12). As with domestic violence units, larger agencies were the most likely to operate a specialized victim assistance unit. In 2013, about half (49%) of local police departments serving a population of 250,000 or more operated a victim assistance unit with personnel assigned full time. About a third of sheriffs’ offices serving 250,000 or more residents (32%) and local police departments serving 50,000 to 249,999 residents (29%) had a victim assistance unit with full-time personnel. A quarter (25%) of state law enforcement agencies operated such a unit. Overall, 36% of state and local law enforcement agencies employing 100 or more full-time sworn personnel operated a full-time victim assistance unit in 2013, compared to 33% in 2003 (not shown). **************************************** Domestic violence victimizations that were reported to police were about twice as likely to result in assistance from victim service agency **************************************** Victim service agencies in the community provide assistance to domestic violence victims, often in addition to that provided by law enforcement. In some areas, these agencies may be the only source of such assistance. Like specialized units operated by law enforcement, victim service agencies provide victims with support and services to aid their physical and emotional recovery, offer protection from future victimizations, guide them through the criminal justice process, and assist them in obtaining restitution. ***Footnote 8For more information on victim service agencies, see Use of Victim Service Agencies by Victims of Serious Violent Crime, 1993-2009 (NCJ 234212, BJS web, August 2011).*** During 10-year aggregate period from 2006-15, an estimated 21% of domestic violence victimizations, or about 280,000 per year, resulted in a victim receiving assistance from a victim service agency (table 13). Those who reported their victimization to police were about twice as likely to receive assistance (28%) from a victim service agency as those who did not report (13%). Domestic violence victims received assistance more often when an incident involved an intimate partner (24%) than when it involved other victim-offender relationships (16%). ************************************************************ **************** Methodology **************** Survey coverage ***************** The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The NCVS is a self- report survey in which persons are asked about the number and characteristics of victimizations they experienced in the preceding 6 months. The NCVS collects information on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, and personal larceny) and household property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, and other theft) both reported and not reported to police. Because the NCVS is based on interviews with victims, it does not measure homicide. The NCVS is administered to persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of households in the United States. The NCVS defines a household as a group of members who all reside at a sampled address. Persons are considered household members when the sampled address is their usual place of residence at the time of the interview and when they have no usual place of residence elsewhere. It includes persons living in group quarters, such as dormitories, rooming houses, and religious group dwellings, but excludes persons living in military barracks and institutional settings, such as correctional or hospital facilities. It also excludes homeless persons. Once selected, households remain in the sample for 3 years, and eligible persons in these households are interviewed every 6 months for a total of seven interviews. Generally, all first interviews are conducted in person with subsequent interviews conducted either in person or by phone. New households rotate into the sample on an ongoing basis to replace outgoing households that have been in the sample for the 3-year period. Survey respondents provide information about themselves (age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, education level, and income) and whether they experienced a victimization. The NCVS also collects information from the victim’s perspective on each victimization incident about-- * the offender (age, race, Hispanic origin, sex, and victim- offender relationship) * characteristics of the crime (including time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences) * whether the crime was reported to police * reasons the crime was or was not reported * victim experiences with the criminal justice system. All of this information is provided by the victim, and the victim’s account may differ from the information maintained in official records. Victimization is the basic unit of analysis used in this report. A victimization is a crime that affects one person or household. For personal crimes, the number of victimizations is equal to the number of victims present during a criminal incident. The number of victimizations may be greater than the number of criminal incidents because more than one person may be victimized during an incident. Because the information provided by victims for use in this report is limited to the NCVS interview reference period, it is limited to victimizations that occurred in the preceding 6 months. The median time elapsed from incident to interview for the domestic violence victimizations analyzed for this report was about 4 months. For an estimated 18% of victimizations, the domestic violence incident being referenced occurred less than 1 month before the interview. For these victimizations, some related events, especially those involving police follow-up activities, may not have occurred yet. By the time of the interview, the offender was arrested or charges were filed in a smaller percentage of victimizations with a short-term reference period (30%) than victimizations with a longer reference period (41%). Because these short- term cases accounted for nearly a fifth of domestic violence victimizations analyzed for this report, the estimates related to police follow-up activities, including arrests or charges filed that occurred after the initial response, may be slightly underestimated. Nonresponse and weighting adjustments **************************************** In 2015, there were 95,760 households and 163,880 persons age 12 or older interviewed for the NCVS. Each household was interviewed twice during the year. The response rate was 82% for households and 86% for eligible persons. Victimizations that occurred outside of the United States were excluded from this report. In 2015, fewer than 1% of the unweighted victimizations occurred outside of the United States. Estimates in this report use 10-year aggregate data from the 2006 to 2015 NCVS data files, weighted to produce annual estimates of victimization for persons age 12 or older living in U.S. households. Because the NCVS relies on a sample rather than a census of the entire U.S. population, weights are designed to inflate sample point estimates to known population totals and to compensate for survey nonresponse and other aspects of the sample design. The NCVS data files include both person and household weights. Person weights provide an estimate of the population represented by each person in the sample. Household weights provide an estimate of the U.S. household population represented by each household in the sample. After proper adjustment, both household and person weights are also typically used to form the denominator in calculations of crime rates. Victimization weights used in this analysis account for the number of persons present during an incident and for high- frequency repeat victimizations (or series victimizations). Series victimizations are similar in type but occur with such frequency that a victim is unable to recall each individual event or describe each event in detail. Survey procedures allow NCVS interviewers to identify and classify these similar victimizations as series victimizations and to collect detailed information on only the most recent incident in the series. The weight counts series incidents as the actual number of incidents reported by the victim, up to a maximum of 10 incidents. Including series victimizations in national rates results in increases in the level of violent victimization. However, trends in violent crime are generally similar regardless of whether series victimizations are included. In 2015, series incidents accounted for about 1% of all victimizations and 4% of all violent victimizations. Weighting series incidents as the number of incidents up to a maximum of 10 incidents produces more reliable estimates of crime levels, and it minimizes the effect of extreme outliers on the rates. Additional information on counting series incidents is detailed in the report Methods for Counting High-Frequency Repeat Victimizations in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCJ 237308, BJS web, April 2012). Standard error computations ****************************** When national estimates are derived from a sample, as with the NCVS, use caution when comparing one estimate to another estimate or when comparing estimates over time. Although one estimate may be larger than another, estimates based on a sample have some degree of sampling error. The sampling error of an estimate depends on several factors, including the amount of variation in the responses and the size of the sample. When the sampling error around an estimate is accounted for, estimates that appear different may not be statistically different. One measure of the sampling error associated with an estimate is the standard error. The standard error may vary from one estimate to the next. Generally, an estimate with a small standard error provides a more reliable approximation of the true value than an estimate with a large standard error. Estimates with relatively large standard errors are associated with less precision and reliability and should be interpreted with caution. To generate standard errors around numbers and estimates from the NCVS, the U.S. Census Bureau produced generalized variance function (GVF) parameters for BJS. The GVF parameters account for aspects of the NCVS’s complex sample design and represent the curve fitted to a selection of individual standard errors using the Jackknife Repeated Replication technique. The GVF parameters were used to generate standard errors for each point estimate (such as counts, percentages, and rates) in this report. BJS conducted tests to determine if differences in estimated numbers and percentages in this report were statistically significant when accounting for the sampling error. Using statistical programs developed specifically for the NCVS, BJS tested all comparisons in this report for significance. The Student’s t-statistic, which tests the difference between two sample estimates, was the primary test procedure. Data users can use the estimates and the standard errors of the estimates provided in this report to generate a confidence interval around the estimate as a measure of the margin of error. The following example illustrates how standard errors can be used to generate confidence intervals: According to the NCVS, in 2006-15, 55.7% of all nonfatal domestic violence victimizations were reported to police. Using the GVF parameters, it was determined that the estimated percentage had a standard error of 1.5 (see appendix table 10). A confidence interval around the estimate was generated by multiplying the standard error by ±1.96 (the t-score of a normal, two-tailed distribution that excludes 2.5% at either end of the distribution). Therefore, the 95% confidence interval around the 55.7% estimate from 2015 is 55.7 ± (1.5 x 1.96) or (52.8 to 58.6). In other words, if different samples using the same procedures were taken from the U.S. population for the years 2006 to 2015, 95% of the time the reporting rate for nonfatal domestic violence would be within the 52.8% to 58.6% range. BJS also calculated a coefficient of variation (CV) for all estimates, which represents the ratio of the standard error to the estimate. CVs provide a measure of reliability and a means for comparing the precision of estimates across measures with differing levels or metrics (not presented in this report).When the CV was greater than 50%, or the unweighted sample had 10 or fewer cases, the estimate was noted with a “!” symbol. (Interpret data with caution. Estimate based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or the CV is greater than 50%.) The LEMAS survey ******************* This report uses data from the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey. The LEMAS survey periodically collects data from more than 3,000 general purpose law enforcement agencies, including state police/highway patrol agencies, local police departments, and sheriffs’ offices. The survey includes all agencies that employ 100 or more sworn officers and a nationally representative sample of smaller agencies. Previous LEMAS data collections occurred in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1999 (limited scope), 2000, 2003, and 2007. LEMAS obtains data on-- * functions performed * operating expenditures * job functions of sworn and nonsworn employees * officer salaries and special pay * demographic characteristics of officers * education and training requirements * types of weapons authorized * body armor policies * computers and information systems * types of vehicles operated * use of special units * task force participation * community policing activities. For more methodological information on the LEMAS survey including sample design and selection, response rates, and imputation procedures, see Local Police Departments, 2013 (NCJ 248767, BJS web, July 2015). ************************************************************ The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable and valid statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and participates with national and international organizations to develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics. Jeri M. Mulrow is acting director. This report was written by Brian A. Reaves. Rachel Morgan and Connor Brooks verified the report. Brigitte Coulton and Jill Thomas edited the report. Steve Grudziecki and Tina Dorsey produced the report. May 2017, NCJ 250231 ************************************************************ *************************************************** Office of Justice Programs Building Solutions * Supporting Communities * Advancing Justice www.ojp.usdoj.gov *************************************************** ******************************* 4/17/2017 JER 9:40am *******************************