Frequently Asked Questions

To obtain information about or locate sex offenders in a specific area, see the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), a Department of Justice website which allows you to conduct a nationwide search of sex offender registries using a number of different search options. NSOPW enables every citizen to search the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and participating tribes for the identity and location of known sex offenders.

Also visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry webpage where you can view state-specific registry websites.

Robbery statistics are available in the Federal Bureau of Investigation annual report, Crime in the United States.

See the Capital Punishment section of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) annual report, Crime in the United States, presents data on law enforcement employment. Additionally, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) resource, Data Collection: Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) may also be of interest.

The following resources contain information about violence and safety in school settings:

• School Safety: By the Numbers, National Institute of Justice
• Summary of School Safety Statistics, National Institute of Justice
• Indicators of School Crime and Safety, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Additional information and resources that capture data on violence in schools can be found in our Special Feature: School Safety, which consists of federal and federally-sponsored materials and websites. Also see SchoolSafety.gov.

Data on family violence are available in the following Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports:

• Intimate Partner Violence publication series
• select tables in the Criminal Victimization publication series
• Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and Acquaintances

Visit the Family Violence Special Feature for additional information and resources.

College-specific crime statistics are available on the Campus Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool website from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE).

Additional data and information can be found on the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Security page. Also, Crime in the United States, an annual report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, provides university/college campus crime data that are reported by law enforcement agencies.

For additional information about campus crime and safety, visit the following sites:

• Special Feature: Campus Safety, OJP
• Crime Victimization: Campus Crime, Office for Victims of Crime

Statistics on individuals sentenced to death in the United States may be accessed from the Capital Punishment section of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website.

Kristina Rose is the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

DNA has been used for forensic examinations since the late 1980s, with DNA testing advancing significantly since that time. Please view the following resources and websites to learn more about the use of DNA:

• National Institute of Justice (NIJ): Forensic DNA: This section of the NIJ website provides extensive information on DNA, including NIJ-sponsored research and development projects.
• Short Tandem Repeat DNA Internet Database (STRBase): This website brings together the abundant literature on forensic DNA.
• American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS): This organization is committed to the promotion of education and the elevation of accuracy, precision, and specificity in the forensic sciences.
• International Association for Identification (IAI): The IAI is the largest and oldest forensic organization.
• PubMed: PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles dating back to the 1950s and includes links to full-text articles and other related resources.

Additionally, a search of the Abstracts Database will also provide you with resources related to DNA and forensics.