All OJJDP publications may be viewed and downloaded on the publications section of the OJJDP Web site. Print publications may be ordered online at the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Web site.

Coming soon—

Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2012: Selected Findings (National Report Bulletin)
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report Series

The Juvenile Residential Facility Census is conducted biennially by OJJDP. The 2012 census shows that the juvenile offender population dropped 14 percent from 2010 to 2012 to 57,190 offenders younger than 21 on the census date, the lowest number since 1975. For the first time since 2000, more offenders were in local facilities on the census date in 2012 than were in state-operated facilities. The data also describe security features that are used in facilities. Overall, 43 percent of facilities lock youth in their sleeping rooms at least some of the time. Fourteen deaths were reported; five were suicides. Most of those deaths were white non-Hispanic and African American non-Hispanic males. Most of the suicides occurred weeks after the youth’s detainment. Data is also included on tribal facilities. Fifty-one percent of juvenile facilities were publicly operated; they held 69 percent of the juvenile offenders.

Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey (Fact Sheet)
Youth Gang Series

This OJJDP fact sheet presents an overview of the nation’s gang problem. Since 1996, the National Gang Center’s National Youth Gang Survey has collected data annually from a large representative sample of local law enforcement agencies. The sample consists of two groups: police departments in cities with more than 50,000 residents along with suburban county police and sheriffs’ departments, and a random sample of police departments in cities with populations between 2,500 and 50,000 along with rural county sheriffs’ departments. Survey findings show that, in 2012, gangs were active in slightly less than 30 percent of the jurisdictions (the lowest point in nearly a decade), attributed partly to the decline in the prevalence rates of gang activity in smaller cities. Nearly 30 percent of responding law enforcement agencies reported gang activity for 2012, concentrated mostly in urban areas. Gang-related homicides increased overall nationally, partly on account of increased reporting by agencies.