Skip to Main Content

CRJ 418/518: Criminal Justice Research Methods

Research Guide for CRJ 418/518

Find state and federal laws, statutes, regulations, and cases, as well as crime statistics and datasets

Federal and State Cases, Laws, Statutes, and Regulations

Nexis Uniincludes law reviews, federal and state cases, federal and state statutes and regulations. For search help, go to their Search Tips page.

U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo): free, public access to official publications from Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government. For more info and search help, go to the Help page. Collections include:

  • Public and Private Law: searchable compilation of federal laws in force, available in full-text. For more info and search help, go to the Help page for this collection.
  • Statutes at Large: searchable compilation of all laws and resolutions passed during each session of Congress. For more info and search help, go to the Help page for this collection.
  • United States Code: browse the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States, divided by broad subjects into 53 titles. For more info and search help, go to the Help page for this collection.

Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL): the compilation of Michigan laws in force, arranged without alteration, under appropriate headings and titles, and available in full-text. The MCL includes Public Acts enacted by the Michigan Legislature, the Michigan Constitution of 1963, as amended, and Executive Reorganization Orders issued by the governor. For help, see their Help Page with tutorials and FAQs about the MLC as well as contact information for further information and help.

Michigan Judicial Institute: education office of the Michigan Supreme Court, State Court Administrative Office. Includes court rules and procedureslegal statutes, as well as publications and online learning resources.

Crime Statistics, Reports, and Datasets

Sage Stats (library database): includes datasets that span all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as all counties, cities, and metropolitan statistical areas dating back more than 20 years. Topics covered include crime, social welfare, population, education, and more. For help, see their FAQs page.

Detroit Crime Viewer: Interactive crime map (currently in beta phase) that shows where and when crimes were committed. Crimes are color-coded and it displays location, arrest category, report number, and charge description of incidents that happened within city limits. Users can filter results by date and crime, crime type, and also select location by police precincts, zip codes, neighborhoods, council districts, or by searching the interactive map.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: includes over 2,600 curated studies and datasets. It includes several large-scale and well-known datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), and the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For help, see their FAQs and User Support contact page.

National Institutes of Justice: Datasets from research projects funded by the National Institutes of Justice. For help, see their Accessing and Using Research Data page.

Bureau of Justice Statistics: Datasets on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. For help, see their Help for Using BJS page

PEW Social and Demographic TrendsDatasets from studies of behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives. Includes datasets on Hispanic immigration attitudes and trends from the PEW Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project.

Department of Homeland Security: Datasets on immigration, immigrants, and refugees. For help, see their FAQs page.

TRAC Immigration: Datasets on the criminal enforcement of US Immigration Law. For help, see their TRAC Help page.

University of Michigan - Dearborn Logo
  • 4901 Evergreen Road
    Dearborn, MI 48128, USA
  • Phone: 313-593-5000
  • Contact us