Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Report Fiscal 1985
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/OO/f";;L u.s. Department of Justice Bureau of Ju~tice Statistic~ Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Report Fiscal 1985 Trends in victimization rates for selected crimes, 1973-84 Rate per 1,000 persons or households 140 % change 1973-84 80 60 Crimes of violence 40 (rape. robbery. assault) 20, __Motor ........ vehicle _--- theft ___ _ u.s. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics ..... "' Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Report Fiscal 1985 April 1986 NCJ-100182 U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Steven R. Schlesinger Director Benjamin H. Renshaw III Deputy Director Joseph M. Bessette Deputy Director Charles R. Kindermann Associate Director S. S. Ashton, Jr. Assistant Director Sue A. Lindgren Associate Deputy Director The Justice Assistance Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-473), Section 810, requires that "Not later than April 1 of each year ... the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics ... shall ... submit a report to the President and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, on [the Bureau's] activities under this title during the fiscal year next preceding such date." The Attorney General has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the pUblic business required by law of the Department of JuS:i't:e. ii Bureau of Justice Statistics U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Office or the Director Wusl:mgtoll, D. C 2053 I The President of the United States The Speaker of the House of Representatives The President of the Senate I am pleased to report on the activities of the Bureau of JUstice Statistics during fiscal 1985 as required by the Justice Assistance Act of 1984, Public Law 98-473, 42 USC 378ge. In addition to summarizing BJS programs and activities, this report presents the latest statistical information on a variety of criminal justice issues. The report also describes BJS eHorts to improve the quality and coverage of data on crime, victims of crime, and the criminal justice system. The final section describes the activities of individual State statistical agencies, which have been supported by BJS and which serve functions for States similar to those served by BJS at the national level. I hope that the report will be of interest and use to you and your staH. Respectfully submitted, Steven R. Schlesinger Director 1985 Annual Report iii r i Contents Transmittal leiter iii The public response to crime 20 Reporting crime 20 I Introduction 1 Fear of crime 21 BJS reports on ... Public confidence in the criminal I justice system 22 Crime 5 Adjudication and sentencing 23 Crime trends 6 Local prosecution 25 The volume of crime 6 \ Federal prosecution and Violent crime 7 pretrial release 26 i Victims of crime 7 Indigent defense 27 The relationship between Court case loads 28 victim and offender 8 I Appeals and habeas Crime against District of Columbia corpus 28 t residents and Capitol Hill employees 9 Sentencing practices 29 Sentencing outcomes 30 1 Characteristics of various types ! of crime 10 Corrections 32 Correctional populations 34 Rape 10 Prison and jail crowding 35 Household burglary 10 I Prison funding 36 Bank robbery 11 i Time served in prison 36 Automated teller machine loss and Capital punishment 37 r theft 12 Recidivism and career criminals 38 Victim and witness programs 13 Privacy, security, I Drugs, alcohol, and crime 14 and confidentiality of ! criminal justice data 39 [ The cost of crime 17 ! ,t Economic cost of crime I to victims 18 ! I Cost of the justice system 18 Cost to society of illegal drug use 19 f[ iv Bureau of Justice Statistics .. New initiatives 41 Idaho 74 Illinois 75 National Crime Survey Iowa 77 redesign 42 Kansas 78 Uniform Crime Reporting Kentucky 79 assessment 43 Louisiana 80 Maine 82 National Crime Survey Maryland 83 supplements 45 Massachusetts 84 Police administrative and Michigan 85 management statistics 46 Minnesota 86 Pretrial statistics 47 Mississippi 87 Missouri 88 A national court statistics program 47 Montana 89 Nebraska 90 National assessment of New Hampshire 92 juvenile justice data collection New York 93 efforts 48 North Carolina 96 Federal civil justice data 49 North Dakota 97 Quality of criminal history Ohio 98 data 50 Oregon 99 Pennsylvania 101 Comparative International Puerto Rico 102 statistics on Incarceration 50 Rhode Island 103 National recidivism statistics South Carolina 105 series 51 South Dakota 107 Texas 108 State statistical program 53 Utah 109 Virginia 111 State statistical analysis center Virgin Islands 112 (SAC) narratives 61 Washington 113 Alabama 62 Wisconsin 114 Alaska 63 Wyoming 115 Arizona 64 Arkansas 65 Appendixes California 66 A Sources of narratives on State Colorado 68 activities 117 Connecticut 69 Delaware 70 B Reports isSued by BJS during fiscal District of Columbia 71 1985 123 Florida 72 C Source notes 125 Hawaii 73 1985 Annual Report v r" Contents I Figures Trends in victimization rates for selected crimes, 1973-84 cover If Civil and criminal appeals filed, 1973-83 (38 States) 28 A typical 100 sentences in felony court 31 Ii Prisoner population, 1926-84 35 I Tabies 1 Functional activities of State statistical analysis centers . during calendar 1985, by State 54 2 Issues for which State statistical analysis centers produced data or conducted research, calendar 1985, by State 58 vi Bureau of Justice Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)- BJS reserves to itself the I' "1ction of initial I) collects, analyzes, publishes, and dis data analysis. This analysis is performed seminates statistical information on crime, by the BJS staff of statisticians, crimi victims of crime, criminal Offenders, and nologists, and social science analysts. BJS operations of justice systems at all levels of maintains this internal analytic capability to government provide the Administration, Congress, the It provides financial and technical support judiciary, and the public with timely and to State statistical and operating agencies accurate data concerning problems of o analyzes national information policy on crime and the administration of justice in such issues as the privacy, confidentiality, the Nation. and security of criminal justice data and the interstate exchange of criminal records. BJS prepared and disseminated 39 reports and data releases during fiscal 1985, a In the 6 years since its creation, BJS has 44% increase over fiscal 1984. developed a program that responds to the diverse requirements of the 1979 Justice BJS Bulletins, begun in 1981, present data System Improvement Act and the 1984 gleaned from its various statistical series. Justice Assistance Act. These acts ad- In a nontechnical format, each BJS Bulletin dressed more than half a century of presents the latest information on particular recommendations calling for an indepen aspects of crime or the administration of dent and objective national center to justice from the Bureau's ongoing statistical provide basic information on crime to the series. President, the Congress, the judiciary, State and local governments, the general BJS Special Reports, begun in February public, and the media. 1983, also are written in nontechnical language and aimed at a broad audience. In meeting its statutory mandate, BJS has Each Special Report focuses on a topic of developed more than two dozen data current public interest and policy debate. collection series using a variety of methods that include household interviews, cen Each BJS Bulletin and BJS Special Report suses and sample surveys of criminal is announced in a press release summariz justice agencies and of prisoners and ing the findings to ensure wide dissemina· inmates, and compilation of adminlsirative tion to policy makers and the public. records. Sometimes to expedite public communica tion, press releases alone are used to BJS collects little raw data itself; rather, it announce new BJS findings. During fisc, I deSigns collection programs and enters 1985, this method was used in April 1985 into agreements to collect data with other for the first release of 1984 victimization Federal agencies (sllch as the U.S. Bureau data and in September 1985 for the of the Census), private associations, and release of midyear prisoner counts. research organizations. 1985 Annual Report 1 Introduction BJS press releases and reports have BJS also disseminates statistical informa received extensive coverage in the print tion by other methods. It responds to and electronic media. thousands of requests for data, both in writing and by telephone. The requests BJS also prepares and releases detailed come from Federal, State, and local of tabulations from its data series. These ficials, the media, researchers, students, reports, often running over a hundred teachers, and members of the general pages, contain extensive cross tabulations public. The pamphlet How to gain access of the variables covered in the BJS data to BJS data describes the programs of the collection series. They are prepared to Bureau and the availability of various data provide access to the full detail of BJS data &!ements. Each year, the Bureau also to persons for whom it is impractical to publishes Telephone contacts, which lists a work with the data tapes. The reports also wide range of topics in criminal justice and contain a complete discussion of data the names and telephone numbers of the collection methodology, definitions of terms, BJS staff members most familiar with each and copies of any qusstionnaires used. topic. The agency also publishes BJS Technical To assist persons seeking criminal justice Reports that address issues of statistical data, BJS supports the Justice Statistics methodology and special topics in a more Clearinghouse at the National Criminal detailed and technical format than in a BJS Justice Reference Service; the BJS repre Bulletin or BJS Special Report. Finally, sentative at NCJRS can be reached each year BJS publishes its Sourcebook of through a toll-free 800 telephone number, criminal justice statistics, which presents 800-732-3277 (persons in Maryland and data from close to 100 different sources in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, a single, easy to use, reference volume.