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National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Data Collection Status
Active
Latest Data Available
2022
Data Experts
Erica Smith, BJS Unit Chief
Andrea Gardner, BJS Statistician
Kimberly Martin, PhD, BJS Statistician
Lizabeth Remrey, PhD, BJS Statistician
Collection Period

1991-present

Description

Background on the collection of reported crime data

Since 1930, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program has collected information about crimes known to and arrests made by law enforcement. The UCR Summary Reporting System (SRS) collected monthly counts of the number of crimes known to law enforcement from thousands of agencies throughout the United States. Information on the number of crimes known was recorded for ten offense categories, based on the most serious offense reported for each crime incident:

  • murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
  • rape
  • robbery
  • aggravated assault
  • burglary
  • larceny-theft
  • motor vehicle theft
  • arson
  • human trafficking - commercial sex acts
  • human trafficking - involuntary servitude

In addition, the SRS collected counts of arrests only for an additional set of offense categories, broken down by the age, sex, and race of the arrestee. 

Building a new vision for crime statistics

In 1982, BJS and the FBI sponsored a study of the UCR Program, with the objective of revising the program to meet the changing needs of law enforcement moving into the 21st century. This effort to provide more comprehensive and detailed crime statistics resulted in the report Blueprint for the Future of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which proposed the development and implementation of a new data collection, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

Date Created: May 31, 2009