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May/June 2005 |
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 Spanish survival guide helps families of missing children
The
Spanish-language edition of OJJDP's When Your Child Is Missing:
A Family Survival Guide has been updated for this third edition.
The guide explains what families should do in the first 24 hours
and in the ensuing weeks after a child has disappeared and contains
expanded information about the AMBER Alert Plan, the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children's Family Advocacy Division,
and Team Adam, among other resources.
Cuando su niño desaparece: Una guía para la
supervivencia de la familia (When Your Child Is Missing: A Family
Survival Guide, Third Edition), 108 pages
 OJJDP Annual Report highlights 2003–2004 accomplishments
This report summarizes OJJDP's programmatic efforts in 2003 and
2004 to ensure safe and healthy communities for the Nation's children
and families. Included are discussions of OJJDP's continuing research,
evaluation, and statistics programs; how OJJDP shares research findings
through its information dissemination activities; and how States,
the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories use OJJDP's formula,
block, and program grants to improve their juvenile justice systems
and to control and prevent delinquency.
OJJDP
Annual Report 2003–2004, 58 pages
 Bulletin outlines what is known about juvenile firesetters
In a typical year, fires that children and youth set claim the lives
of approximately 300 people and destroy more than $300 million in
property. Children are the predominant victims in these fires, accounting
for 85 of every 100 lives lost.To better address juvenile firesetting,
professionals must develop a fuller understanding of the critical
issues—the hows and whys—surrounding the problem. This
bulletin outlines existing research and theories related to juvenile
firesetting and identifies some of the limitations of existing research.The
authors recommend several strategies for curbing juvenile firesetting.
Juvenile
Firesetting: A Research Overview, 8 pages
 Web site provides one-stop truancy information
OJJDP and the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE's) Office of Safe
and Drug-Free Schools have launched a Web site to collect and disseminate
truancy-related information to educators, law enforcement agencies,
court personnel, and the general public. In addition to offering
an overview of truancy issues, the comprehensive site includes materials
from the December 2004 jointly sponsored DOJ/DOE truancy conference;
news updates, success stories, publications, and Web links; information
on research, program evaluation, and promising strategies; and a
toolkit section, with training and technical assistance resources,
communications strategies, and an audio/video library.
Truancy
Prevention—Empowering
Students, Schools, and Communities
 Justice isn't served until crime victims are
The Public Service Announcement (PSA) Partner Kit describes the
National Public Awareness and Education Campaign, in particular,
its PSA Plan, which provides resources to help victim assistance
organizations tailor PSAs to their local television markets.The kit
includes a storyboard, video clips of seven PSAs (http://www.ovc.gov/videos),
and a 20-page guidebook.Together, they make a strong argument for
why victim service providers should become PSA Partners and give
detailed information on how to do so.
Public
Service Announcement (PSA) Partner Kit
 OVC launches crimevictims.gov Web site
Crimevictims.gov is part of an integrated campaign to increase awareness
about victims' rights and promote victim resources. The launch of
this Web site is tied directly to the release of seven public service
announcements (PSAs) that aired nationally during National Crime
Victims' Rights Week (April 10–16, 2005).The site, crimevictims.gov,
tailors its message to three distinct groups: crime victims, volunteers,
and victim service providers. For victims of crime, the site offers
links to information and resources on an array of victimization topics.Volunteers
can learn about local opportunities to assist victims, from escorting
victims to criminal justice proceedings to helping them find appropriate
counseling. Service providers can find out about resources, legislative
information, funding opportunities, collaboration in the field, and,
in particular, about becoming a PSA Partner.
 The truth about "CSI"
Ever wonder if "CSI"or other TV shows realistically portray real
crime labs? For the reality, investigate the results of the first
survey of the Nation's 351 Federal, State, and local forensic crime
labs. Nationwide, public crime laboratories received about 2.7 million
requests for forensic laboratory services and processed a little
less than 2.5 million during
2002.The backlog in requests for services increased 70 percent in 2002.
Identification of controlled substances was the most frequently
requested forensic laboratory service, followed by toxicology samples
and latent print requests. About 2 percent of all requests are for
DNA analysis.
Many more interesting facts about crime labs can be found in—
Census
of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2002,
16 pages
 Urban crime data from police reports and victim surveys
compared
Localities often assess levels or trends in crime solely on the
basis of police data.This study compares police data from Uniform
Crime Reports (UCR) and victim survey data from the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) drawn from the metropolitan areas of
New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Data from 1980 to 1998 were analyzed.
For burglary and robbery, UCR crime rates were generally similar
to NCVS-reported crime rates; however, discrepancies between the
sources were apparent for aggravated assault.
Crime
and Victimization in the Three Largest Metropolitan Areas,
1980–98, 8 pages
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