Office of Justice Programs Weekly News Brief

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U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs

Nov 21, 2011, 02:25 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by the Office of Justice Programs:

AAG Robinson Speaks at Criminology Conference – In remarks Thursday, November 17 at the American Society of Criminology Conference: Breaking the Mold: Innovations and Bold Ventures in Criminology, in Washington, D.C., Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, Office of Justice Programs, said, "My goal is to try to institutionalize a scientific mindset throughout OJP and across the Department of Justice. As Attorney General Holder has put it, 'we'd like to see science encoded in the DNA of the Department of Justice.'"

BJA Funds More than $1 Million to Veteran Treatment Courts –The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance recently announced that it will support four drug courts designed to meet veterans' needs in Fiscal Year 2011 under the Adult Discretionary Drug Court Program. Veteran treatment courts help veterans within the criminal justice system manage their substance abusing habits so that they can safely return to their communities. More than $1 million is being provided to the Judicial Council of California; Hennepin County, Minn.; the 13th Judicial District Court in Yellowstone County, Mont.; and Spokane County, Wash.

Homicides Fall to Lowest Rate in Four Decades –According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' newly released report, Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008, the nation's homicide rate fell to 4.8 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 2010, its lowest level in four decades. Much of the decline was in the nation's largest cities, those with a population of one million or more, where the homicide rate dropped dramatically from 35.5 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 1991 to a low of 11.9 per 100,000 in 2008.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2221

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs