U.S. Government Resources: Criminal Justice

See more about this topic in the Dickinson Legal Research Resources:
DSL LegalLinks: Courts
DSL LegalLinks: Criminal Law
The Supreme Court Research Guide and Bibliography

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
http://www.atf.treas.gov

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) is a law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bureau, formerly known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, was initially established by the Department of Treasury. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred certain functions and authorities of the Bureau to the Department of Justice and established it under its current name. The Bureau's unique responsibilities include protecting the public and reducing violent crime. ATF enforces the Federal laws and regulations relating to alcohol and tobacco diversion, firearms, explosives, and arson.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: Annual and Accountability Reports
http://www.atf.treas.gov/pub/index.htm#General

Access to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) publications for free. Included among the publications are progress and accountability reports, newsletters, incident reports, bulletins and circulars.

Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice, and is the United States' primary source for criminal justice statistics.

Central Intelligence Agency
https://www.cia.gov

The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Truman. The CIA is an independent agency whose mission is to support the President, the National Security Council, and all officials who make and execute the U.S. national security policy by providing accurate, comprehensive, and timely foreign intelligence on national security topics, and by conducting counterintelligence activities, special activities, and other functions related to foreign intelligence and national security, as directed by the President.

CIA: Heroin Movement Worldwide
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/additional-publications/heroin-movement-worldwide/index.html

A site from the Central Intelligence Agency providing information on heroin statistics, consumption, and conveyance worldwide.

Consumer Sentinel
http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel

The Consumer Sentinel is an innovative, international law enforcement fraud-fighting program. On the public version of this web site, one can report fraud complaints, find facts about fraud trends, learn how international law enforcers work together with private sector companies and consumer organizations to combat fraud, and more.

Cybercrime.gov
http://www.cybercrime.gov/

Cybercrime.gov is maintained by the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division. The site provides cases, policies, reports, and other documents related to cybercrime and intellectual property.

Department of Education Crime Statistics
http://www.ope.ed.gov/security

Department of Justice
http://www.usdoj.gov

The Department of Justice was established by act of June 22, 1870, with the Attorney General as its head. As the largest law firm in the Nation, the Department of Justice serves as counsel for its citizens. It represents them in enforcing the law in the public interest. Through its thousands of lawyers, investigators, and agents, the Department plays the key role in protection against criminals and subversion, in ensuring healthy competition of business in our free enterprise system, in safeguarding the consumer, and in enforcing drug, immigration, and naturalization laws.

Department of Justice - Antitrust Division
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/overview.html

The Antitrust Division of the department of Justice is responsible for enforcing antitrust laws, which apply to virtually every aspect of business, through both civil and criminal suits.

FBI's Freedom of Information Act reading room
http://foia.fbi.gov/

This web site explains information about the FOIA, and provides electronic access to frequently requested FBI documents.

FBI's Most Wanted
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant.htm

Provides links to the FBI's top ten fugitives, most wanted terrorists, crime alerts, missing persons and other related information.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
http://www.fbi.gov

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice. It is primarily charged with gathering and reporting facts, locating witnesses, and compiling evidence in cases involving Federal jurisdiction. It also provides law enforcement leadership and assistance to State and international law enforcement agencies.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
http://www.fletc.gov

Formerly an agency under the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center is now part of the Department of Homeland Security. The FLETC serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for more than 75 Federal agencies with personnel located throughout the United States and its territories. The Center also provides services to state, local, and international law enforcement agencies, and on a space available basis, other Federal agencies with related law enforcement missions.

Guidelines Regarding Confidential Informants
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/readingroom/ciguidelines.htm

General provisions and policies are provided at this Department of Justice web site regarding the use of confidential informants.

International Judicial Assistance
http://travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_702.html

This Department of State web site provides country-specific information, processing services, and other issues relating to judicial assistance abroad.

Internet Crime Complaint Center
http://www.ic3.gov/

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at all levels, IFCC offers a central repository for complaints related to Internet fraud, works to quantify fraud patterns, and provides timely statistical data of current fraud trends.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://www.ncjrs.org

NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.

National Institute on Drug Abuse
http://www.nida.nih.gov

NIDA was established in 1974 and became part of the National Institutes of Health in 1992. The Institute supports research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction in order to better understand their affects on the brain and behavior.

National Security Agency
http://www.nsa.gov

The NSA directs and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information.

National/State Sex Offender Registry
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm

The Registry, a national database developed and implemented by the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit, tracks the whereabouts and movements of certain convicted sex offenders under Title 42 of the United States Code Section 14072. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) enables the NSOR to retain the offender's current registered address and dates of registration, conviction, and residence.

Office of National Drug Control Policy
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

The principal purpose of The Office of National Drug Control Policy is to establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the Nation's drug control program. The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. ONDCP also evaluates, coordinates, and oversees both the international and domestic anti-drug efforts of executive branch agencies and ensures that such efforts sustain and complement State and local anti-drug activities.

Office on Violence Against Women
http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/

The Office on Violence Against Women, formerly the Violence Against Women Office, handles the Department of Justice's legal and policy issues regarding violence against women.

Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations
http://www.cybercrime.gov/s&smanual2002.htm

This updated electronic version of the publication, Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations, incorporates the important changes made to the laws governing electronic evidence gathering by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, as well as discussions of recent caselaw on the topic.

Secret Service
http://www.secretservice.gov/index.shtml

The primary mission of the Secret Service is the protection of the President and other government leaders, as well as security for designated national events. The Secret Service is also the primary agency responsible for protecting U.S. currency from counterfeiters and safeguarding Americans from credit card fraud.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online
http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, supported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice, brings together data from more than 100 sources about all aspects of criminal justice in the United States. These data are displayed in over 600
tables.

Uniform Crime Reports
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

In 1930, the FBI began the task of collecting, publishing, and archiving uniform crime statistics for the nation. Today, several annual statistical publications, including Crime in the United States, Hate Crime Statistics, and Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, are produced from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States.

U.S. Attorneys
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/index.html

United States Attorneys are the nation's principal litigators of criminal cases brought by the Federal government, civil cases in which the United States is a party and cases involving the collection of debts owed the Federal government which are administratively uncollectible. Each United States Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer of the United States within his or her particular jurisdiction.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service
http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

As the primary law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigates crimes against the nation's mail system. Postal Inspectors are federal law enforcement officers who make arrests and serve federal search warrants and subpoenas.

U.S. Sentencing Commission
http://www.ussc.gov

The Commission is an independent agency in the judicial branch of government. It is charged with the ongoing responsibilities of evaluating the effects of the sentencing guidelines on the criminal justice system, recommending to Congress appropriate modifications of substantive criminal law and sentencing procedures, and establishing a research and development program on sentencing issues.