The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform our Nation’s criminal justice system.
BJA strengthens the Nation’s criminal justice system and helps America’s state, local, and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice system. BJA focuses its programmatic and policy efforts on providing a wide range of resources, including training and technical assistance, to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, reentry, justice information sharing, and community-based partners to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide.
BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy development to support state, local, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. BJA works with communities, governments, and nonprofit organizations to reduce crime, recidivism, and unnecessary confinement, and promote a safe and fair criminal justice system.
BJA has five major strategic focus areas:
1) Reduction in violent crime, improvement in community safety, and support for public safety officers
2) Reduction in recidivism and prevention of unnecessary confinement
3) Integration of evidence-based, research-driven strategies into the day-to-day operations of BJA and the programs BJA administers and supports
4) Increasing program effectiveness with a renewed emphasis on data analysis, information sharing, and performance management
5) Ensuring organizational excellence