SCDPS | Office of Justice Programs

A Short History
The Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) program was established in 1973 as the key component of the Comprehensive Data Systems (CDS) program of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and operated as part of the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs. Under the CDS program, South Carolina received federal grants to establish a SAC. The purpose of this program was to help the states improve crime statistics, perform objective analyses of criminal justice data, prepare statistical reports on crime and promote the development of criminal justice information and statistical systems. In 1993, the SAC was moved to the newly created South Carolina Department of Public Safety, and now operates as part of the Office of Justice Programs.

What the SAC Does
As part of the office of Office of Justice Programs, the mission of the Statistical Analysis Center is to provide South Carolina with a centralized capability of conducting objective analyses to meet critical planning needs and address statewide and system-wide criminal justice policy issues. The SAC also collects common justice system statistical data among the states and shares that data with the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, as well as other states. The SAC contributes to statewide policy development by providing statistical services, research, evaluation, and policy analysis. The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides continuing financial assistance and the Justice Research and Statistics Association provides ongoing technical assistance.

Against Their Will: Sexual Violence in South Carolina 1991 - 2003
Description – This report provides a statewide statistical overview of sexual violence based on an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data from 1991 through 2003. It also incorporates 2003 data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control regarding sexual assault victims. It was published in June 2005.
Against Their Will: Sexual Violence in South Carolina 1991 - 2003

Altered States in the Palmetto State: Statistical Indicators of Illegal Drug Use
Description – This report brings together criminal justice and public health data to provide an overview of the extent and nature of illegal drug use in South Carolina. The report brings together indicators of illegal drug use such as drug arrests, drug testing results, court filings, admissions to prison and community correctional supervision, drug related emergency room discharges, drug related in-patient discharges and estimates from user surveys. It was published in June 2008.
Altered States in the Palmetto State: Statistical Indicators of Illegal Drug Use

The Scope and Nature of Sexual Violence in South Carolina. - This power point presentation was made to the American Probation and Parole Association Winter Training Institute in January 2006 and was based on the analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data used to generate Against Their Will: Sexual Violence in South Carolina 1991 – 2003. This presentation provides highlights from that report, some additional analysis that was not originally published and discusses implications for additional research as well as community supervision strategies.
The Scope and Nature of Sexual Violence in South Carolina (PowerPoint file)

Criminal Domestic Violence in South Carolina: An Examination of the Effects of ACT 166 of 2005
Description – This report compares the outcomes of criminal domestic violence arrests for the six months prior to and the six months following enactment of Act 166, which enhanced sanctions for criminal domestic violence convictions. The objective of the report was to determine if individuals arrested for criminal domestic violence were being convicted of other offenses, thereby evading the enhanced sanctions. Using computerized criminal history records as the data source, the findings do not provide evidence that there has been any change in the sentencing pattern for criminal domestic violence arrestees.
Criminal Domestic Violence Report

Criminal Victimization Trends in South Carolina
Description – This report provides a statistical overview of violent victimization patterns based on an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data from 1977 through 2000, combined with an historical overview of victim services in the state. It was published in June 2003.
Criminal Victimization Trends

Deaths in Custody
Description - The Deaths in Custody Reporting Act is federal legislation requiring the states to collect and provide specific information concerning deaths that occur in police custody to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). In South Carolina, this requirement has been addressed by a collaboration of the Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) with the University of South Carolina, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (USC). USC surveys the 46 county coroners to determine if any deaths in police custody occurred. If a death in custody has occurred, USC collects the required information forwards it to the SAC for review and is in turn forwarded to BJS. The following report represents the detailed findings for the reporting period of April 2006 through February 2007.
South Carolina Deaths in Police Custody (PDF)

Firearm Violence in South Carolina
Description - This report provides an analysis of firearm involvement in violent crime in South Carolina from 1996 through 1999. The analysis is based on South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in July 2001.
2001 Firearms Violence in South Carolina Report (PDF)

Gangs in South Carolina: An Exploratory Study
Description – This report provides the results of a survey of perceptions of gang related violence and other problems by law enforcement officers, probation and parole agents, juvenile justice workers and community members. It was published in September 2000.
Executive Summary (PDF file)
Mail Survey Responses of Criminal Justice Professionals (MS Word file)

Hitting Close to Home: A Statistical Handbook on Domestic Violence
in South Carolina 1996 – 2000
Description – This report provides a statistical overview of domestic violence in South Carolina from 1996 through 2000 based on an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in June 2002.
Hitting Close to Home: A Statistical Handbook on Domestic Violence in SC 1996 - 2000 (PDF file)

Juvenile and Young Adult Firearm Use in South Carolina:
An Update and Reanalysis of Data
Description – This report is a follow up to an earlier project examining firearm use among juveniles and young adults. It provides the results of an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data for 1996 and 1997 concerning criminal firearm incidents involving juveniles and young adults. It also presents the results of a survey of incarcerated juveniles regarding their use of, and attitudes towards, firearms. This report was published in June 1999. The original report is not available on-line.
Firearm Possession and Use Among Youth:
Reanalysis of Findings From a Survey of Incarcerated Juveniles in South Carolina

Juveniles at Risk: A Cohort Analysis of Juveniles Release from
the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice
Description – This report links computerized criminal history records to a cohort of South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice client records, in order to determine the level of subsequent adult criminal activity. The analysis looks at a variety of sub-populations of interest including violent offenders, sex offenders and other groups. This report was published in July 2003.
Juveniles at Risk

Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide:
A Profile of Domestic Violence in South Carolina
Description – This report provides a statewide statistical overview of domestic violence based on analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data from 1991 – 2004. It also incorporates FY 2004 – 05 client data from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services linked to criminal history record data to create a profile of domestic violence offenders under community correction supervision. It was published in June 2006.
Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

Peeking Into the Criminal Justice History File
Description - This report describes the State Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED) criminal history database, its creation and use as a statistical data system. Part of the description includes examining this database from a strictly research point of view. It was published in July 2002.
Peeking Into the Criminal History Statistical File

Protective Orders in South Carolina:
An Examination of Variables for 1997 – 1999
Description – This report examines and critiques South Carolina’s ability to use protection orders from the National Criminal Information Center both statistically and tactically. It was published in May 2001.
Protective Orders in South Carolina

Report to the Governor’s Task Force:
South Carolina Victims of Domestic Violence in 1999
Description – This report was provided at the request of the Governor’s Task Force on Domestic Violence. It provides a statistical overview of victims of domestic violence in 1999 based on an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in October 2000.
Report to the Governor's Task Force: South Carolina Victims of Domestic Violence in 1999

Recidivism Among Sex Offenders in South Carolina
Description - This report replicates a Bureau of Justice Statistics report which analyzed recidivism among sex offenders released from prisons in several states in 1994, by examining recidivism for a cohort of sex offenders released from South Carolina prisons in 2001. It expands upon this analysis by also examining recidivism among a cohort of sex offenders admitted to community correctional supervision in 2001. Undertaken as part of a multi-state initiative, the results will be included in a forthcoming publication of the Justice Research and Statistics Association.
Recidivism Among Sex Offenders in South Carolina

School Violence in South Carolina 1996 – 1998:
An Incident-Based Descriptive Analysis
Description – This report provides an overview of violence in schools (grades K – 12) based on analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in March 2000.

Sex Offenders in South Carolina: An Overview of the Population and the Nexus of Community Supervision and Mental Health Treatment
Description: This report links criminal history records of sex offenders with client records from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. It provides an overview of sex offenders in the state and describes the interaction of community supervision and mental health treatment services in regards to those offenders. It was published in August 2005.
Sex Offenders in South Carolina (MS Word Document)

Sexual Violence Against Children in South Carolina 1991 – 2005
Description - This report provides a statewide statistical overview of sexual violence against children based on an analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data from 1991 through 2005. It provides information concerning the victims, offenders and circumstances involved in sexual violence against children.
Sexual Violence Against Children in South Carolina 1991 – 2005

South Carolina Criminal and Juvenile Justice Trends
Description – An overview of basic information about criminal and juvenile justice in South Carolina, designed to provide basic information abut criminal and juvenile justice in the state. It contains statistical information about crime rates, arrests, conviction rates, inmates, probationers and parolees. This document is published annually.

South Carolina Murder Trends 1977 – 2002
Description – This publication provides statistical information about murder trends in the state from 1977 – 2002 based on analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in June 2004.
South Carolina Murder Trends

South Carolina Violent Crime Reduction Project
Description – This report evaluates a pilot project funded by the Byrne Memorial Fund to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement and the judicial system in responding to violent crime in Orangeburg County. It examines crime rates, arrest rates, judicial backlogs, judicial dispositions and other factors, prior to and following the pilot project. It was published in June 2004.
- Final Report May 2003
- Evaluation July 2004

Using NIBRS to Measure Sexual Violence Description – This power point presentation was made to the Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs in September 2005 and was based on the analysis of South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data used to generate Against Their Will: Sexual Violence in South Carolina 1991 – 2003. This presentation provides highlights from that report as well as some analysis that was not published. Funding for the presentation was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime.
ASUCRP Presentation (MS PowerPoint file)

Violence Against Women in South Carolina
Description – This report provides a statistical overview of violence against women (operationally defined as female crime victims of any age) in South Carolina from 1996 through 1999 based on South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System data. It was published in May 2001.
Violence Against Women in South Carolina 1996 - 1999