Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Primary Tasks of the BJS

The BJS publishes annual information on criminal victimizations, offenders under correctional supervision, and federal statistics on criminal offenders and case processing. One of the annual publications is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS data, which are collected by the Bureau of the Census from approximately 150,000 victims of crime, describe the effects and consequences of victimization. Information within the NCVS reveals how victims and offenders meet and the specifics of the crime, such as weapons, costs of the crime, and place and time of the offense.

In addition to the annual NCVS, the BJS releases intermittent publications on administrative and management issues in policing and corrections, practices and policies among prosecutors, and criminal and civil court processes in state courts. It also produces various work on felony convictions, characteristics of correctional populations, budgeting and expenditures in criminal justice, employment information, and other research on criminal justice topics.

How to Access BJS Information

Information disseminated by the BJS is available to criminal justice policymakers and scholars in a number of ways. First, BJS findings can be requested through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). The NCJRS provides copies of reports to interested parties and maintains a mailing list. The NCJRS will provide referrals to other sources of criminal statistics for anyone interested in these data.

Second, research information from the BJS can also be downloaded from the Internet through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). The NACJD provides secondary data for quantitative research in order to facilitate studies in the field of criminal justice. The NACJD will also provide technical assistance to individuals interested in performing quantitative research.

Third, the Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC) maintains data collected from federal policing, judiciary, and correctional agencies on criminal suspects and defendants processed in the federal system. Researchers can download criminal justice data sets and search for statistics on federal offenses and offenders on the FJSRC Web site, which operates in conjunction with the BJS.

Fourth, the BJS sponsors the National Clearing-house for Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS). The CJIS acts as a clearinghouse for information on criminal justice resources and grant opportunities. It provides information on criminal justice software programs, information technology, best practices, case studies, and federal and state criminal justice system activities. Finally, the Infobase of State Activities and Research (ISAR) provides information about research and publication activities in individual states. The BJS provides publications on state-related criminal justice programs to the ISAR.

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