The study compiles data on the law enforcement, courts and administration, corrections and intermediate sanctions, criminal history records, and justice statistics of the federally recognized American Indian tribal governing bodies. The data determine which tribes have sworn law enforcement personnel and the source of authority, what the number and type of tribal court systems are, who performs the tribal detention function and what types of sanctions are imposed. It also looks at whether tribes have access to state and national criminal record systems.

This study was a process evaluation of the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) intended to develop insights into how community approaches to crime and drug abuse prevention and control evolved, to track how each site implemented its comprehensive strategy, to determine the influence of preexisting ecological, social, economic, and political factors on implementation, and to monitor the evolution of strategies and projects over time. Intensive evaluations were done at six CCP sites: Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Columbia, South Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington. Less intensive evaluations were done at six other CCP sites: Gary, Indiana; Hartford, Connecticut; Wichita, Kansas; the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area; the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area; and the East Bay area of northern California. At all 12 sites, 2 waves of a Coalition Survey (Parts 1 and 2) were sent to everyone who participated in CCP. Likewise, 2 waves of the Community Policing Survey (Parts 3 and 4) were sent to the police chiefs of all 12 sites. Finally, all 12 sites were visited by researchers at least once (Parts 5 to 13). Variables found in this data collection include problems facing the communities, the implementation of CCP programs, the use of community policing, and the effectiveness of the CCP programs and community policing efforts.

The survey was designed to explore the thesis that effective prevention and control of crime requires a community-wide effort that involves law enforcement agencies, other elements of government, and the citizens in a coordinated attack on problems of crime. The data include information on program start-up, implementation, and the community itself, as well as information on the specific activities undertaken by the programs.

In 1953, Congress enacted Public Law 280, transferring federal criminal jurisdiction in Indian country to the state government in six states, allowing other states to join in at a later date. This study was designed to gain a better understanding of law enforcement under Public Law 280. Specifically, amid federal concerns about rising crime rates in Indian country and rising victimization rates among Indians, the National Institute of Justice funded this study to advance understanding of this law and its impact, from the point of view of tribal members as well as state and local officials. The research team gathered data from 17 confidential reservation sites, which were selected to ensure a range of features such as region and whether the communities were in Public Law 280 jurisdictions under mandatory, optional, excluded, straggler, or retroceded status. Confidential interviews were conducted with a total of 354 reservation residents, law enforcement officials, and criminal justice personnel. To assess the quality or effectiveness of law enforcement and criminal justice systems under Public Law 280, the research team collected quantitative data pertaining to the responsiveness, availability, quality, and sensitivity of law enforcement, and personal knowledge of Public Law 280.

This study evaluated the Tribal Strategies Against Violence (TSAV) Initiative. The TSAV was a federal-tribal partnership, lasting from 1995 to 1999, designed to develop comprehensive strategies in tribal communities to reduce crime, violence, and substance abuse. This study involved four of the seven TSAV sites: the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Michigan, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota. A survey of TSAV stakeholders at the four sites was conducted in the summer and fall of 1999. The objectives of the survey were to gauge TSAV stakeholders' perceptions about the following: (1) the serious crime, violence, and quality of life issues in each community and the extent to which the local TSAV initiative had addressed those issues, (2) the intent and ultimate outcomes of the TSAV program, (3) obstacles to successful implementation of TSAV activities, and (4) decision-making processes used in planning and implementing TSAV locally. Offense data were also gathered at the Fort Peck site for 1995 to 1998 and at the Grand Traverse Band site for 1997 to 1999.

This data collection focuses on juvenile justice systems administered by federally recognized Indian tribes throughout the United States. Responses were received from 93 tribes who indicated that they administered some form of juvenile justice system and from 57 tribes who indicated that they did not. Variables in the data collection include number of Indian juveniles aged 10-17 in the jurisdiction, types of cases that the juvenile justice system exercised jurisdiction over, type of court (tribal, state, federal), annual budget and sources of funds for the court, number of court personnel, types of legal statutes covering court activities, kinds of diversionary options available to the court, and the circumstances under which juveniles were held with adults. A separate file on juvenile offense rates according to tribe is provided.

This study was an outcome evaluation that employed a group randomized experimental design to assess the effectiveness of a school-based violence prevention program known as Tribes in preventing youth violence. The study took place in elementary schools in the San Francisco Unified School District and targeted students in Kindergarten through Fifth grade. Within each school, teachers (and their students) were randomly assigned to the experimental condition, with teachers assigned to the intervention condition using Tribes in their classrooms and control teachers delivering usual lessons. Multiple, repeated measures, including teacher surveys and checklists, parent checklists, direct evaluator observations of classrooms, and individual student interviews were employed between May 2007 and November 2010. Researchers gathered data in four major outcome areas: classroom environment, teacher practices, and student behavior and reasoning.