6-26-2008 National:
An estimated 3.2 percent of jail inmates (24,700) reported one or more incidents of sexual victimization in a survey mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. About 1.6 percent of all inmates (12,100) reported an incident involving another inmate, 2.0 percent (15,200) reported an incident involving jail staff, and 0.4 percent reported being victimized by both other inmates and staff.
The survey limited reporting by inmates to incidents occurring in the past 6 months or since their admission to the jail, if more recent. Sexual victimization is defined as all types of sexual activity, including inmate-on-inmate nonconsensual sexual acts and abusive sexual contacts or unwanted touching. It also includes both willing and unwilling sexual activity with staff. An estimated 1.3 percent of inmates (10,400) said they had sex or sexual contact unwillingly with staff, and 1.1 percent (8,400) said they willingly had sexual contact with staff.
The survey was conducted in 282 randomly selected local jails between April and December 2007, with a sample of 40,419 inmates. Eighteen jail facilities had an overall sexual victimization rate of at least twice the national average of 3.2 percent, and 18 facilities had no reports of sexual victimization from inmates.
The Torrance County Detention Facility (New Mexico) recorded the highest overall rate of sexual victimization (13.4 percent). When sexual victimization excluded allegations of touching only, the Torrance County Detention Facility remained the highest with 8.9 percent, followed by the Brevard County Detention Center in Florida (7.8 percent), the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in New Mexico (6.7 percent), and the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail (5.8 percent).
Overall, 0.6 percent of all jail inmates reported an injury related to sexual victimization. Among all victims, 16 percent reported minor injuries (such as bruises, cuts, or scratches), 8 percent reported being knocked unconscious, 6 percent reported anal or rectal tearing, 6 percent internal injuries, 3 percent broken bones, and 2 percent knife or stab wounds.
Inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization most often occurred in the victim's cell or room (56 percent of reports). Staff-on-inmate sexual victimization most often occurred in a closet, office, or other locked room (47 percent). Nearly 62 percent of all reported incidents of staff sexual misconduct involved female staff with male inmates; 8 percent involved male staff with female inmates.
An estimated 5.1 percent of female inmates compared to 2.9 percent of male inmates said they had experienced one or more incidents of sexual victimization. About 4.6 percent of inmates ages 18 to 24 reported sexual assault, compared to 2.4 percent of inmates age 25 and older.
Inmates with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual reported significantly higher rates of sexual victimization. An estimated 2.7 percent of heterosexual inmates alleged an incident, compared to 18.5 percent of homosexual inmates, and 9.8 percent of bisexual inmates or inmates indicating "other" as an orientation.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct an annual data collection to measure the incidence of prison rape in at least 10 percent of the nation's correctional facilities. It also requires the Attorney General to provide a listing of institutions ranked according to the incidence of prison rape. As a consequence of sampling error, the survey cannot provide the three jail facilities with the highest rates of victimization.
The survey consisted of an audio computer-assisted self interview (ACASI) in which inmates, using a touch-screen laptop, interacted with a computer-assisted questionnaire and followed instructions via headphones. Inmate participation was voluntary, with 67 percent completing the survey.
The report, Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007 (NCJ 221946), was written by BJS statisticians Allen J. Beck and Paige M. Harrison. Following publication, the report can be found HERE
..News Source.. by DOJ
June 26, 2008
3.2 Percent of Inmates Report Sexual Victimization in Local Jails
August 4, 2007
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act: A Legal Analysis
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
April 6, 2007
Summary
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, (P.L. 109-248, H.R. 4472), emerged from Congress following the passage of separate bills in the House and Senate (H.R. 3132 and S. 1086 respectively). The act's provisions fall into four categories: a revised sex offender registration system, child and sex related amendments to federal criminal and procedure, child protective grant programs, and other initiatives designed to prevent and punish sex offenders and those who victimize children.
The sex offender registration provisions replace the Jacob Wetterling Act provisions with a statutory scheme under which states are required to modify their registration systems in accordance with federal requirements at the risk of losing 10% of their Byrne program law enforcement assistance funds. The act seeks to close gaps in the prior system, provide more information on a wider range of offenders, and make the information more readily available to the public and law enforcement officials.
In the area of federal criminal law and procedure, the act enlarges the kidnaping statute, increases the number of federal capital offenses, enhances the mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment and other penalties that attend various federal sex offenses, establishes a civil commitment procedure for federal sex offenders, authorizes random searches as a condition for sex offender probation and supervised release, outlaws Internet date drug trafficking, permits the victims of state crimes to participate in related federal habeas corpus proceedings, and eliminates the statute of limitations for certain sex offenses and crimes committed against children.
The act revives the authorization of appropriations under the Police Athletic Youth Enrichment Act among its other grant provisions and requires the establishment of a national child abuse registry among its other child safety initiatives. ..more.. by Charles Doyle, Senior Specialist, American Law Division
July 19, 2007
Deaths in Custody Statistical Tables
July 2007:
This site contains a series of data tables describing recent trends in mortality in State prison, local jails and State juvenile correctional facilities. Data are presented over time, by jurisdiction and by demographic groups. The mortality data are from the BJS Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP), which was launched in 2000 to implement the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-297).
BJS phased in implementation of the Act over a four-year period. Data collection on deaths in local jail facilities began in 2000, followed by collection from State prison authorities in 2001. In 2002 BJS began collecting records of deaths from all State juvenile correctional systems. These collections involved individual-level reports of each death, as opposed to aggregated counts.
In 2003 BJS began collecting data on arrest-related deaths involving the nearly 18,000 State and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. Statistical tables on arrest-related deaths are forthcoming (Fall 2007).
To access data tables, click on one of the criminal justice populations below:
State prison deaths, 2001-2005
Local jail deaths, 2000-2005
State juvenile correctional facility
deaths, 2002-2005
Print version of all tables in PDF format (501 KB file)
For detailed analyses, see the following BJS publications:
Medical Causes of Death in State Prisons, 2001-2004
(January 2007, NCJ 216340)
Provides an in-depth look at the various medical conditions related to mortality in State prisons.
Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails
(August 2005, NCJ 210036)
Presents detailed data on suicide and homicide rates in correctional facilities over time, as well as comparative rates of such deaths for different groups of inmates. ..more.. by DOJ
July 12, 2007
Homicide trends in the United States
July 2007:
This site contains a series of charts that describe homicide patterns and trends in the United States since 1976.
Homicide is of interest not only because of its severity but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. At a national level, no other crime is measured as accurately and precisely.
The data on this site may differ slightly from previously published figures because of updates to the data files after publication and the imputation methods used. ..more.. by James Alan Fox, The Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice, Northeastern University -and- Marianne W. Zawitz, BJS Statistician
June 30, 2007
Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention, 1992-2000
August 2002 NCJ 194530:
Abstract:
Presents information on the consequences of rape and sexual assault for female victims. The study provides the percentages of completed rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault of females that were reported to the police in 1992-2000. The report provides the percentage of victims that were injured and treated from a completed rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. It presents the percentage of those who reported to the police, and the percentage of those victims who received treatment and whose victimization was reported to the police.
Highlights include the following:
All rapes, 39% of attempted rapes and 17% of sexual assaults against females resulted in injured victims, 1992-2000.
When a rape or sexual assault was reported to the police, the victim was the most likely to report it.
45% of injured female victims of a reported attempted rape compared to 22% of injured victims of an unreported attempted rape received medical treatment, 1992-2000
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Reasons for not reporting to law enforcement authorities:
When victims of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault did not report the crime to the police, the most often cited reason was that the victimization was a personal matter:
Rape: personal matter, 23.3%; fear of reprisal, 16.3%; police biased, 5.8%.
Attempted rape: personal matter, 16.8%; fear of reprisal, 11.3%; protect offender, 9.9%.
Completed and attempted sexual assault: personal matter, 25.3%; reported to different official, 12.4%; fear of reprisal, 11.3%.
The victim-offender relationship and informing the police:
The closer the relationship between the female victim and the offender, the greater the likelihood that the police would not be told about the rape or sexual assault.
When the offender was a current or former husband or boyfriend, about three-fourths of all victimizations were not reported to police (77% of completed rapes, 77% of attempted rapes, and 75% of sexual assaults not reported).
When the offender was a friend or acquaintance, 61% of completed rapes, 71% of attempted rapes, and 82% of sexual assaults were not reported.
When the offender was a stranger, 54% of completed rapes, 44% of attempted rapes, and 34% of sexual assaults were not reported to the police.
..more..
Child Victimizers: Violent Offenders and Their Victims
March 1996 Summary NCJ 158625 Full Report NCJ 153258:
Abstract:
Addressing the mandate of the National Child Protection Act of 1993, which called for a study of offenders who committed crimes against children, this study found that (a) 1 in 5 violent State prisoners (about 65,000 offenders) reported a victim under age 18; (b) older violent inmates were substantially more likely than younger inmates to have victimized a child; and (c) 8 out of 10 prisoners convicted of sexual assault had committed their crime against a victim under age 18. The study uses data from the 1991 BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates and the FBI's 1994 Supplementary Homicide Reports, which include data on child murder victims and offenders who murdered children. The 1991 inmate survey is based on personal hour-long interviews with a nationally representative sample of 14,000 prisoners in about 300 State prisons. The report describes the sociodemographic data on these offenders, the physical or sexual abuse they may have experienced, their current offense, their criminal history backgrounds (including prior offenses against children), and their use of drugs or alcohol at the time of the offense. For child victims of adult offenders, the study includes their sociodemographic backgrounds, the victim-offender relationship, and the consequences to the victim, such as injuries and weapon use by the offender. ..more..
Summary of State Sex Offender Registries Dissemination and Procedures: Update 1999
August 1999 NCJ 177620:
This factsheet summarizes State procedures, including use of the Internet, for disseminating sex offender registry information to criminal justice agencies, schools and other youth-serving organizations, and the general public. Information supplied in this report reflects conditions as of May 1, 1999. It updates the "Dissemination of Sex Offender Registry Data" section of the Summary of State Sex Offender Registries: Automation and Operation 1998. The Acrobat file version of the Factsheet includes working links to registry websites. ..more..
Summary of State Sex Offender Registries, 2001
2001 NCJ 192265:
This factsheet updates the original Summary of State Sex Offender Registries: Automation and Operation 1998. It summarizes information on the status of sex offender registries in the 50 States and the District of Columbia as they operated in February 2001. Information is presented on the organizational location of the State registries, number of offenders in the registries; their level of automation and capability to receive, store, and transmit fingerprints; whether DNA samples are included in registration procedures; and community notification procedures including use of the Internet to post information on registered offenders.
Background and overview
In March 1998 the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) established the National Sex Offender Registry Assistance Program (NSOR-AP).
As a component of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), NSOR-AP assists States in meeting the requirements of the Wetterling Act (Pub. L. 104-145, 110 Stat.1345), as amended by Megan's Law, and the Pam Lychner Act (Pub. L. 104-236, 110 Stat.3093). The program also provides assistance to allow States to participate in the FBI's permanent National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR). The congressional appropriation in 1998 was $25 million. Subsequent funding was provided under the ongoing NCHIP program.
Under NSOR-AP, a project was initiated in April 1998 to survey the States to evaluate the status of State sex offender registries (SOR's) and to identify priority areas, before the awarding of funds. The survey findings were published in a web-only format and are available on the BJS website at
1999 update
Pursuant to section 902 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998, Congress directed the Attorney General to study the feasibility of establishing a national hotline to access the FBI's sex offender registry. In support of this study, BJS was asked to contact the States a second time for an update of their sex offender registry dissemination procedures to reflect conditions as of May 1999.
BJS asked the States to provide information on all existing State notification systems, and also to describe any use of the Internet, CD-ROM's, and hotlines to disseminate information to the public on registered sex offenders.
Of particular interest were those procedures used to disseminate information on sexual predators, or the highest risk offenders in each State's registry.
The report Summary of State Sex Offender Registry Dissemination Procedures, Update 1999, a BJS Fact Sheet, was published in August 1999 and is on the BJS website at
Summary of State sex offender registries, update 2001
In February 2001, BJS contacted the States for a third time to obtain information on the operation of their sex offender registries. In addition to updating procedures relating to community notification, the States were asked to update information on the overall operation and automation of the SOR's. Responses were received from all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Once the information was updated, a draft was sent to the States for final review.
Location of State sex offender registries
In 17 States, the State police (patrol or troopers) were responsible for operating and maintaining the registry. The department of public safety (DPS) was responsible in 11 States. The office of the attorney general operates the registry in six States, and the department of corrections is responsible in three States. In the remaining States some other defined criminal justice agency is responsible for the SOR.
Number of offenders in the registry
Several factors in the authorizing legislation significantly influenced the size of any particular State registry, among them are included the number of different offenses requiring registration, the date that "triggers" the registration mandate, and the duration of the registration requirement. (For example, California includes all adults convicted in a California court of a covered offense since 1944.)
In February 2001, there were approximately 386,000 convicted sex offenders registered in 49 States and the District of Columbia. The number of offenders in individual State Registries ranged from 473 registrants in Maine to 88,853 registrants in California (this represents about a 14% increase in the California registry in a 3-year period), with the registry median being approximately 4,100 offenders.
The legal status of registries was a factor affecting the counts of registered sex offenders. Massachusetts' information is not included in the 386,000, because at the time the survey was conducted a superior court injunction was in place against the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), prohibiting registration without first providing the sex offender a hearing. The injunction was appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court. On June 28, 2001, the court concluded that the SORB can require an offender to provide his home and work address prior to providing the offender a hearing to determine whether or not the offender has to register. Under the ruling the SORB may also transmit this data, and other data regarding the offender, to police departments. However, the information may not be disseminated to the public until the board classifies the offender and the offender has an opportunity to challenge the recommended classification at an administrative hearing. Massachusetts estimates that there are about 17,000 offenders identified as qualified to register.
Comparatively, in April 1998, approximately 277,000 convicted sex offenders were registered in 49 States and the District of Columbia. (At the time the survey was conducted in 1998, Connecticut did not have a centralized sex offender registry and thus did not provide information on the number of registered offenders.) ..more.. by
June 27, 2007
Child Rape Victims, 1992
June 1994 NCJ 147001:
This data brief provides information on the ages of female rape victims. BJS obtained the data from the 15 States that currently compile such detailed victim information. The data pertain to rapes reported to police in 1992. ..more.. by Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D. -and- Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians
Women Offenders
December 1999 NCJ 175688:
Examines offending by adult women and their handling by the criminal justice system. Utilizing the self-reports of victims of personal contact crimes gathered in the National Criminal Victimization Survey from 1993-97, the report analyzes offense patterns, rates of offending, and the contingencies and consequences of crimes committed by women. It also provides an extensive examination of homicides committed by women and trends in murder.
Data on arrests, convictions, and sentencing of women from FBI and BJS national data series are also explored and case-processing flows are estimated for men and women offenders. This comprehensive analysis of offending by women also utilizes detailed data on women offenders gathered from periodic surveys of offenders on probation or in confined populations. These sample survey data cover a wide variety of topics, including prior criminal record, substance abuse and treatment, health condition, children and family background, poverty, employment, and recidivism. Information on correctional institutions for women is also provided, including data on the number and types of such facilities and their characteristics. ..more.. by Lawrence A. Greenfeld -and- Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statisticians
June 9, 2007
Sex Offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault
February 1997, NCJ-163392:
Foreword
This report draws on more than two dozen statistical datasets maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Uniform Crime Reporting program of the FBI to provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge about the incidence and prevalence of violent victimization by sexual assault, the response of the justice system to such crimes, and the characteristics of those who prey on victims of all ages by committing sexual assault or rape.
This report reinforces a striking observation in recent studies about crimes involving rape and sexual assault: In a high percentage of cases, the victims are children. In self-reported victimization surveys of the public age 12 and older, teenagers report the highest per capita rates of exposure to rape and sexual assault. Data drawn from police-recorded incidents of rape in three States revealed that 44% of rape victims were under the age of 18. The self-reports of convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in State prisons indicate that two-thirds of such offenders had victims under the age of 18, and 58% of those ¾ or nearly 4 in 10 imprisoned violent sex offenders ¾ said their victims were age 12 or younger.
Though the vast majority of violent sex offending involves males assaulting female victims, females account for a small percentage of known offenders, and males account for a small percentage of victims. In a very small fraction of sexual assaults, victim and offender are of the same sex.
Victim and offender are likely to have had a prior relationship as family members, intimates, or acquaintances. Victims of rape and sexual assault report that in nearly 3 out of 4 incidents, the offender was not a stranger. Based on police-recorded incident data, in 90% of the rapes of children younger than 12, the child knew the offender; twothirds of the victims 18 to 29 years old had a prior relationship with the rapist.
The FBI’s UCR arrest data, as well as court conviction data and prison admissions data, all point to a sex offender who is older than other violent offenders, generally in his early thirties, and more likely to be white than other violent offenders ¾ characteristics that match the information obtained from victims who describe the offender to interviewers in the National Crime Victimization Survey.
This report was prepared as background information for the Assistant Attorney General’s 1996 National Summit Promoting Public Safety Through the Effective Management of Sex Offenders in the Community.
It presents a thorough analysis and compilation of the currently available national data, but we anticipate that even more will be learned in the coming years as BJS assembles data on rape and sexual assault from the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey and surveys of felony probationers, local jail inmates, and State and Federal prison inmates. ..more.. by Lawrence A. Greenfeld, Statistician, Bureau of Justice Statistics
May 25, 2007
Criminal Offenders Statistics (Various Stats)
Statistics relevant to 1994:
Summary findings
Prevalence of imprisonment in the United States
Lifetime likelihood of going to State or Federal prison
Characteristics of State prison inmates
Characteristics of jail inmates
Comparing Federal and State prison inmates
Recidivism
Sex offenders
Child victimizers
Intimate victimizers
Use of alcohol by convicted offenders
Women Offenders
..more.. by U.S. Department of Justice · Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics
May 20, 2007
Bureau of Justice Statistics:
Statistics about —
A overall page which leads to statistics covering:
Crime & Victims
Criminal Offenders
Special Topics
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The Justice System
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Law Enforcement
Prosecution
Federal Justice System
Courts & Sentencing
Corrections
Expenditure & Employment
Criminal Records ..more..
