BJS Activities on Measuring Rape and Sexual Assault
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has initiated several projects to identify, develop and test the best methods for collecting self-report data on rape and sexual assault. In June 2011, BJS charged an expert panel from the National Research Council's Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to examine conceptual and methodological issues surrounding survey statistics on rape and sexual assault and to recommend to BJS the best methods for obtaining such statistics on an ongoing basis (Project Summary). In September 2011, BJS made a competitive award to Westat, Inc. to develop and test two different survey designs for collecting self-report data on rape and sexual assault. One design is to be an optimal design identified by the CNSTAT panel and the other will be similar to designs used in the public health approach for measuring rape and sexual assault (Project Narrative). Estimates from these two designs will be compared to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). For the most recent data on rape and sexual assault, see Criminal Victimization, 2010.

New Interactive Data Tool Allows Users to Analyze 30-Year Arrest Trends
The dynamic Arrest Data Analysis Tool allows you to generate graphs and tables of arrest trends over the 30-year period from 1980 through 2009. You can view national arrest estimates, customized either by age and sex or by age group and race, for many different offenses. This tool also enables you to view agency-level arrest counts from local law enforcement agencies. Data are from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) Crime in the United States series. BJS has expanded upon the FBI’s data to provide the first publicly available national arrest estimates broken down by sex, age group, and race.