identify the source of data presented on this website

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U.S. Crime Statistics

INSTRUCTIONS:
The requirements for this report is in the uploaded word document. U.S. Crime Statistics Overview: This lab provides students with an introduction to the major online source of criminal justice statistics in the US, allowing users to locate and use official US crime data. Objectives: As a result of this lab exercise, students will: • identify the source of data presented on this website • understand the limitations and strengths of data on this website • describe how these data can be used by them in their work (or by others in the CJ field) • complete analysis of crime data from this website QUESTIONS What US federal agency maintains the statistics on this webpage? What part of the federal government (administration, legislative, or judiciary) oversees these data? Identify one strength and one limitation of these data. Creating Research Reports Based on BJS Official Data. This website provides official data on a number of topical areas including information about offenders, victims, and the criminal justice system such as the police, courts, or corrections. In this lab,you are going to be selecting offenders, victims or one area of the criminal justice system to write ONE research report (see Sample BJS Report) Report Guidelines: • Typed in Microsoft Word • Double spaced • 1 inch margins, 12 point Times Roman font • 400-500 words; this requirement affects which data you may examine to assure you have sufficient material • use only data found on this webpage • do not directly quote text/narrative from the webpage; instead, paraphrase the relevant information • present percentages (not frequencies) when making comparisons Sample BJS Report The Processing of Felony Cases in a Sample of Large US Counties in May 2002. The Bureau of Justice Statistics compiles a number of statistics on the criminal justice system in the U.S. One area of interest is the processing of criminals throughout the system. This report summarizes felony defendants who were processed during May 2002 in the 75 largest counties in the U.S. During the study period, it is estimated that 56,146 felony cases were filed in State courts with about ¼ of these being felony defendants charged with a violent offense, most commonly assault (12.7%). While getting lots of media attention, murder (.8%) and rape (1.8%) comprise a small percent of felony cases. The remaining 75% of felony defendants were charged with a non-violent crime, including drug offenses (35.7%), theft (8.8%), and burglary (8.1%). Nearly 1/3 of persons arrested and charged with a felony during this time were considered “active” criminal justice cases for another offense such as probation (15%), pretrial release (10%), and parole (5%). Among the entire group of defendants charged in May 2002 with a felony in this sample of counties, 57% were convicted of a felony, and 11% were convicted of a misdemeanor. Conviction rates were highest for those charged with murder (80%), driving related offenses (73%), auto theft (68%), or drug trafficking (64%). Defendants charged with felony assault had the lowest felony conviction rate (41%). Nearly all (95%) of convictions resulted from a plea bargain within one year of arrest. Approximately 90% of felony convictions resulted from a plea bargain. The most serious offenses, murder, were the most likely to go to trial (44%) as opposed to plea bargain. Going to trial, however, still was most likely to end in a guilty verdict (85%) by the judge or jury. Most felony defendants (75%) found guilty whether through a trial or plea bargain were sentenced to some period of incarceration as compared to the remaining 25% receiving a felony conviction or convicted of a misdemeanor; in those cases, the defendants received probation. While this report is based on a sample of large counties throughout the US during one month`s period of time, it provides a window into how felony defendants and cases make their way through the criminal justice system. These data include only felonies that were filed in State courts, not those where charges were dropped or dismissed. Further, large counties are largely urban, more diverse, and are likely to have a larger proportion of certain types of crimes such as robberies. Therefore, it is important to not base criminal justice policy or conclusions based on the experiences of these particular counties, especially in areas that are demographically, economically, and socially different than large, diverse, urban counties in the U.S. Data such as those available on the OJP website are important in my work, as they allow me to compare national data trend with those in my agency. Often criminal justice agencies make policy and conclusions in isolation. These data allow for cross-jurisdiction comparisons and trend analysis. Link used for this report: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/
CONTENT:
U.S. CRIME STATISTICSName:Grade Course:Tutor`s Name: (14 November 2010) U.S. Crime StatisticsThe Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is a federal statistics agency that provides statistics on the criminal justice system in the US especially on the processing of criminals in the system. The BJS is a unit of the US department of justice and is principally involved in the compilation and analysis of data and the distribution of information for purposes of statistics (Ojp, 2010). The information given is on crime, victims of crime criminal offenders, and justice operations at government level. BJS is the principal provider of civil and criminal justice data for the federal government and thus most importantly it aims at gaining public trust and confidence in the data provided.The principles and practices of the BJC include; a clearly defined mission that is well accepted, a strong independent position, continuous development of better and more useful data, openness on the sources and limitations of data provided in the website, wide distribution of data and information, data user cooperation, fair handling of data providers, quality commitment and also commitment to professional standards of practice, active research programs, professional staff advancement, coordination and collaboration with other statistical agencies...

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