Criminal Justice Resources

Helpful Links

General Criminal Justice Issues

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

Kansas Bureau of Investigation

Kansas Highway Patrol

Kansas Sheriff's Association

National Criminal Justice Reference Services

Shawnee County Sheriff's Office

Terrorism Resource Center

Topeka Police Department

Selected Publications

www.policefoundation.org/publication/the-minneapolis-domestic-violence-experiment/ The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment

www.nicic.org National Institute of Corrections Library

The Crime Picture

The sites listed below provide the latest in crime and justice data, including victimization statistics.

www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm The FBI's Crime in the United States for the years 1995 - 2003. The page also offers an overview of the National Incident-Based Reporting system (NIBRS) and special information on hate crime statistics.

www.bjs.gov The home page of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). This site provides statistical information on crimes and victims, criminal offenders, and the justice system--including law enforcement, prosecution, courts, sentencing, corrections, and justice system employment and expenditures.

www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=daa BJS's Crime and Justice Electronic Data Abstracts represent data from a wide variety of published sources that are presented in spreadsheet format to facilitate use with analytic software. The files contain thousands of numbers and hundreds of categories, displayed by jurisdiction and over time.

www.disastercenter.com/crime This site includes crime statistics for the U.S. as a whole, as well as crime statistics for individual States.

www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html This Department of Justice webpage explains to consumers why they need to take precautions to protect themselves from identity theft. It also shows what consumers can do to minimize their risk of becoming a victim and what to do if they are a victim of identity theft.

www.dhs.gov The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks. The Office is charged with coordinating the executive branch's efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.

The Search for Causes

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bentham-project/ This site offers a great deal of information about Jeremy Bentham, a proponent of the doctrine of Utilitarianism, or the principle of the "greatest happiness for the greatest number" of people. The site includes details of Bentham's collected works, information on his manuscripts, and examples of his handwriting, photos of Bentham's preserved body dressed in his own clothes (called the "auto-icon"), and images of Bentham's will. Bentham died on June 6, 1832.

https://time.com/tag/crime/ A Web publication focusing on the biological aspects (especially causes) of crime and violence. Includes the full text of many articles on the subject. The current issue is available, along with many past issues of the Times.

Federal Law Enforcement Agencies

This section of the Criminal Justice Cybrary features an up-to-date list of agencies, reflecting the Bush Administration's sweeping reorganization and expansion of federal law enforcement resources. A sampling of federal law enforcement agencies follows:

FBI's War on Terrorism Web Site

The FBI is part of a vast national and international campaign dedicated to defeating terrorism. Working hand-in-hand with partners in law enforcement, intelligence, the military, and diplomatic circles, the FBI's mission includes neutralizing terrorist cells and operatives in the U.S. and helping dismantle terrorist networks worldwide.

The Official Directory of State Patrol and State Police Sites

Compendium of links to state-level police agencies. Check to see if your state is listed.

Local Law Enforcement Agencies

A selection of notable examples of big-city law enforcement sites are listed below.

Law Enforcement Organization

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)

The COPS Office was created as a result of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. As a component of the Justice Department, the mission of the COPS Office is to advance community policing in jurisdictions of all sizes across the country. COPS provides grants to tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy cutting-edge crime-fighting technologies, and develop and test innovative policing strategies.

The Community Policing Consortium

The Community Policing Consortium is a partnership of five of the leading police organizations in the United States: the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and the Police Foundation. The Consortium is administered and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Site describes the work of the Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics and its staff; provides an extensive resource library of criminal justice ethics links to other useful sites in the field, and offers a forum for debate and exchange of criminal justice ethics related information.

Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement

Fourth Amendment (Search and Seizure)

Complete text of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the "Bill of Rights," as well as information about the amendment's history and scope, searches and seizures pursuant to a warrant, valid searches and seizures without warrants, electronic surveillance, and enforcing the Fourth Amendment, the exclusionary rule.

USA Patriot Act (USAPA)

On October 26, 2001, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act (USAPA) into law, granting new powers to both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies. The Act makes changes to over a dozen different statutes relating to online activities and surveillance, money laundering, and immigration, as well as for providing for the victims of terrorism.

Title 18--Crimes And Criminal Procedure

The full-text of the U.S. Code governing criminal justice law.

Courts in America

The US Supreme Court

The National Center for State Courts

The home page of the National Center for State Courts--the organization that provides support and assistance to state courts, and which helps in their operation.

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts

Run by the federal office that provides administrative support to federal courts across the nation, this site is also known as "The Federal Judiciary Homepage." The FAQ area answers questions about federal judges, provides information on federal courts, tells how to file a case in federal court, provides information for jurors, and describes employment in the federal courts.

The American Bar Association (ABA)

The home page of the American Bar Association, the professional organization that represents the interests of America's lawyers, offers free information for members of the legal community, public information including legal assistance and publications, and a special section for ABA members and law students. A "lawyer locator" rounds out the site.

Criminal Law

Sentencing

The Sentencing Project is designed to provide resources and information for the news media and public concerned with criminal justice and sentencing issues. This site also includes news and information about the National Association of Sentencing Advocates (NASA), which The Sentencing Project sponsors, and professional information of use to its members.

The United States Sentencing Commission's duties include developing guidelines for sentencing in federal courts, collecting data about crime and sentencing, and serving as a resource to Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Judiciary on crime and sentencing policy.

The Federal Sentencing Table guidelines are used by federal judges in imposing sentences on convicted federal defendants. The table consists of vertical columns listing offense levels, and horizontal rows describing an offender's criminal history.

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) contains information on U.S. executions by year, by state, and by method. Scheduled executions are listed, and state-by-state information on death rows is available. A history of the death penalty in the United States is provided, and issues of race, innocence, public opinion, deterrence, costs, and clemency as they relate to the death penalty are discussed. Special topics coverage can be found in the areas of women, juveniles, mental retardation, and international use of capital punishment.

Corrections

Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections

The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) is an international association composed of individuals from the United States and Canada actively involved with probation, parole, and community-based corrections in both adult and juvenile sectors.

United States Parole Commission - Although parole is slated to be abolished in the federal system (under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984), the life of the federal parole commission continues to be extended by Congressional mandate.

Correctional Institutions

Corrections Connection is an information-rich site, the home to a number of correctional organizations on the Web, and includes links to correctional associations, correctional healthcare sites, juvenile corrections, legislation relevant to the area, online correctional libraries, prison privatization information, religious support for prisoners, substance abuse programs, educational programs for inmates, gang issues, unions, victims' issues, and much more. An industry buyers guide and searchable "corrections white pages" are also provided.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) offers information about the Bureau, includes a BOP directory, provides employment information, and includes links to related sites. A section on inmate information describes how the Freedom of Information Act (5 USC 552) and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a) authorize the release of certain information about federal inmates to any member of the general public requesting it.

American Jail Association (AJA) provides information about AJA, including publications, resolutions, awards and scholarships, upcoming conferences, jail manager certification, training schedules, the certified jail manager program, and vendors.

This National Public Radio (NPR) special feature, Prison Diaries: An Intimate Portrait of Life Behind Bars , provides insight into what life behind bars is like. With articles covering the treatment of female inmates, prisons of the future, and U.S. prison populations, the site offers in-depth coverage of prisons today.

The Prison Policy Initiative conducts research and advocacy on incarceration policy.

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