MEDIA ADVISORY

BJS to Release Criminal Victimization, 2020

      WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics will issue a press release and report, Criminal Victimization, 2020, EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2021, 10 A.M. ET.  This report is the 48th report in a series that began in 1973.  It analyzes data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and includes statistics on nonfatal violent (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault) and property crimes (burglary or trespassing, motor vehicle theft and other types of household theft).  The report also describes the characteristics of crimes and victims.  NCVS data differs from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program data because the NCVS is based on interviews with a sample of U.S. households and includes crimes whether or not they were reported to police, while the UCR is based on counts of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies.

      Concurrently with this report, BJS will also release National Crime Victimization Survey:  Assessment of Outlier Weights, a third-party report that aims to improve the quality and accuracy of NCVS estimates by examining the impact of outlier cases on NCVS data.  This report was produced by RTI International for BJS under award number 2020-85-CX-K017.

      BJS today released Prosecution of Federal Firearms Offenses, 2000–16.  This third-party report describes trends associated with the prosecution of firearm offenders in U.S. district courts from 2000 to 2016.  It presents data on the following stages of the federal criminal justice system:  investigations and referrals of suspects to U.S. attorneys; prosecutions and convictions of defendants in U.S. district court; and sentencing.  Statistics are based on analysis of data obtained through BJS’s Federal Justice Statistics Program and produced by the Urban Institute under award number 2017-BJ-CX-K055.

      WHAT:  Embargoed press release and report on Criminal Victimization, 2020
                    (NCJ 301775) by BJS Statisticians Rachel E. Morgan, Ph.D., and
                    Alexandra Thompson

                    Report on National Crime Victimization Survey:  Assessment
                    of Outlier Weights (NCJ 302186) (third-party report) by Andrew Moore,
                    M.Stat., G. Lance Couzens and Marcus Berzofsky, Dr.P.H., RTI International

                    For immediate release, report on Prosecution of Federal Firearms
                    Offenses, 2000–16 (NCJ 254520) (third-party report) by Emily Tiry,
                    Kelly Roberts Freeman and William Adams, Urban Institute

      WHEN:  Monday, October 18, 2021, 10 a.m. ET

      WHERE:  bjs.ojp.gov

MEDIA COORDINATING INSTRUCTIONS:  To access the embargoed press release and the full Criminal Victimization, 2020 report now available on the BJS website, send an email to [email protected].  You must type VICTIMIZATION in the subject line to receive instructions to access the embargoed press release and the full report.  Following publication, the report and press release will be available on the BJS website at bjs.ojp.gov.

      The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing and disseminating reliable statistics on crime and criminal justice in the United States.  Doris J. James is the acting director.

      The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law.  More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE:  bjs.ojp.gov
CONTACT:  Tannyr Watkins at 202-532-3923 or [email protected]