WSU Criminal Justice Library and Research News

Prisons--United States--Women--Statistics
Source: Women's Prisons Association
Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women 1977-2004
"The
Punitiveness Report-HARD HIT: The Growth in Imprisonment of Women,
1977-2004" takes an in-depth look at female prison population growth
patterns and regional trends, and it provides the first state-by-state
analysis of female imprisonment from 1977 to 2004, with findings from
all 50 states. The report was authored by Dr. Natasha Frost, Assistant
Professor at Northeastern University, and Judith Greene and Kevin
Pranis of Justice Strategies."

# posted by Michael Sensiba @ 12:26 PM 0 comments

Law Enforcment Officers--Mortality
Source: FBI
Preliminary Statistics for Law Enforcement Officers Killed in 2005
"According
to preliminary statistics released today by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, 55 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in
the line of duty during 2005. Geographically, 28 of the victim officers
were killed in the South, followed by 10 in the Midwest, 10 in the
West, and 5 in the Northeast. Two officers were slain in Puerto Rico.
The total number of officers killed is 2 fewer than in 2004.... The FBI
will release final statistics in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s
annual publication Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, which
will be published on the Internet in the fall of this year."

# posted by Michael Sensiba @ 12:30 PM 0 comments

Law Enforcement--Recruiting
Source: Police Executive Research Forum
Cop Crunch: Identifying Strategies for Dealing with the Recruiting and Hiring Crisis in Law Enforcement (PDF; 1.94 MB)
"The
processes of recruitment and selection are key to developing agencies
with high quality personnel and to producing agencies that are
representative of their communities in terms of race and gender. The
headlines reveal, however, that many departments are having major
problems with recruitment and hiring. And, although warnings were
sounded in the 1980s and 1990s (see e.g. comments made by Shannon,
1984; Sanders et al., 1995; Bowers, 1990), the 'cop crunch' based on
anecdotal evidence appears to have hit many agencies very hard and very
quickly. The challenge of recruiting and hiring quality personnel has
emerged as a critical problem facing law enforcement nationwide. It
threatens to undermine the ability of law enforcement to protect our
nation’s citizens and to reverse important gains in our efforts to
increase the representation on our forces of racial/ethnic minorities
and women. In response to this potential problem, PERF conducted this
project, with NIJ funding, to examine the nature and extent of the “cop
crunch” and identify department-level policies/practices that
facilitate the recruiting and hiring of quality personnel, and that
facilitate the recruiting and hiring of quality women and minorities."

# posted by Michael Sensiba @ 12:28 PM 0 comments

The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice [pdf]

http://www.cjcj.org

With offices in such gritty locales as Oakland and the nation’s
capital, it follows that The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice
(CJCJ) is well-positioned to offer well-thought out policy research and
technical assistance in the field of juvenile and criminal justice.
Founded in 1985, the CJCJ works in a number of arenas, such as
sentencing reform and community-based alternatives to juvenile
detention. A good place to start for first-time visitors is the
publications area, which contains links to recent works created by
staff members on juvenile justice, adult corrections, and sentencing.
One highlight of the site is the juvenile justice area. Here visitors
can learn about the CJCJ’s work in the state of California with
alternative sentencing options and also view video clips from their
conference on youth reform. [KMG]

# posted by Michael Sensiba @ 9:53 AM 0 comments

Murder-Suicide--United States
Source: Violence Policy Center
American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States (PDF; 276 KB)
From press release:
"More than 10 murder-suicides, almost all by gun, occur each week in
the United States, according to American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in
the United States, a new study by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The
study used a national news clipping service and Internet survey tools
to collect incidents nationwide from January 1, 2005, through June 30,
2005, and is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever
conducted on murder-suicide. During this six-month period, at least 591
Americans died in 264 murder-suicides, and almost all murder-suicides
(92 percent) involved a firearm. Using these figures, the VPC estimates
that nearly 1,200 Americans die each year in murder-suicides."

# posted by Michael Sensiba @ 10:42 AM 0 comments