Criminal Justice: Statistics

Crime reports and statistics are vital to the study of criminology. They inform our understanding about crime, how often it is occurring, who is committing it, who is victimized, and what kind of offenses occur and where. Without data we could only guess at the answers. Criminal Justice statistics are critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded. The federal government publishes crime reports and statistics within the U.S. Department of Justice, generated by two bureaus: the FBI and  the BJS. State and local justice agencies must collect crime data and reports.