Weekly News Brief

Denise O'Donnell Sworn in as BJA Director - On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder welcomed Denise O'Donnell as the Justice Department's Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). "As a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, I'm pleased to welcome Denise back to the Department of Justice," said Attorney General Holder. "She will play a critical role in providing the necessary resources to state, local and tribal authorities to protect the American public and restore the traditional missions of the department." The BJA Director advises and assists the Attorney General and the Department of Justice in formulating and implementing departmental policies and programs to better support state, local and tribal law enforcement across the country.

Newly Released Data on Gangs - The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention released the 2009 National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) fact sheet, estimating 28,100 gangs and 731,000 gang members exist in 3,500 U.S. jurisdictions. The survey identified three trends in the prevalence rate of gang activity: a sharp decline throughout the late 1990s, a sudden upturn beginning in 2001 and continuing until 2005, and a relative leveling off thereafter. Larger cities exhibited a large and stable prevalence rate of gang activity from 2005 to 2009, while the smaller populated areas reported a smaller rate with a more fluctuating pattern. Since 1996, the National Gang Center has tracked the size and scope of the national gang problem by annually collecting data from a large, representative sample of local law enforcement agencies. For more on this topic, visit the blog by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson. http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1416

Upcoming Events:

The 2011 National Institute of Justice's Conference: Translational Criminology - Shaping Policy and Practice with Research, June 20-22, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va., is open to the media. For more information, contact Sheila Jerusalem, 202-616-3227. http://nij.gov/events/nij_conference/welcome.htm

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