Frequently Asked Questions

Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act (Pub. L. No. 93-415, 42 U.S.C. § 5601 et seq.) in 1974. Visit the Legislation section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website for further information about the JJDP Act, its purpose, history, and related legislation.

Resources that were developed to help address the problem of prison rape can be found on the National PREA Resource Center website and PREA/Offender Sexual Abuse section of the National Institute of Corrections website.

For resources on developing crisis response plans in school settings, see SchoolSafety.gov, a site from the Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Following are additional resources on school safety:

• Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence
• School Safety Special Feature

Information on combating street prostitution can be found in the following National Institute of Justice (NIJ) resources: Initiatives to Reduce Demand for Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the U.S. and National Overview of Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Demand Reduction Efforts.

Also see Street Prostitution, an Office of Community Oriented Policing Services publication, for additional information.

If you have a complaint regarding conditions within a state correctional facility, contact the specific correctional facility directly.

If you are experiencing problems with a state Victim Notification Everyday (VINE) system, please contact the state organization responsible for the system. To locate the appropriate contact, visit the VINELink website and select your state.

State underage drinking laws can be found on the State Profiles of Underage Drinking Laws section of the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse's Alcohol Policy Information System website.

Information on the use of DNA to solve cold cases can be found in the following National Institute of Justice (NIJ) articles and resources:

• National Best Practices for Implementing and Sustaining a Cold Case Investigation Unit
• Solving Cold Cases with DNA: The Boston Strangler Case
• Using DNA to Solve Cold Cases: Special Report

Also watch the following NIJ videos:

• The Impact of National Institute of Justice's Solving Cold Cases with DNA Program
• The Importance and Impact of Cold Case Units

Additionally, with funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Training and Technical Assistance Program has produced the following materials:

• Utilizing DNA Evidence to Investigate Cold Case Sexual Assaults through CODIS
• Prioritizing Cold Case CODIS Hit Follow-up: Strategies for Sexual Assault Investigators

Information about community corrections can be found in our Community Corrections Special Feature and on the Community Services Division section of the National Institute of Corrections website.

The Compstat process revolves around periodic meetings in which senior police officials and area commanders discuss crime trends and what police strategies and tactics are being used to address crime and other quality of life problems in particular localities. Further information about Compstat can be found in the following resources:

• Compstat: Its Origins, Evolution, and Future in Law Enforcement Agencies, Bureau of Justice Assistance-sponsored
• Reducing Crime Through Intelligence-Led Policing, Bureau of Justice Assistance
• Compstat Implementation, Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Compstat Process, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Additionally, Chapter 1 of the report, Information Systems Technology Enhancement Project: ISTEP II Case Studies from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services provides further information.

Information about the effectiveness of law enforcement programs which utilize Compstat can be found on the CrimeSolutions website. Once on the site, conduct a search for the term "Compstat". The CrimeSolutions site uses rigorous research to inform practitioners and policy makers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services and includes multiple program evaluations for policing initiatives which utilize Compstat.

To learn more, conduct a search of our National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts Database using "Compstat" as your subject keyword.