Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. Established on December 27, 1979, BJS collects, analyzes, and publishes data relating to crime in the United States. The agency publishes data regarding statistics gathered from the roughly fifty-thousand agencies, offices, courts, and institutions that together comprise the U.S. justice system.[1]

To collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to Federal, State, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded.

— Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Agency overview
FormedDecember 27, 1979 (1979-12-27)
JurisdictionUnited States government agency
HeadquartersWashington, D.C., U.S.
Agency executive
  • Doris James (acting)
Websitewww.bjs.gov

BJS, along with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and other program offices, comprise the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) branch of the Department of Justice.

See also

BJS Directors

In 2005, the Bush administration replaced BJS Director Lawrence Greenfeld after he refused to remove certain racial statistics from a report, despite having published similar statistics in 2001. The following two references provide analysis and initial reporting, respectively.

  • Josephf M. Bessette[2]
  • Eric Lichtblau[3]

More recently, Jeffrey H. Anderson, Jeffrey Sedgwick, Michael Sinclair, John Jay Professor James P. Lynch, and former Deputy Director William Sabol have served as directors.

Until 2012 the position of the BJS Director required a Senate approval, but since 2012 the post only requires the President's appointment.[4] Doris James is the acting BJS Director.

References
  1. "About the Bureau of Justice Statistics". U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Archived from the original on 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
  2. "The Injustice Department", The Weekly Standard (Volume 011, Issue 05), October 17, 2005.
  3. "Profiling Report Leads to a Demotion". The New York Times, August 24, 2005.
  4. Hanna Kozlowska, Trump’s Man In Charge Of U.S. Crime Data Is Known For His Football Rankings, Government Executive, December 1, 2017. Accessed July 31, 2018
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