Idaho Statistical Analysis Center

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ISAC Updates STOP Accomplishments Dashboard
April 4, 2023

ISAC is pleased to announce the release of the annual update to its STOP Accomplishments dashboard. The update includes data on activities and victim services during calendar year 2022 that were funded through Idaho’s STOP program.

Administered on the state level by the Planning, Grants & Research (PGR) Department of the Idaho State Police (ISP), the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) program is a federal pass-through grant program authorized by the U.S. Congress as part of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). STOP funds originate in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women and are passed through to local agencies to support communities in their efforts to develop and strengthen effective criminal justice strategies to address domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence and develop and enhance victim services in cases involving these crimes.

Some highlights from 2022:

• A total of 14 agencies across 9 counties and 5 ISP districts reported STOP-funded activities to PGR.
• STOP funding paid for over 35,000 hours of staff time to work with victims/survivors of VAWA crimes (sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, and stalking), enabled 167 community-focused educational events on VAWA crimes, and funded 59 professional development trainings for 681 law enforcement officers, health care workers, court staff, victim advocates, and other justice system professionals who work with victims/survivors of VAWA crimes.
• Agencies using STOP funding to provide direct services to victims/survivors of VAWA crimes served 2,351 victims/survivors, 61% of which were victimized by a current or former intimate partner. The most commonly used STOP-funded services were victim advocacy (provided to 55% of victims/survivors), crisis intervention (43%), and criminal justice system advocacy/court accompaniment (33%).
• Prosecution units funded by the STOP program received 48 cases, 85% of which were accepted for prosecution. Of the cases accepted for prosecution, 57% of cases resulted in a conviction or guilty plea.

See more data from Idaho’s STOP program on ISAC’s STOP Accomplishments dashboard.

Learn more about Idaho’s STOP program on PGR’s STOP VAWA page.

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ISAC Expands Crime in Idaho Data Dashboard
February 2, 2023

The Idaho Statistical Analysis Center (ISAC) is pleased to announce a major expansion of the Crime in Idaho Data Dashboard, which displays data collected from state and local law enforcement agencies on reported crime in Idaho since 2005.

Updates include:

• A new State Crime Overview page
  
  
• New sections for data on offense characteristics, including:
  • Offense counts and rates by year
  • Offense clearance rates and average time to clearance
  • Offense day of week, hour of day, and location type
  • Use of weapons, drugs, or alcohol by offender during the commission of the offense
  • Data on gang-related offenses
  • Data on hate crimes
  • Additional data specific to property or drug offenses (type/value of stolen property; specific type of drug offense, such as possession, distribution, etc.)

Some state-level highlights from the expanded data:

• In 2021, the total offense rate dropped 0.7% from 2020 to 57.7 offenses per 1,000 residents. This is 41% lower than the 2005 rate (97.4), and the lowest point in that time span.
  
  
• The long-term drop in the offense rate was driven by large decreases in the rates of crimes against persons (down 31% since 2005), crimes against property (down 56%), and Group B offenses (these include DUI, disorderly conduct, loitering, and other less serious offenses; down 55%).
  
  
• The only group of offenses that saw a rate increase since 2005 was crimes against society (up 54%). This increase was driven by an increase in the rate of drug offenses (up 104%). In 2021, drug offenses accounted for a full quarter (25%) of all offenses recorded that year, up from 9% in 2005.
  
  
• While the Group B offense rate was 55% lower in 2021 (15.0) than 2005 (33.0), it was the only other offense group besides crimes against society to increase from 2020 levels, when the offense rate was 13.8 (a 9% increase). However, this could be attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Group B offense rate dropped 23% in 2020 compared to 2019 (when the rate was 17.9), and despite the increase in 2021, the offense rate was still lower in 2021 than 2019. By definition, most Group B offenses occur in public, and pandemic-era restrictions on public gatherings may have led to the sharp decrease in these offenses in 2020.
  
  
• Although the rate of crimes against persons has been falling since 2005, the rate of sex offenses has been heading in the opposite direction. In 2021, the sex offense rate increased 6.9% from 2020 (1.2 and 1.3, respectively). The rate of 1.3 in 2021 is the highest it has been since 2009 (1.4), and a 25% increase from a low of 1.0 in 2014.

This data and more, including county-level data on these topics, can be viewed on the dashboard.

The Crime in Idaho Data Dashboard, which is still under construction, allows users to explore much of the data housed in the Idaho Incident-Based Reporting System, Idaho’s vast repository of law enforcement data on criminal incidents that occur within Idaho and the same data set that drives the annual Crime in Idaho report series. Agency, county, and state data from between 2005 and 2021 can be visualized in one place, allowing for highly customizable views and quick trend analysis. The dashboard currently contains sections pertaining to crimes against persons, crimes against property, and drug/alcohol-related arrests, intimate partner violence, and sex offenses, with additional sections to follow as they are built. Data updates are provided annually on or around July 1st. This project is a collaborative effort between ISAC and the Idaho Uniform Crime Reporting Program, both of which are components of the Idaho State Police.

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ISAC Releases One Research Brief, Two Evaluation Reports
November 14, 2022

The Idaho Statistical Analysis Center (ISAC) is pleased to announced the release of one new research brief on the subject of domestic violence, as well as two new evaluation reports on JAG-funded programs.

The research brief Law Enforcement Response to Domestic Violence Post-Clarke Decision presents an analysis of Idaho Incident-Based Reporting System (IIBRS) data on incidents of domestic violence reported to law enforcement between 2017 and 2021. Results indicate that in the 10 quarters after the Idaho Supreme Court issued its decision in State of Idaho v. Clarke in June 2019, there were sizable differences in the outcomes of domestic assault incidents compared to the 10 quarters preceding the Clarke decision. Notably, the percentage of incidents classified as aggravated domestic assaults increased about five percentage points, the percentage of simple domestic assault incidents in which an arrest was made decreased almost 15 percentage points, and the percentage of arrests that were citations (as opposed to physical arrests, when the offender is booked into jail) increased by more than 28 percentage points.

ISAC serves as the Byrne Evaluation Unit for Idaho’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program, which is administered by the Idaho State Police’s Planning, Grants and Research Department. The two evaluation reports examine one current Byrne JAG program and one inactive program.

Reducing the Burden of Fees: An Evaluation of Twin Falls County Adult Misdemeanor Probation’s Substance Abuse Treatment Voucher Program highlights a current Byrne JAG program that, since 2007, has enabled those on adult misdemeanor probation for drug- or alcohol-related convictions to access substance abuse treatment services they would be otherwise unable to afford. Since ISAC began data collection in October 2018, Twin Falls County has used Byrne JAG funding to fund more than 2,600 hours of substance abuse treatment services for nearly 100 clients, and boasts a 66% graduation rate as well as a lower recidivism rate for graduates when compared to other similar probationers who are not enrolled in the program.

Establishing Continuity of Care: A Report on the Terry Reilly Health Systems Mentally Ill Offender Community Transition Program examined an effort to implement a Mentally Ill Offender Community Transition Program (MIO-CTP) in the Boise area. Although the program is now inactive, the program provided mental health services and referrals to more than 460 clients transitioning out of the state prison system between June 2017 and October 2020, less than a quarter (23%) of which had a verified mental health diagnosis before entering the program. Nearly all clients (94%) were provided with referrals to other services, while 59% obtained at least one service directly through the MIO-CTP. More than a quarter (27%) of clients were successfully discharged from the program, and 3% completed the full program. The remainder of those who were successfully discharged (24%) were transferred to other programs or moved away from the service area.

All three reports are available online in the ISAC Publication Library.

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ISAC Awarded Grant to Compile, Analyze State Substance Abuse Data
September 1, 2022

ISAC has been awarded a research grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to compile and analyze data on substance use in Idaho.

The award will fund a 1-year ISAC research project that will be carried out in partnership with the Idaho Office of Drug Policy (ODP) and its State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW). The SEOW is a state-level working group, comprised of representatives from across Idaho’s criminal justice and public health sectors, that “provides information and guidance to policymakers and practitioners working to improve behavioral health outcomes among all Idahoans” (ODP, 2021). ISAC plans collect, analyze, and visualize data related to substance abuse in Idaho. This data, contributed by SEOW members, was previously used to develop the annual Idaho Substance Misuse Prevention Needs Assessment report.

This project will serve to validate the data being used by policymakers and practitioners to address substance abuse and behavioral health issues in Idaho, and provide a user-friendly and easily digestible means of accessing that data. ISAC will publish the results of data analysis in a technical report. Additionally, data determined to be relevant to the study of substance abuse in Idaho will be included in an interactive data dashboard, which is intended to replace the Needs Assessment report series with a more user-friendly, visual source of data and analysis. Both the technical report and the data dashboard are currently scheduled for a Winter 2024 release.

The grant was awarded under BJS’s State Justice Statistics (SJS) program, a competitive federal research grant aimed at enhancing states’ capacity to develop and carry out innovative and timely justice system research projects. Only state Statistical Analysis Centers are eligible for funding under the SJS program, positioning ISAC as the only entity in Idaho eligible for this funding. 2022 marks the sixth-straight year ISAC has earned an SJS award; ISAC has received SJS awards 22 of the last 23 years. Historically, the SJS program funds between 30 and 40 research proposals per year.

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ISAC Releases Two New Research Reports, New Data Dashboard on Violent Crime Victimization
August 30, 2022

The Idaho Statistical Analysis Center (ISAC) is pleased to announce the release of two new research reports and one new data dashboard, all on topics related to violent crime victimization in Idaho.

Offending Patterns Among Domestic Violence Offenders in Idaho presents results from a study of the criminal history records of more than 56,000 individuals who have been charged with a domestic violence (DV) crime in Idaho over the last 35 years. Key findings in the report include:

• The average person arrested on DV charges was male and in their early 30s at the time of their first DV arrest. Nearly half (48%) had been previously arrested on other violent, property, or drug crime charges.
  
  
• Case outcome data in the criminal history database indicated that slightly more than 45% of DV charges ended in a conviction for a DV crime. The remaining 55% of the cases for which data was available ended in the charges being amended or pled out to a non-DV charge, the charge being dismissed, or an acquittal.
  
  
• About 40% of DV offenders were rearrested for a new misdemeanor or felony charge within five years of their first DV arrest, and 17% were rearrested for a new DV charge. Of those who were rearrested, 40% were rearrested within one year.
  
  
• Three factors increased the likelihood of being rearrested for additional DV crimes:
  • Males were nearly twice as likely as females to be arrested more than once on DV charges;
  • Younger offenders were more likely to be rearrested on additional DV charges than older offenders; and,
  • Those who had been previously arrested for a different violent crime before their first DV arrest were 55% more likely to be arrested on DV charges multiple times.

Crime Victimization in Idaho: An Overview of Available Data and its companion data dashboard were developed in partnership with the Department of Criminal Justice at Boise State University (BSU) for their Idaho Victimization Clearinghouse website. BSU and ISAC sought to report on the status of victimization data in the state, as well as examine data regarding risk and protective factors that may impact victimization. The data dashboard displays data concerning various types of victimization in Idaho as well as data regarding services that have been provided to victims in the state. Key findings in the report include:

• Two measures of violent crime victimization are trending in opposite directions. Both the number and rate of violent crime victims known to law enforcement decreased over the four-year period from 2016 to 2019 (1% and 6%, respectively). However, the number of victims served by federally funded victim service programs in Idaho increased by 38% in that same time. These opposing trends emerged during a time in which Idaho’s population grew by 3%.
  
  
• There are three major gaps in the existing data:
  • Existing data does not explain why the opposing trends are occurring;
  • Existing data cannot measure how many crime victims never report the crime to law enforcement and why not, leaving the state with a gap in its knowledge about the true prevalence of crime in Idaho; and,
  • Existing data cannot measure how many crime victims never receive services and why not, or how many access services from programs other than those that are federally funded.
    
    
• ISAC makes three recommendations for filling these gaps in knowledge:
  • Develop new, and expand existing, data sources to include more regional and local data;
  • Implement a statewide victimization survey similar to the now-discontinued Idaho Crime Victimization Survey (last conducted in 2012), and conduct the survey on a regular basis; and,
  • Implement a statewide standardized data collection system to collect data on services provided to crime victims.

Both reports are available online in the ISAC Publication Library. The Idaho Victimization Clearinghouse data dashboard is accessible from both the ISAC Data Dashboard repository and the Idaho Victimization Clearinghouse.

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ISAC Staff

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