Criminal Justice Statistics and Trends

About PCCD Research and Data

PCCD's Office of Research, Evaluation and Strategic Policy Development (ORESPD) is recognized by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the US Department of Justice and the Justice Research and Statistics Association (i.e., a national nonprofit organization of researchers and practitioners throughout government, academia, and criminal justice organizations) as Pennsylvania's Statistical Analysis Center (SAC).  ORESPD/SAC is responsible for meeting the data collection, analysis and research needs of PCCD as outlined in Section 4 of PCCD's governing statute.

The mission of ORESPD/SAC is to provide assistance to ensure the successful coordination, implementation, and monitoring of public policy.  Our goals are to enhance applications to process and analyze information in a timely, valid, and reliable form; coordinate systems and procedures to collect and disseminate data that are accurate and complete; participate in efforts to forecast of adult under prison supervision, adults under community supervision, and juvenile offenders; and continue improvement of clearinghouse functions, responding to queries on criminal justice issues from all levels of citizenry, local, state, and federal governments.

The following PCCD initiatives/programs have been developed in partnership with our Office:

PA Criminal Justice Advisory Boards Data Dashboards

In collaboration with the PA State Data Center, PCCD implemented this digital dashboard system, which tracks key metrics from the county justice system including prison indicators, courts indicators, juvenile indicators, probation/parole indicators, law enforcement indicators.  Click HERE to access the CJAB Dashboards.

PaCrimeStats.Info

In collaboration with the PA State Data Center, the pacrimestats.info website provides access to crime-related data from Pennsylvania's adult and juvenile criminal justice agencies.  It serves as a comprehensive clearinghouse for state and county justice statistics, including general information about crime in specific communities, number of arrests, types of offenses, number of people incarcerated and paroled. Data from the state Department of Corrections, the Board of Probation and Parole, the Commission on Sentencing, State Police, the Pennsylvania Justice Network, and Juvenile Court Judges' Commission are available on the site. Click HERE to access the PaCrimeStats.Info website.

Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS)

Since 1989, the Commonwealth has conducted the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) of school students in the 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades to learn about their behavior, attitudes and knowledge concerning alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and violence. The data gathered in PAYS serve two primary needs. First, the results provide school administrators, state agency directors, legislators and others with critical information concerning the changes in patterns of the use and abuse of these harmful substances and behaviors. Second, the survey assesses risk factors that are related to these behaviors and the protective factors that help guard against them. This information allows community leaders to direct prevention resources to areas where they are likely to have the greatest impact.  For all PAYS data and further information, click HERE.

PCCD ArcGIS Map Gallery

Since 2015, PCCD has utilized GIS-mapping for detailed data analysis, planning and policy development, and as a marketing and informational tool for our agency. We have found that spatial analysis of data allows policymakers to easily identify gaps in service and assist in the strategic development of solutions to meet those needs. Maps have been used to illustrate where PCCD grant funding has been distributed in the state, to fill annual report requirements, for contact information purposes, etc.  Click HERE to access the full range of ArcGIS maps PCCD offers.
 

Criminal Justice Data Dictionary (CJDD)

The Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Data Dictionary (CJDD) is a collaborative product of several Commonwealth adult criminal justice agencies.  It contains the data elements these agencies currently collect and their individual agency-specific definitions so that criminal justice researchers know what data is available within the Commonwealth adult criminal justice community.  Click HERE to go to the Criminal Justice Data Dictionary webpage.

PA Crime Trend Report (2012-2016)

At the March 2019 Commission meeting, PCCD Research Consultant Dr. Robert Orth presented a comprehensive report on Pennsylvania's crime trends.  The report, which was paid for through a grant by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a compilation of criminal justice statistics presented in an infographic format.  

 Download the PA Crime Trends 2012-2016 Report (PDF)