View source for Bureau of Justice Statistics

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
|OrganizationType=Independent Agencies
|Mission=BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. Its aim is to enhance the understanding of crime and justice issues for policy makers, researchers, and the public.
|ParentOrganization=United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs
|CreationLegislation=Justice System Improvement Act of 1979
|Employees=100
|Budget=$45 million (Fiscal Year 2024)
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Crime data collection; Criminal justice statistics; Victim surveys; Research and reports
|HeadquartersLocation=38.90002, -77.02202
|HeadquartersAddress=810 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20531
|Website=https://www.bjs.gov
}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name = Bureau of Justice Statistics
| type = Bureau/Office
| logo = Logo of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.svg
| logo_width = 91px
| logo_caption = Logo of the Bureau of Justice Statistics
| seal = Seal of the United States Department of Justice.svg
| seal_width = 91px
| seal_caption = Seal of the United States Department of Justice
| formed = {{Start date and age|1979|12|27}}
| preceding1 = 
| jurisdiction = [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] agency
|headquarters    = 810 [[7th Street (Washington, D.C.)|7th Street]] [[Northwest, Washington, D.C.|NW]]<br />[[Washington, D.C.]], United States
| latd = 
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| employees = 
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| chief1_name = [[Alex Piquero]]<ref name="August 15">{{cite web|title=The BJS Director|url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/bjs-director|website=www.bjs.ojp.gov|access-date=2022-08-16|language=en|date=2022-08-15}}</ref>
| chief1_position = Director
| chief2_name = 
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| parent_department = [[Office of Justice Programs|Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice]]
| website = {{url|bjs.ojp.gov}}
}}
The '''Bureau of Justice Statistics''' ('''BJS''') of the [[United States Department of Justice|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.<ref name="US Bureau of Justice Statistics, about web-site">{{cite web|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/aboutbjs.htm |title=About the Bureau of Justice Statistics |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics |access-date=2006-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926003905/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/aboutbjs.htm |archive-date=2006-09-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Mission ==
The mission of BJS is "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."

=== Office of Justice Programs ===
The [[Office of Justice Programs]] (OJP) branch of the Department of Justice is comprised of:

* Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
* [[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

== Programs ==
The BJS conducts the Annual Survey of Jails of a sample of about 950 U.S. jails, and a periodic Census of Jails covering all U.S. jails.<ref>[https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/annual-survey-jails-asj Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ)] at bjs.gov</ref><ref>[https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/census-jails-coj Census of Jails (COJ)] at bjs.gov</ref>
Data from these programs was used to show that local jails in the U.S. had a sharp decline in inmates from February to May, 2020 of perhaps 185,000 inmates, more than 20% of the inmate population, in response to the danger of covid-19 on a crowded incarcerated population. Many inmates were given an "expedited release".<ref>Todd D. Minton, Zhen Zeng, Ph.D., and Laura M. Maruschak. 2021. [https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/icljpjj20.pdf Impact of COVID-19 on the Local Jail Population], January-June 2020. BJS Special Report NCJ 255888.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Uniform Crime Reports]] (FBI)
* [[Data.gov]]
* [[USAFacts]]

== 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<ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/186zjffr.asp "The Injustice Department"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909185304/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/186zjffr.asp |date=2015-09-09 }}, ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'' (Volume 011, Issue 05), October 17, 2005.</ref>
* Eric Lichtblau<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/politics/24profiling.html "Profiling Report Leads to a Demotion"]. ''The New York Times'', August 24, 2005.</ref>

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

Until 2012 the position of the BJS Director required a [[U.S. Senate|Senate]] approval, but since 2012 the post only requires the President's appointment.<ref name=govexec>Hanna Kozlowska, [https://www.govexec.com/management/2017/12/trumps-man-charge-us-crime-data-known-his-football-rankings/144240/ 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</ref> Alex Piquero is the current BJS Director.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|United States Bureau of Justice Statistics}}
*{{Official website|https://bjs.ojp.gov }}
*[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pba&tid=0&dcid=0&sid=0&iid=0&sortby=dt most recent reports]
* [https://www.usaspending.gov/federal_account/015-0401 Research, Evaluation, and Statistics] account on [[USAspending.gov]]

{{US Statistical Agencies}}
{{DOJ agencies}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Government agencies established in 1979]]
[[Category:Crime statistics]]
[[Category:National statistical services]]
[[Category:United States Department of Justice agencies|Statistics]]
[[Category:Statistical organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:1979 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Federal Statistical System of the United States]]