Augmenting the US Marshals Service Bookings Data to Enhance Estimates of the Number of Federal Arrests

• In Event: Overcoming Measurement Challenges

Abstract

Policy makers and criminal justice researchers alike are interested in credible estimates of the number of arrests made by federal law enforcement agencies each year. Such comprehensive statistics have historically proven difficult to reliably estimate, as more than 70 federal agencies have arresting authority (Reaves, 2008). Each agency collects and maintains its own data according to its priorities. No central repository exists where all federal arrest data is housed. Scholars have utilized the United States Marshals Service (USMS) bookings data reported in the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to estimate federal arrests; however, most approaches utilizing USMS bookings fail to adequately account for USMS reporting practices that do not align with such an estimate. New data available in the FJSP and novel links to Bureau of Prisons’ incarceration data provide a more holistic understanding of the circumstances surrounding a booking. As a result, arrests for new crimes can be separated from violations of community supervision and administrative bookings in the USMS data, providing a means for more accurately estimating the number of federal arrests. Furthermore, knowledge of booking types allows for novel investigations into how the types of interactions with offenders differ by federal agency using the USMS bookings data.

Authors

• Christopher Cutler, Abt Associates

• Ryan Kling, Abt Associates