Department of Justice

FY 2000 Summary Performance Plan

Prepared by the Justice Management Division
March 1999

 

APPENDIX B

SELECTED SOURCES OF PERFORMANCE DATA

There are numerous existing Justice data sources from which performance data can and will be obtained. Many of these provide detailed national and local level data on crime, criminal justice and other issues on a periodic basis. Others are used for internal management purposes. They include:

Bureau of Justice Statistics Reports

The Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the primary source of justice statistics in the United States. It collects, analyzes, publishes and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime and the operation of the justice system at all levels of government. Many BJS data collection activities are carried out by the U. S. Census Bureau. BJS also coordinates with other Department of Justice statistical efforts including the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program.

The BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is, along with the UCR, the major source of crime statistics in this country. NCVS data complement the UCR data by asking a nationally representative sample of persons age 12 or older a series of questions about crimes they have experienced, the consequences of these victimizations and characteristics of their offenders. Thus, the NCVS, unlike the UCR, includes crimes both reported and not reported to the police.

BJS has collaborated with the National Center for Education Statistics to use the NCVS to obtain information on the availability of drugs and alcohol, existence of gangs and other aspects of school-related crime. In addition, BJS is working with the FBI to improve the participation of law enforcement agencies in hate crime reporting. It is also working with COPS to provide statistical support for its evaluation purposes and has enhanced its Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey to collect information about community policing units, training activities and policies related to community policing.

The BJS Federal Justice Statistics series provides annual uniform case processing statistics across different stages of the federal criminal justice system and tracks individual defendants from one stage of the process to another using data obtained from each of the federal agencies. Uniform definitions are applied. Since these are consistent with definitions used by other BJS programs, it is possible to make comparisons between federal and state case processing statistics. BJS publishes three basic reports under its Federal Program: the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, Federal Criminal Case Processing and special reports on specific topics of interest.

BJS also works with the states to improve the quality of their criminal history records, including the development of procedures to identify felons who attempt to purchase firearms. These data can be used to help assess the impact of presale firearms checks.

United States Attorneys Annual Statistical Reports

Much of the data on federal criminal case processing is obtained from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) which collects information on the workload and activities of the United States Attorneys. The United States Attorneys initiate about 95 percent of the criminal cases prosecuted, and over 70 percent of the civil cases litigated by the Department of Justice. For the past two years EOUSA has been working with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the United States Sentencing Commission, the Bureau of Prisons, the Criminal Division and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to reconcile discrepancies in data on federal case processing reported by these agencies. As a result of this continuing interagency effort, progress has been made in making the data more compatible and easier to understand.

FBI Uniform Crime Reports

One of the most important data sources is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which measures crime incidence as reported to the FBI by local police departments. UCR data are limited by their reliance on the participation and abilities of local police departments and the willingness of crime victims to report offenses to the police. Efforts are underway to replace the UCR with the National Incident-Based Crime Reporting System (NIBRS) which will provide more detailed information on crimes, offenders and victims.

Immigration and Naturalization Service Statistics

INS collects and publishes annually statistical data on such items as immigrants admitted, persons naturalized, refugees, asylum applicants, adjudications, investigations, apprehensions, expulsions, removals and the like. INS is working to improve the quality and accessibility of its data. A Corporate Information Systems program is integrating and consolidating INS information, enhancing records management capabilities and instituting quality control checks.

Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM)

This program, managed by the National Institute of Justice, operates in selected sites (both urban and rural) and collects data on actual drug use. These data can be used both as a baseline and measure of impact in assessing program interventions.

Juvenile Justice Statistics

Data on juvenile delinquency and juvenile court activities are provided through the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. This archive is maintained by the National Center for Juvenile Justice for the Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Internal Systems

Justice components maintain a number of internal systems and databases that contain a wide array of information that will be used to track and report program performance. These include:



 

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