Explaining the Effects of the Transition from UCR to NIBRS Crime Reporting

• In Event: Using Data and Coordinated Responses to Improve Policing

Abstract

Since 1030 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been collecting summary crime data from police agencies in the United States in what is known as Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR); the original data set counted only seven major crimes (Murder, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny/Theft and Motor Vehicle Theft) until Arson was added in 1979. During the 1980s a movement was initiated to have jurisdictions submit a more robust data set that went beyond merely how many of the enumerated crimes occurred toward a more thorough examination of criminal behavior; these data were collected in what became known as the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Currently almost 18,000 jurisdictions report crime data into the UCR Programs with 6300, covering 30% of the US population, reporting their data using NIBRS.
In 2015 the FBI that it would eliminate summary reporting by 2020 and have all jurisdictions reporting crime do so using NIBRS. This paper will compare the differences between UCR and NIBRS reporting systems, the multitude of crimes captured under NIBRS and how this change will impact crime statistics through the next decade.

Authors

• Dylan Levy, Passaic County Community College

• Michael C. Walker, Passaic County Community College