FY2015 Law Enforcement Core Statistics Program (LECS)

The Law Enforcement Core Statistics Program (LECS) will incorporate two of BJS’ core statistical programs: Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) and Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA). The LEMAS core has been conducted every 3-4 years since 1987, while the CSLLEA has been conducted regularly since 1992. The CSLLEA enumerates all publically funded state, county and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating in the United States and provides complete personnel counts. The LEMAS is based on a nationally-representative sample of approximately 3,500 agencies, and provides the most systematic and comprehensive source on law enforcement expenditures and pay, operations, equipment, information systems and policies and procedures. The goal of the LECS is to provide accurate and timely national statistics about the personnel, operations, policies, and procedures of federal, state, county, and local LEAs, with a particular focus on measuring agency performance. Furthermore, the LECS will unify these once distinct programs under one umbrella to increase efficiency and cohesiveness of these core programs.

BJS initially awarded funding to the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to develop an overall program that incorporated the following tasks: (1) manage the project, (2) field the LEMAS core in 2016, (3) develop and test at least one LEMAS supplemental survey instrument, and (4) disseminate findings to the public through research reports for the first 24 months of the 51-month project.

Under this supplemental award, the recipient of funds will continue their work serving as BJS’s collection agent for the remaining 27 months of the LECS (October 1, 2017-December 31, 2019).

During this period, the applicant will be tasked 1) managing the project, (2) develop a frame and revise the instrument for the 2018 CSLLEA, (3) field the 2018 CSLLEA, (4) research and development on the LEMAS-core and supplements, (5) fielding a 2019 LEMAS supplement, and (6) analyzing and disseminating results. RTI has developed a comprehensive plan to meet these project tasks.

(CA/NCF)

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined by applicable law.

The Law Enforcement Core Statistics Program (LECS) will incorporate two of BJS’s core statistical programs: Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) and Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA). The goal of the LECS is to provide accurate and timely national statistics about the personnel, operations, policies, and procedures of federal, state, county, and local LEAs, with a particular focus on measuring agency performance. Furthermore, the LECS will unify these once distinct programs under one umbrella to increase efficiency and cohesiveness of these core programs.

BJS previously awarded funding to the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to develop an overall program that incorporated the following tasks: (1) project management, (2) fielding the LEMAS in 2016, (3) development and cognitive testing of a LEMAS supplement on forensic science services in law enforcement agencies, (4) fielding the CSLLEA in 2018, (5) fielding the 2018 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA) in 2019, (6) maintaining an accurate roster of law enforcement agencies in the U.S., and (7) research and development work pertaining to the sample methodology and instrumentation (including the development of the 2020 instrument) of the LEMAS core.

Supplement 2 will support this work by covering the following three additional tasks: (1) expanded data quality follow-up for the 2018 CSLLEA, (2) integration of the U.S. Census Bureau population data for 2018 CSLLEA analyses, and (3) non-response and data quality follow-up for additional law enforcement academies discovered through frame cleaning for the 2018 CLETA.

(CA/NCF)