Libraries

Crime and Justice Resources

Government and legal information available at WIU on related topics:

Search Strategies
Books & Manuscripts

Tips:

  • Search these Library of Congress subject headings in WestCat , the library's online catalog:
    • Tips: Use the Quick Search option and enter the terms below in the search box and select Subject as the search.
    • crime
    • criminal psychology
    • juvenile delinquents
    • gangs
    • crime prevention
    • criminology
    • hate crimes
    • community policing
    • victims of crime
    • organized crime
    • criminals
    • rehabilitation
    • law enforcement
    • sentencing
    • police training
  • Use the Quick Search option and enter polic? or criminology in the search box and select Any Word Anywhere as the search.
  • Use the Advance Search option and search "juvenile delinquents" or "community policing" as phrases.
  • If you are having trouble finding material on your topic, try searching I-Share (through WestCat ), a database of the catalogs of over 70 Illinois libraries or WorldCat , a database of library catalogs from all over the world.
  • Any book you find which we don't have may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Allow a week to 10 days.
  • Try searching Congressional Research Service Reports to find information on your topic.
Articles

Tips:

    • Search the database Nexis Uni.
    • Search the database Criminal Justice.
    • Search the multi-disciplinary databases, like Academic Search Complete and Academic OneFile Select .
    • Search LexisNexis for full-text law review articles.
    • Make sure WIU doesn't have access to articles you find in databases that don't make all articles available full-text by searching the Periodicals Holdings List for the journal title. The PHL contains full-text e-titles purchased by WIU Libraries, and print/microform periodicals shelved in the Libraries.
    • Any article you find to which we don't have access may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Allow a week to 10 days.
Statistics and Reports
NCJRS
Use the National Criminal Justice Reference Service website to find reports and statistics on law enforcement, juvenile justice, corrections, drugs and crime, and victims.
U.S. Department of Justice
You can link to individual agencies within the Department from here or use the list below to link to the most frequently used pages.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
This site houses a lot of reports on Crime(s) and Victims, most of which can be downloaded; statistics and surveys galore.
Drug Enforcement Agency
Publications and reports from DEA on drug use/abuse and policy.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Check out the FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives as well as information on famous current and historical FBI investigations. Also review issues of the ever-popular FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Jan 1999 to present online, 1959-2001 in hardcopy).
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Data on crime by county; plus links to local police departments and sheriff's offices and other sites of interest.
Illinois State Police
This page contains a lot of useful links and information on Illinois gangs, unsolved crimes, missing persons, wanted felons and crime statistics. See also the state publication Crime In Illinois.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (defunded - 2013 is the last issue)
The book of criminal justice statistics contains state data on arrests, budgets, crimes, criminals, prisoners, sentences, and surveys. If it's a statistic you 're looking for, you'll likely find it here.
Uniform Crime Reports (Crime in the United States)
Use the Crime Data Explorer to search for statistics collected by the FBI on crimes (national, regional, county, and place levels) arrests, arrestees, and police departments. Please note: the State of Illinois does not present its data for this collection.
FBI's Ten Mosted Wanted Fugitives
See the faces and read the stories about these (and other) fugitives from justice.