Criminal Justice, Law & Human Rights Websites
The sites below provide statistics and other data on crime and criminal justice.
- ACLU Immigration DetentionThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website on Immigration Detention addresses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's detention system of immigration enforcement.
- American Immigration Lawyers Associationnonpartisan, nonprofit, voluntary bar association that provides continuing legal education, professional services, information, and expertise to attorneys who practice and teach immigration law
- Amnesty InternationalGlobal Human Rights organization involved in campaigns against war, torture, suppression of dissent, authoritarianism, and terrorism for more than 50 years
- Chicago Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityOn October 5, 2016, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance to establish the COPA, which replaced the Independent Police Review Authority as the civilian oversight agency of the Chicago Police Department. Under the direction of the Chief Administrator, COPA has the power and authority to conduct investigations into:
- Chicago Police DepartmentThe CPD website is designed to provide general information about the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy. You will also find information on how you can make your neighborhood a safer, more enjoyable place to live.
- Citizenship and Immigration ServicesU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provides information to the public, grants immigration and citizenship benefits, promotes an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and maintains the U.S. immigration system.
- Customs and Border ProtectionCustoms and Border Protection has a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. It also has a responsibility for securing and facilitating trade and travel and enforcing U.S. regulations, including immigration and drug laws.
- Department of Homeland SecurityCreated in response to 9/11 by the George W. Bush administration in November 2002 the DHS is the youngest cabinet department of the federal government and now oversees anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
- DefundPolice.Orgcomprehensive web resource where organizers can find everything they need for their campaign to defund police in one place: information about what groups across the country are doing, resources, trainings, budget tools, and information about legislation and policies that support efforts to divest from systems of policing and punishment and invest in genuine and sustainable community safety strategies. DefundPolice.org is coordinated, housed, and staffed by the Community Resource Hub. The project is a collaboration with Movement for Black Lives, Critical Resistance, Interrupting Criminalization, PolicyLink, Law for Black Lives, Database for Police Abolition, ACRE, Advancement Project, and Black Lives Matter Canada.
- Detention Watch NetworkDetention Watch Network is a coalition that works to reform the U.S. detention and deportation system.
- Federal Bureau of InvestigationContains the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Most of the crime statistics go back to 1995.
- Fraternal Order of PoliceWorld’s largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers committed to improving the working conditions of law enforcement officers and the safety of those we serve through education, legislation, information, community involvement and employee representation.
- Immigrant Legal Resource CenterILRC trains attorneys, paralegals, and community-based advocates who work with immigrants around the country. We inform the media, elected officials, and public to shape effective and just immigration policy and law. Our staff works with grassroots immigrant organizations to promote civic engagement and social change.
- Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government. It was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
- Immigration and Nationality ActThe Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA, was created in 1952. Before the INA, a variety of statutes governed immigration law but were not organized in one location. The McCarran-Walter bill of 1952, Public Law No. 82-414, collected and codified many existing provisions and reorganized the structure of immigration law. The Act has been amended many times over the years, but is still the basic body of immigration law.
The link above takes you to the current codification. - Immigration Statistical YearbookThe Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, a publication of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is a compendium of tables that provides data on foreign nationals who, during a fiscal year, were granted lawful permanent residence, were admitted into the United States on a temporary basis, applied for asylum or refugee status, or were naturalized. The Yearbook also presents data on immigration law enforcement actions, including alien apprehensions, removals, and prosecutions.
- Laws of Illinois (digital resource)Western Illinois University Libraries and Illinois State Library have digitized many volumes of the Laws of Illinois.
- National Archive of Criminal Justice DataAffiliated with the University of Michigan, most of the data requires a registration with NACJD, but some data is available to anyone. Two interesting subsets are the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and the Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center.
- National Criminal Justice Reference ServiceOffers juvenile and criminal justice information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.
- National Immigrant Justice CenterNIJC provides direct legal services to and advocates for these populations through policy reform, impact litigation, and public education
- National Immigration Law CenterFounded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a national legal advocacy organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of low-income immigrants and their families. Its website has information about health care and public benefits, immigration reform, immigration enforcement, workers' rights, education, and NILC litigation.
- National Survey on Drug Use and HealthProvides substance abuse data by state and by drug, as well as national and state mental health data. Data comes from the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration.
- Office of Inspector General, City of ChicagoData on public safety, City budgets, and City employees.
- States Without NationsStates Without Nations provides research and commentary on state efforts to restrict the movement of people across borders.
- Universal Declaration of Human RightsThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948.
- UN Office of Counter-TerrorismUNOCT works in close collaboration with the Security Council subsidiary bodies mandated to enhance the capacity of Member States to prevent and respond to terrorist acts which include the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, as well as the 1540 Committee on the non-proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
- United Nations Crime DataUNODC regularly updates statistical series on crime, criminal justice, drug trafficking and prices, drug production, and drug use sourced from national statistical systems. Latest Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (CTS) that is available is 2007-2008.
- UN Office of the High Commission on Human RightsLeading UN entity on human rights. The General Assembly entrusted both the High Commissioner and her Office with a unique mandate to promote and protect all human rights for all people. The United Nations human rights programme aims to ensure that the protection and enjoyment of human rights is a reality in the lives of all people. UN Human Rights also plays a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of the three interconnected pillars of the United Nations – peace and security, human rights and development.
- United States ConstitutionThe copy of the United States Constitution is from the National Archives website.
- U.S. Bureau of Justice StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics is the United States' primary source for statistics on
crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. - VAWnetA Project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, VAWnet.org is home to thousands of materials on gender-based violence and related issues
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Social data & polls
- Chicago Data CollaborativeCooperative effort by newsrooms, academics, and nonprofit researchers to get data from public agencies, organize and document that data, and link the data together. By sharing capacity and organizing data from multiple points of contact—including investigatory stops, arrests, court cases, and lockup—we seek to paint a comprehensive portrait of the system as a whole.
- Citizens Police Data ProjectCollects and publishes information about police misconduct in Chicago
- Fatal EncountersUsing data from paid researchers, public records requests, and crowdsourced data. About 85 percent of records are submitted by paid researchers aggregating data from KilledByPolice.net or the Los Angeles Times’ The Homicide Report and researchers who have contributed their data to FE.
- ICPSR : Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social ResearchArchives of social science data for research and instruction.
- KilledByPolice.NetOne of the most comprehensive crowdsourced databases of police killings in the country.
- Mapping Police ViolenceMeticulously sourced from the three largest, most comprehensive and impartial crowdsourced databases on police killings in the country: FatalEncounters.org, the U.S. Police Shootings Database and KilledbyPolice.net, with extensive original research on social media, in obituaries, criminal records databases, police reports and other sources to identify the race of 90 percent of all victims in the database.
- Qualitative Data RepositoryDigital data from qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences. Hosted by Syracuse University.
- SimplyAnalyticsCustomizable mapping application allowing thousands of data variables. To save your searches, you need to sign up for an account using your UIC email address. Access restricted to 5 concurrent users.
- Social ExplorerCurrent and historical census data and demographic information. Create maps and reports to better illustrate, analyze and understand demography and social change.