Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center

The State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state's capacity to address criminal justice issues through collection and analysis of data. The SJS Program provides support to each state to coordinate and conduct statistical activities within the state, conduct research to estimate impacts of legislative and policy changes, and serve as a liaison in assisting BJS to gather data from respondent agencies within their states.

The Kentucky Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) was officially transferred from the Office of the Attorney General to the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet (KJPSC), Office of the Kentucky Criminal Justice Council, in March 2000. Because of the SAC’s placement within the KJPSC, the research efforts and daily operations are directly linked to the Cabinet’s policy and planning goals as well as other statewide and national efforts to collect, analyze, and disseminate data on topics that impact law enforcement and criminal justice efforts.

Under this award, the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet’s Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) will conduct activities under the following Core Capacity area: Measuring criminal justice system performance, and Special Emphasis area: Conducting targeted analyses that use the state’s criminal history records. In the Core Capacity area, the SAC will evaluate the diverse array of substance abuse treatment modalities used in Kentucky’s criminal justice system. The project will be conducted over several phases. Phase I will allow the SAC to identify existing sources of information and draw them together into a data set. This project will take place over 24-months and make use of existing criminal history records as well as other sources of administrative data. Findings produced will be written in a report and presented as tabular and graphical summaries.

In the Special Emphasis area, the SAC plans to continue an examination of the factors which impact the reporting and investigation of sexual assaults. In the initial phase of the sexual assault study, the SAC examined research literature to identify appropriate analytic techniques as well as factors that may have impacted the likelihood of sexual assault, the willingness of victims to report a sexual assault, the propensity that an investigation or prosecution would occur, and other necessary information. Funds are being requested to conduct Phase II of this project, titled “Improving Rates of Reporting and Justice for Victims: A Study of Sexual Violence, Attitudes, and Practices in Kentucky.” The SAC will conduct targeted analyses of the state’s criminal history records and administrative sources of information to better understand patterns of sexual assault, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. Phase II will also allow research staff to conduct focus groups among members of law enforcement, victims and survivors of sexual assault, medical staff, victim service providers, and other stakeholders to help identify factors which may impact reporting or the likelihood that an investigation will occur. The anticipated deliverable includes a written report which will outline the findings identified during this phase of the project. A project of this type will support established priorities within the Commonwealth, enhance the CJSAC’s capacity and abilities, create further stakeholder partnerships, and will also provide access to additional sources of data and new analytic techniques. Funds are also requested for in-state project travel and for the SAC Director to attend the 2018 National Criminal Justice Association Annual Conference.

(CA/NCF)

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