Related Links

This online course covers major types of traumatic deaths in forensic pathology, relating these to death investigation.

Course is approved by the following for 19.5 hours of Continuing Education

• American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI)
• International Association for Identification - Crime Scene

This analysis tool allows you to examine National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data on both violent and property crime by select victim, household, and incident characteristics. The tool gives you instant access to victimization estimates from 1993 to the most recent year that NCVS data are available. The NCVS is an annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for BJS.

The FCCPS data tool compiles comprehensive information provided by selected federal criminal justice agencies, ranging from arrest to reentry. Users can access data on suspects and defendants processed across stages of the federal criminal justice system from 1994.

This dynamic analysis tool allows you to examine data collected by BJS's Annual Probation Survey on all adults, regardless of conviction status, who have been placed under the supervision of a probation agency as part of a court order.

This dynamic analysis tool allows you to examine national and jurisdictional data for both federal and state correctional authorities. You can view year-end populations, admissions, and releases by legal jurisdiction, physical custody in private facilities and local jails, imprisonment rate, citizenship status, prison capacity, juvenile or adult age group, and sex. The tool uses National Prisoner Statistics.

This dynamic analysis tool allows you to examine data collected by the Annual Parole Survey on persons sentenced as adults who were conditionally released to parole supervision, by parole board decision, by mandatory conditional release, through other types of post-custody conditional supervision, or as the result of a sentence to a term of supervised release.

This dynamic data analysis tool allows you to generate trend tables and figures of arrest data since 1980, including national arrest estimates and agency-level counts by offense, age, sex, and race. The underlying data are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

FBI Civil Rights Program combats hate crime by investigating crimes, including cold cases; assisting and training state and local law enforcement; and conducting public outreach.

Provides statistics on firearm possession, theft and loss, and manufacture and export, as well as state-by-state data on firearm tracing.

The National DNA Index (NDIS) contains over 14,541,796 profiles of those convicted of a crime, 4,341,864 profiles of those arrested and 1,103,683 forensic profiles as of April 2021. Ultimately, the success of the CODIS program will be measured by the crimes it helps to solve. CODIS's primary metric, the "Investigation Aided," tracks the number of criminal investigations where CODIS has added value to the investigative...

From 1986 to 2006 the National Judicial Reporting Program (NJRP) collected felony sentencing from a nationally representative stratified sample of state courts in 300 counties. The information collected included: age, race and gender of offenders; dates of arrest, conviction and sentencing data; mode of conviction and type of sentence imposed. Data were collected every 2 years during this time period.

The Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (CJSSC) provided a broad, systematic investigation of the nature of civil litigation (i.e., tort, contract, and real property cases) disposed of in a sample of state general jurisdiction courts. Data collected includes information about the types of civil cases litigated at trial, types of plaintiffs and defendants, trial winners, amount of total damages awarded, amount of punitive damages...

Collects incarcerated person death records from each of the nation's 50 state prison systems, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and approximately 2,800 local jail jurisdictions. Between 2003 and 2014, BJS also collected data on persons who died while in the process of arrest.

Formerly Deaths in Custody Reporting Program.

Provides a comprehensive look at the forensic services provided by federal, state, and local crime labs across the nation and the resources devoted to completing the work. The Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories collects data on staff, budgets, and workloads within publicly operated labs. The census also provides information on lab accreditations, proficiency tests, and other quality assurances.

The BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 interviews on criminal victimization, involving 160,000 unique persons in about 95,000 households. Persons are interviewed on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States.

The Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) program collects information on firearm applications and denials and combines this information with the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) transaction data to produce an estimated number of background checks for firearm transfers or permits since the effective date of the Brady Act in 1994.

Provides data describing campus law enforcement agencies serving U.S. 4-year universities or colleges with 2,500 or more students. Also surveyed were 2-year institutions with 2,500 or more students and a sample of 4-year institutions with 1,000 to 2,499 students. Data were collected on personnel, functions, expenditures and pay, operations, equipment, computers and information systems, community policing activities, specialized units, and emergency preparedness activities.

The Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) provides detailed information on the characteristics of persons who had some type of contact with police during the past year, including those who contacted the police to report a crime or were pulled over in a traffic stop. The PPCS interviews a nationally representative sample of residents age 16 or older as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey...

Provides data on all state and local law enforcement agencies operating nationwide. Data collected include the number of sworn and civilian personnel by state and type of agency, and functions performed by each agency.

Beginning in 2016, the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey adopted a core and supplement structure. Conducted periodically since 1987, the LEMAS core collects data from over 3,000 general purpose, county, and local law enforcement agencies, including all those that employ 100 or more full-time sworn officers and a nationally representative sample of smaller agencies.

Collects data from all federal law enforcement agencies with arrest and firearms authority. Data collected include the number of officers working in the areas of criminal investigation and law enforcement, police patrol and response, security and protection, court operations, and corrections, by agency and state.

Collected data from state law enforcement agencies with traffic patrol responsibility about their policies for recording race and ethnicity data for persons in traffic stops. Basic information was obtained on the circumstances under which demographic data were collected for traffic-related stops and whether this information was stored in an electronically accessible format. The data collection was not designed to obtain available agency databases containing traffic-stop...

This collection yields annual data on national and state-level year-end counts of persons sentenced to death and executed. Data collected include offender demographic characteristics, prior criminal histories, criminal justice system status at the time of the capital offense, date of death sentence, and date and type of sentence disposition. The collection also includes summary information on the status of and changes to death penalty statutes.

The 2019 Census of Jails (COJ) is part of a series of data collections that studies the nation's local jails and the 12 Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) detention facilities that function as jails. The 2019 COJ collected data necessary for producing estimates on local jail populations, including one-day custody counts by sex, race and Hispanic origin, conviction status, and severity of offense (felony and...

Conducted approximately every five to seven years, the Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (CCF) collects facility-level data on the operations of facilities and the conditions of confinement, including facility capacity and crowding, court orders, safety and security within prisons, security-staff workload, overall facility function, programming, work assignments, and special housing. The CCF furnishes the sampling frame for the nationwide Survey of Inmates...

Includes data on the number of law enforcement agencies and officers; characteristics of tribal courts and their caseloads; types of available criminal sanctions; and criminal justice statistics data collection and sharing capacity. The census collected data from nearly 350 tribes in the continental U.S. and is the first comprehensive effort to identify the range of justice agencies operating in tribal jurisdictions, the services those agencies...

The 2006 Census of State Parole Supervising Agencies collected data from parole supervising organizations about the organizational structure of the agencies, staffing, supervision levels of convicted persons, and whether the parole agency had a role in considering incarcerated persons for release, setting the conditions of supervision, and conducting parole revocation hearings. This collection was conducted one time in 2006. The census was sent to 68...

The National Inmate Survey (NIS) is part of BJS's National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which gathers mandated data on the incidence and prevalence of sexual assault in correctional facilities under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108-79). PREA requires a 10% sample of correctional facilities to be listed by incidence of sexual assault, with a minimum of one prison and one jail...

Administered to a sample of approximately 950 local jails (city, county, regional, and private) nationwide, the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) provides national estimates on the number of incarcerated persons confined in jails, demographic characteristics and criminal justice status of the jail population, holds for federal and state prison authorities, counts of admissions and releases, number of jail employees, and rated capacity.

The goal of NCSS is to produce reliable national and industry-level estimates of the prevalence of computer security incidents (such as denial of service attacks, fraud, or theft of information) against businesses and the resulting losses incurred by businesses. The first national survey of thousands of businesses is being conducted in 2006. It is cosponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Cyber...

The FJSP provides annual data on workload, activities, and outcomes associated with federal criminal cases. BJS acquires information on all aspects of processing in the federal justice system, including—

• the number of persons investigated, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, sentenced to probation, released pretrial, and under parole or other supervision
• initial prosecution decisions, referrals to magistrates, court dispositions, sentencing outcomes, sentence length, and time served.

The program...

Collect administrative data from probation and parole agencies in the United States. Data collected include the total number of adults on state and federal probation and parole on January 1 and December 31 of each year, the number of adults entering and exiting probation and parole supervision each year, and the characteristics of adults under the supervision of probation and parole agencies. Published data include...

The National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) collects administrative data annually on prison admissions and releases, and year-end custody populations, and on parole entries and discharges in participating jurisdictions. Demographic information, conviction offenses, sentence length, minimum time to be served, credited jail time, type of admission, type of release, and time served are collected from individual records of incarcerated persons. The collection began in 1983 and...

This survey summarizes the data elements maintained by state and federal corrections information systems that track adult, sentenced offenders, and assesses the severity of obstacles in reporting statistical information. Two instruments, an Inventory Questionnaire and an Obstacles Survey, were mailed to Departments of Correction in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

BJS uses criminal history records to study the number and types of crimes committed by persons incarcerated in state prisons both prior to and following their release. The first study tracked a sample of persons incarcerated in state prisons released in 11 states in 1983, and the second study followed a sample of persons incarcerated in state prisons released in 15 states in 1994. Both...

The data obtained from the National Survey of Prosecutors (NSP) provided data on prosecutorial activities nationwide as well as a variety of administrative and legal issues facing prosecutors who handle felony cases in state courts. The 2007 NSP data collection was a census, rather than a survey, and included 2,330 prosecutors' offices. Prior to the 2007 census, the most recent census of state prosecutors had...

Produces annual national- and state-level data on the number of prisoners in state and federal prison facilities. Aggregate data are collected on race and sex of prison inmates, inmates held in private facilities and local jails, system capacity, noncitizens, and persons age 17 or younger. Findings are released in the Prisoners series and the Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Prisoners.

The Bureau Justice Statistics in a joint effort with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), conducted victimization surveys in 12 selected cities. The standard National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) instrument was used with questions about citizen perceptions of community policing and neighborhood issues.

The one-time survey provided national estimates of the recidivism rate of felons sentenced to probation in selected years. In the survey, samples of convicted felons placed on probation were tracked for three years, and data were compiled on the percentage of them who were are rearrested, reconvicted, or reimprisoned for new crimes within the three-year follow-up period. The various recidivism measures were based on official...

Collects data on intentional injuries, such as domestic violence, rape, and child abuse, from a national sample of hospital emergency rooms. Through the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), information is obtained on characteristics of the victim and offender, victim- offender relationship, alcohol/drug involvement in the incident, and circumstances of the injury.

Collects data used as the basis for estimating the percentage of total state records that are immediately available through the FBI's Interstate Identification Index (III) and the percentage that include dispositions. Other data collected include the number of records maintained by each state, the percentage of automated records in the system, and the number of states participating in the FBI's III.

Every year since 1980, BJS has extracted justice expenditure and employment data from the Census Bureau's Annual Government Finance Survey and Annual Survey of Public Employment. BJS publishes these data in the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts series, which presents estimates of government expenditures and employment for the following justice categories: police protection, all judicial and legal functions (including prosecution, courts, and public defense), and...

First conducted in 1991 by a joint effort between BJS and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The survey is conducted concurrently with the SISCF and includes the same data items: individual characteristics of prison inmates, current offenses and sentences, characteristics of victims, criminal histories, family background, gun possession and use, prior drug and alcohol use and treatment, medical and mental health history and treatment...

The Court Statistics Project (CSP) provides a systematic means to develop a valid, uniform, and complete statistical database that details the operation of state court systems. It provides high-quality, baseline information on state court structure, jurisdiction, reporting practices, and caseload volume and trends. Effective management and planning at the local, state, and national levels depend on accurate, consistent, and comparable information to assess the business...

This collection serves as the primary source for detailed information on the structure and framework of state courts.

Formerly National Pretrial Reporting Program (through 1994), SCPS provided data on the criminal justice processing of persons charged with felonies in 40 jurisdictions representative of the 75 largest counties. These counties accounted for nearly half of the serious crime nationwide. The program prospectively tracked felony defendants from charging by the prosecutor until disposition of their cases (a maximum of 12 months for nonmurder cases and...

Collects detailed information on confinement facilities, detention centers, jails, and other facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Information is gathered on incarcerated person counts, movements, facility operations, and staff. In selected years (1998, 2004, 2007, and 2011), additional information was collected on facility programs and services, such as medical assessments and mental health screening procedures, incarcerated person work assignments, counseling...

Collects data about the state laws, regulations, procedures, and information systems related to sales and other transfers of firearms that were in effect as of June 30 of the collection year. These data were collected from hundreds of federal, state, and local agencies, including law enforcement organizations, statistical analysis centers, and legislative research bureaus. 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Conducted during 1999-2000, this survey represented the first systematic study of indigent criminal defense services by BJS since the 1980s. The study collected indigent criminal defense data at the trial level for (1) the 100 most populous counties in the United States, (2) 197 counties outside of the 100 most populous counties, and (3) states that entirely funded criminal indigent defense services. Information obtained includes...

This direct survey of governments collects detailed justice expenditure data. These data are the basis for calculating variable pass-through estimates needed to distribute the formula funds of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Less detailed annual expenditure and employment data are available in the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts series, which produces similar but...