30 Faqs About Nibrs Transition Oct 2018 PDF
30 Faqs About Nibrs Transition Oct 2018 PDF
Contents
Top 10 Questions About NIBRS.................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Plans for the NIBRS Transition ..................................................................................................................... 6
What is the NIBRS transition? Is the FBI retiring the UCR Program with the Summary Reporting
System (SRS)? ........................................................................................................................................... 6
What is driving the NIBRS transition, and what major law enforcement organizations have endorsed
it? .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
What approaches have some agencies used to transition to NIBRS? .................................................... 7
Benefits of NIBRS participation ................................................................................................................... 8
What is NIBRS? What does “incident-based” mean? ............................................................................. 8
What are the benefits of moving from SRS to NIBRS? ............................................................................ 8
Does NIBRS “aggregate” data? ................................................................................................................ 8
What is the SRS Hierarchy Rule? Why does it matter if NIBRS does not have a Hierarchy Rule? ........ 9
Where can I read more about how NIBRS is a better UCR data collection than SRS? ........................... 9
Why should an agency transition to NIBRS? ........................................................................................... 9
Addressing concerns about the NIBRS transition ..................................................................................... 10
After January 1, 2021, will data from SRS disappear? Will it become impossible for analysts and the
public to use SRS data? .......................................................................................................................... 10
What is the legal authority for NIBRS? .................................................................................................. 10
What will happen if some agencies do not make the transition to NIBRS? ........................................ 10
Will NIBRS force all law enforcement agencies and communities to adhere to the same data
standards? What if some agencies or communities want to collect more or different data? ........... 10
How does NIBRS affect crime statistics? ............................................................................................... 10
Agencies’ questions about NIBRS .............................................................................................................. 12
Are local and state agencies required by law to participate in NIBRS? ............................................... 12
Is NIBRS designed only for agencies of a certain size or type? What about unique types of agencies
that don’t fit the typical categories? ..................................................................................................... 12
Does Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funding apply only to agencies who
submit NIBRS data? Can an agency submit SRS data and still qualify for the JAG grant?................... 12
How long does it take for an agency to transition to NIBRS participation?......................................... 12
Introduction
Through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
is responding to law enforcement’s call to upgrade and update the nation’s crime statistics. To
accomplish this, the UCR Program is transitioning from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) to
the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) by January 1, 2021. The FBI’s transition
to a NIBRS-only data collection will improve the nation’s crime data through rich details and
greater specificity of offenses. Some law enforcement officials, public leaders, researchers, or
other people may have questions about why this is happening, how it will affect crime
statistics, or other matters of concern. This document provides answers to common questions
people may have about the NIBRS transition.
You can use this document in several ways:
Use the “Find” feature of the Portable Document Format (PDF) to look for keywords like
“format” or “UCR.” The PDF window will then display a list of places in the document
containing that keyword.
Look at the Top 10 questions on Page 2. If you press “Control” while clicking on a
question, the document will jump to the answer.
Look at the table of contents on Page 3. The Contents lists several major topics, and you
can scroll or control-click to the page with a desired topic.
Read the entire document to gain a broad understanding of the NIBRS transition.
Based on the assumption there is some familiarity with the topic of UCR, the acronyms for FBI,
UCR, and NIBRS are only established in this introduction. However, because you may only read
the specific questions you are looking for, this document establishes less common acronyms
and abbreviations like “SRS” for each relative question.
What is the NIBRS transition? Is the FBI retiring the UCR Program with the Summary
Reporting System (SRS)?
The FBI is transitioning from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) collection of the UCR
Program to focus on the rich details that data collected through NIBRS offers. The FBI is moving
to a NIBRS-only UCR data collection at the recommendation of the Criminal Justice Information
Services (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board:
“The FBI UCR Program will transition to a NIBRS-only data collection by January 1, 2021,
and will evaluate the probability of achieving that goal on an annual basis. Federal,
state, local, and tribal agencies unable to meet the five year transition and who have
committed to transitioning to NIBRS will collaborate with the FBI CJIS to develop a
transition plan and timeline for conversion.”
The FBI is working with the law enforcement community to prepare for this transition, and the
FBI encourages all law enforcement agencies to participate.
People may be confused about the difference between SRS and UCR because, historically, the
two terms have been incorrectly used interchangeably. SRS is the only mechanism of UCR data
reporting being phased out. Other UCR datasets such as Law Enforcement Officers Killed and
Assaulted will continue.
What is driving the NIBRS transition, and what major law enforcement organizations have
endorsed it?
The Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board passed a recommendation,
which was subsequently approved by the FBI Director in February 2016, to transition all local,
state, and tribal law enforcement agencies from SRS to NIBRS by January 1, 2021. The transition
to NIBRS is a top priority because its implementation will improve the nation’s crime statistics
for reliability, accuracy, accessibility, and timeliness. The nation’s major law enforcement
organizations—the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs
Association, the Major County Sheriffs of America (formerly known as Major County Sheriffs’
Association), and the National Sheriffs’ Association—support the decision to transition to a
NIBRS-only data collection by January 1, 2021. Read the joint statement of support for the
NIBRS transition at www.fbi.gov/nibrs.
In addition, the FBI partnered with the Bureau of Justice Statistics on the National Crime
Statistics Exchange initiative to fund technology solutions related to building NIBRS capability in
select states and 400 local agencies. Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
monies are also available for agencies working toward the NIBRS transition.
Learn how two states approached their transitions to NIBRS in the FBI’s publication from the
Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. The CJIS Link’s two-part series, “Going
NIBRS, Two States Share Their Stories,” is available on the FBI’s website.
More stories about NIBRS agencies are available on the NIBRS in the News archive on the NIBRS
Web page. In addition, several states are promoting the NIBRS transition on their respective
state UCR Program websites. Three state websites that do a great job of communicating
information about the NIBRS transition include those for Texas, Wyoming, and Oregon.
Agencies may access those sites as follows:
http://www.dps.texas.gov/ucr/indexnibrs.htm
http://wyomingdci.wyo.gov/dci-criminal-justice-information-systems-section/nibrs
http://www.oregon.gov/osp/CJIS/Pages/oucr_manual_trngguide.aspx
Note: For the most recent UCR technical specifications, user manuals, and data tools, visit the
FBI’s Web page at https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/data-documentation.
What are the benefits of moving from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) to NIBRS?
NIBRS is a much more detailed, comprehensive system than SRS. NIBRS collects more robust
data and details of crime, making it a more effective tool for policy-makers, analysts, and the
general public to truly understand crime and make informed decisions about how to address
the problem. SRS is limited, collecting aggregated (i.e., totaled) data and omitting some data in
accordance with its Hierarchy Rule. (The SRS Hierarchy Rule states only the one most serious
offense within a criminal incident is counted. For example, if a robbery and a homicide occur in
the same incident, SRS will only count the homicide.) NIBRS collects data on up to 10 offenses
per incident, and NIBRS collects data on types of offenses SRS does not count at all. For more
information about how NIBRS is superior to SRS, see the article “Questions NIBRS Can Answer
in the FBI’s publication from the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, CJIS Link,
on the FBI’s website at https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/cjis-link/questions-nibrs-can-answer.
What is the Summary Reporting System (SRS) Hierarchy Rule? Why does it matter if NIBRS
does not have a Hierarchy Rule?
SRS has a Hierarchy Rule that says only the one most serious crime in a criminal incident will be
counted as part of the statistics collection. For example, if a murder and a robbery happen in
the same incident, then only the murder will be counted. The Hierarchy Rule was a technical
necessity when SRS was created as a paper system in 1930, but it causes SRS to undercount
most types of offenses other than homicide. By eliminating the Hierarchy Rule and counting up
to 10 offenses per criminal incident, NIBRS is a more accurate measure of crime. This is
especially important for capturing accurate counts of the less serious offenses that are
commonly undercounted by SRS.
Where can I read more about how NIBRS is a better UCR data collection than SRS?
Read about general comparisons between NIBRS and SRS in the CJIS Link article “SRS to NIBRS:
The Path to Better UCR Data,” which is available on the FBI’s website at
https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/cjis-link/srs-to-nibrs-the-path-to-better-ucr-data.
After January 1, 2021, will data from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) disappear? Will
it become impossible for analysts and the public to use SRS data?
SRS data will not disappear. The FBI will keep the historical data in record, and the data will
continue to be publicly available even after 2021. Also, the FBI will continue to publish SRS data
converted from NIBRS data (in addition to the publication of NIBRS data) so agencies can
continue trend analyses through the transitional years.
What will happen if some agencies do not make the transition to NIBRS?
The FBI is transitioning to a NIBRS-only crime data collection. In addition to the many agencies
who have already made the transition, several agencies are committing to the transition and
are collaborating with the FBI to develop a transition plan and timeline for conversion. Agencies
that choose not to participate in NIBRS will not have their crime statistics included in the FBI’s
nationwide crime statistics. Also, agencies should be aware if they receive funding assistance
based on participation in the UCR Program via the Summary Reporting System, then they might
lose this funding.
Will NIBRS force all law enforcement agencies and communities to adhere to the same
data standards? What if some agencies or communities want to collect more or different
data?
The FBI has a NIBRS certification program to make sure participating agencies are able to
maintain the FBI’s reporting standards for NIBRS data. However, agencies and communities are
free to collect more detailed and comprehensive crime data if they wish. For example, a state
might collect drug offense data beyond the required FBI data elements. This will not negatively
affect the reporting of NIBRS data or prevent the state’s participation in NIBRS if the state
removes the additional elements before submitting the data to the UCR Program. Agencies can
have their own data standards and still participate in NIBRS as long as their NIBRS submissions
meet the FBI’s technical specifications.
specifies more offense categories than SRS. A study of 2014 NIBRS data showed the loss of
additional data for 10.6 percent of criminal incidents that involved multiple offenses when the
data were converted from NIBRS to SRS. The conversion resulted in a 2.1 percent decrease in
figures for crime captured in SRS. Because of its broader accounting of crime, NIBRS establishes
a new baseline that more precisely captures the picture of reported crime in a community. The
study “Effects of NIBRS on Crime Statistics” can be found at
https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/2014/resource-pages/effects_of_nibrs_on_crime_statistics_final.pdf.
Is NIBRS designed only for agencies of a certain size or type? What about unique types of
agencies that don’t fit the typical categories?
NIBRS is designed for all types and sizes of law enforcement agencies. During the 2016
reporting year, NIBRS included such varied agencies as tribal authorities, universities, liquor
commissions, and port authorities. The FBI realizes the size of a community and its law
enforcement agencies can present different challenges such as availability of resources and
volume of incidents to report. This is why the FBI encourages agencies to work together with
solutions such as pooling budgets, sharing technical resources, or coordinating for larger
agencies to “cover” (i.e., report on behalf of) smaller agencies. Agencies are also encouraged to
contact their respective state UCR Programs. In addition, agencies can seek advice from the
FBI’s NIBRS staff by email at [email protected] or by phone at 304-625-9999.
Does Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funding apply only to agencies
who submit NIBRS data? Can an agency submit Summary Reporting System (SRS) data and
still qualify for the JAG grant?
Currently, the JAG Program allocates money to states for their agencies based on a combination
of the agencies’ populations and their violent crime statistics, which can be submitted via SRS
or NIBRS. However, after January 1, 2021, the JAG Program will base its funding calculations on
agencies’ populations and only those violent crime statistics submitted via NIBRS. This means
the data of non-NIBRS agencies will not contribute to their state’s JAG allocation.
As stated in a previous JAG solicitation released by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
The transition to NIBRS will provide a more complete and accurate picture of crime at
the national, state, and local level. Once this transition is complete, the FBI will no
longer collect summary data and will only accept data in the NIBRS format and JAG
awards will be based on submitted NIBRS data.
For more information about JAG funding, visit the JAG page of BJA’s website at
https://www.bja.gov/Jag/.
Where is a list of the 400 agencies in the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) target
group?
The list of NCS-X target agencies can be found at
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/NCSX_sampled_agencies.pdf.
What resources are available to agencies that wish to make the transition to NIBRS but
don’t have the technical expertise or budget?
The FBI’s Data Integration Team offers technical guidance to all agencies committing to
participate. But the FBI urges agencies to begin their transition efforts as soon as possible,
because the FBI may not have resources to provide technical guidance for agencies delaying
their transitions. Also, agencies identified through the National Crime Statistics Exchange and
the FBI have limited opportunity to obtain financial assistance for their NIBRS transition efforts
through December 2018 with support from the Office of Justice Programs.
What technical resources are available for agencies who wish to make the transition to
NIBRS?
The latest technical documentation for file specifications and user manuals are available on the
data documentation page of the NIBRS website at www.fbi.gov/nibrs. In addition that page
provides links to information for data integration assistance for Extensible Markup Language
(XML) formats, as well as precertification testing tools for data (both flat file and XML) to
determine how an agency’s system is running in accordance with NIBRS business rules.
Does the Crime Data Explorer (CDE) show NIBRS data or Summary Reporting System (SRS)
data?
CDE, which is the FBI’s online platform for public access to crime data, offers interactive presentations of
UCR data at the national, state, and agency levels. CDE shows NIBRS data where it is available. From
agencies that sent only SRS data, CDE shows SRS data.
Have the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) issued any official statements of
support for National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X)?
Yes. The FBI and the BJS have issued a joint statement of commitment to NCS-X. The statement
can be found on the FBI’s NIBRS Web page at https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/ucr/state-
ucr-program-contacts.pdf/view and on the BJS’ NCS-X Web page at
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/NCS-X_FBI_BJS%20Joint_Statement.pdf.
Where is the article, “The FBI’s NIBRS Transition: Questions and Answers”?
It is at http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/the-fbis-nibrs-transition-q-a/. The full version is
available only to subscribers to the International Association of Chiefs of Police magazine, The
Police Chief.