NCJ Number
95754
Date Published
1981
Length
414 pages
Annotation
Summary descriptions of criminal justice information agencies in every State and the District of Columbia cover data availability, data access, role of the Statistical Analysis Center (SAC), source of formal agency authorization to analyze and report on criminal justice information, and capabilities to use and process data.
Abstract
Information for this preliminary report was obtained through a combined telephone and mail survey of over 300 State agencies that use or maintain data on corrections, courts, juvenile justice, and law enforcement. Each State profile contains a brief narrative, a series of tables showing the availability and source of specific types of data in each component of the criminal justice system, and flow charts depicting data and service transfers among agencies. The narrative first identifies the criminal justice data used by each responding agency, as well as nonresponses to the survey, and highlights any outstanding characteristics of the State criminal justice information system. It summarizes the operational and planned systems, extent of computerization, and comprehensiveness of available data. The narrative also surveys the accessibility of data maintained by each agency to other local, State, and Federal agencies, examining how security and privacy considerations restrain access. Other areas addressed are the SAC's role and characteristics, authorization for statistical reporting, and each agency's ability to process and analyze the data it uses, with attention to the availability of computers and statisticians as well as types of reports produced.