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MONTH IN REVIEW

October 2021

BJS press release


Indian country jails see 30% decrease in inmate population attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON ? A total of 2,020 inmates were held in 82 jails in Indian country at midyear 2020, a 30% decrease from the 2,890 inmates held in 83 facilities at midyear 2019. The midyear 2020 inmate population was the lowest since 2004, when 1,745 persons were confined in Indian country jails.

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BJS press release


BJS releases 2020 National Crime Victimization Survey data

WASHINGTON ? BJS released findings from the 2020 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which show a 22% decline in the total violent victimization rate from 2019 to 2020. The rate of violent crime dropped from 21.0 to 16.4 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.

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BJS press release


Nearly a fifth of state and federal prisons and a tenth of local jails had at least one suicide in 2019

WASHINGTON ? A total of 340 persons in state and federal prisons and 355 persons in local jails died by suicide in 2019. The number of suicides in local jails increased 5% from 2018 to 2019, while suicides in state and federal prisons were stable. Suicides accounted for 30% of deaths in local jails and 8% of deaths in state and federal prisons in 2019, based on the most recent mortality data from BJS.

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BJS publication


Federal Justice Statistics, 2019

This report, the 33rd in an annual series which began in 1979, provides national statistics on the federal response to crime. It describes case processing in the federal criminal justice system for fiscal year 2019.

Findings are based on BJS?s Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP). The FJSP collects, standardizes, and reports on administrative data from six federal justice agencies: the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Sentencing Commission.

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BJS publication


Human Trafficking Data Collection Activities, 2021

This report describes BJS?s activities during 2020 and 2021 to collect data and report on human trafficking as required by the Combat Human Trafficking Act of 2015 (34 U.S.C. ? 20709(e)). It details ongoing and completed efforts to measure and analyze the nationwide incidence of human trafficking, to describe characteristics of human-trafficking victims and offenders, and to describe criminal justice responses to human-trafficking offenses.

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BJS publication


Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2018

This report presents data on the number of applications for background checks for firearm transfers and permits received by the FBI and state and local checking agencies in 2018. It provides the percentage of applications that were denied and the reasons for denial. It also describes the types of permits used and the number of applications and denials by each state. This report is the seventeenth in the series.

Findings in this report are based on BJS?s Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) program. FIST collects information on firearm applications, denials, and reasons for denial from state and local checking agencies then combines it with data from the FBI?s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). FIST also collects data on denials that the FBI referred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives? Denial Enforcement and NICS Intelligence Branch for investigation and possible prosecution.

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BJS publication


Census of Jails, 2005?2019?? Statistical Tables?

This report details characteristics of jail inmates, including demographics, conviction status, and most serious offense at the state level. It also presents data on jail facilities, such as rated capacity, facility functions, and jail staff.

Findings are based on data from the 2005, 2013, and 2019 Census of Jails collections. The census is a complete enumeration of local jail jurisdictions and facilities and of the Federal Bureau of Prisons? 12 detention facilities that function as jails.

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BJS publication


Services for Crime Victims, 2019

This report presents statistics on five types of victim service providers (VSPs) that assisted crime victims in 2019: nonprofit or faith-based; governmental; hospital, medical, or emergency; campus; and tribal VSPs. The report examines the average number of services provided, types of commonly provided services, gaps in service, and organizations that typically referred victims to VSPs for assistance.

Findings are based on data from the National Survey of Victim Service Providers, which BJS conducted for the first time from May to November 2019.

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BJS data collection


Datasets now available:
2018?Annual Probation Survey and 2018 Annual Parole Survey

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released two datasets on persons supervised in the community on probation and parole through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

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Access the Parole Dataset


BJS data collection


Datasets now available: Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country,
2019 and 2020

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released datasets on Indian Country jail statistics through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, BJS added a special addendum to the 2020 survey to measure the impact of this public health emergency on Indian country jails.

Access the 2019 Dataset

Access the 2020 Dataset


BJS data collection

Datasets now available: National Crime Victimization Survey, 2020 and National Crime Victimization Survey, Concatenated File, 1992-2020

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released two datasets on criminal victimization through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. It collects information on nonfatal personal crimes and household property crimes.

The NCVS is administered to persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. The survey collects data on both crimes reported and not reported to police.

Access the 2020 Dataset

Access the 1992-2020 Dataset


BJS third-party report


Survey of Publicly Appointed Defense Attorneys: Design Study

This BJS third-party report presents the development work for a national survey of publicly appointed defense attorneys who provide legal services to adults and juveniles charged with criminal offenses. It describes development work and survey instrument cognitive testing and addresses the challenges of identifying the appropriate universe, sampling, and nonresponse issues. This report was produced by the Urban Institute, Indigent Defense Research Association, and National Association for Public Defense for BJS under award number 2016-R2-CX-K032.

Please see the disclaimer for this report. This email does not represent an endorsement of any third-party publication or entity referenced herein.

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BJS third-party report


National Crime Victimization Survey: Assessment of Outlier Weights

This report was produced by RTI International for BJS under award number 2020-85-CX-K017. The purpose of the research described in this report is to (1) examine the presence and impact of outlier cases in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data, (2) develop a strategy for identifying these cases and mitigating their effects, and (3) evaluate the impact of this strategy on annual estimates, the precision of estimates, and trends in victimization over time. This work was conducted as part of BJS?s active research program on weighting, designed to improve the quality and accuracy of NCVS estimates.

Please see the disclaimer for this report. This email does not represent an endorsement of any third-party publication or entity referenced herein.

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BJS third-party report


Prosecution of Federal Firearms Offenses, 2000-16

This report was produced by Urban Institute for BJS under award number 2017-BJ-CX-K055. It describes trends associated with the prosecution of persons charged with a firearm offense in U.S. district courts from 2000 to 2016. It presents data on the following stages of the federal criminal justice system: investigations and referrals of suspects to U.S. attorneys; prosecutions and convictions of defendants in U.S. district court; and sentencing. Statistics are based on analysis of data from BJS?s Federal Justice Statistics Program.

Please see the disclaimer for this report. This email does not represent an endorsement of any third-party publication or entity referenced herein.

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BJS announcement


New BJS Deputy Director, Kevin Scott

Kevin Scott is the new deputy director of the Statistical Operations Division at BJS.

Learn more about BJS?s new Deputy Director.


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