Building the SAC's Ability to Assess NIBRS Data Completeness and Quality

The State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state's capacity to address criminal justice issues through collection and analysis of data. The SJS Program provides support to each state to coordinate and conduct statistical activities within the state, conduct research to estimate impacts of legislative and policy changes, and serve as a liaison in assisting BJS to gather data from respondent agencies within their states.

The Georgia Statistical Analysis Center (GASAC) is located within the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The GASAC has been tasked to produce policy-relevant research using computerized criminal history (CCH) and state agency administrative data, support juvenile justice reform efforts, and support the State Administering Agency’s responsibility in managing state and federal criminal justice funding.

Under the 2018 SJS program, the GASAC will conduct two projects: a Core Capacity and a Special Emphasis project.

Under the Core Capacity project, the GASAC will continue the efforts that they began in 2017 building on the state’s efforts to transition from the historical Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) method to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) method. The GASAC partnered with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to provide both agencies the ability to develop data quality and completeness standards for a transition to NIBRS. Specifically, the GASAC and GBI focused on two (2) specific tasks: 1. UCR/NIBRS comparative assessment (i.e. the “smell test”). 2. Data Audit Plan. The “smell test” involved the GASAC conducting comparisons between UCR and NIBRS data to determine the expected levels of variation in crime rates between the two reporting methods. The Data Audit Plan entailed the GASAC working in partnership with GBI to conduct annual survey-based audits of the UCR program coordinators at each LEA to ensure they understand how to report, and provide technical assistance to those who demonstrate knowledge gaps or common mistakes in reporting.

In year two (2), the GASAC will provide technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies entering incidents directly into the GBI’s NIBRS database (SWIFTRepository). The SWIFTRepository solution that GBI has procured will provide agencies with mapping and ad hoc reporting capabilities. The GASAC technical assistance around data integrity and quality would emphasize accuracy in all NIBRS segments. For agencies directly entering data into SWIFTRepository, the GASAC will assess the quality and completeness of their data against other direct entry agencies with which the GASAC has not worked.

Under the Special Emphasis Project, the GASAC, in partnership with Applied Research Services, will combine computerized criminal history and jail management system data to identify proxy measures associated with mental illness and low income, which might indicate an inmate qualifies for Medicaid. The jail data are housed in the jail management systems of 143 Sheriff’s office, which are provided by 16 different vendors. In addition to these data, Department of Community Supervision and Department of Corrections data will be merged with the final dataset to validate whether persons identified as potentially having a mental illness have been thusly identified in felony probation.

This data analysis will be the first phase to study Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and recidivism effects on the county jail population.

(CA/NCF)

The State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state's capacity to address criminal justice issues through collection and analysis of data. The SJS Program provides support to each state to coordinate and conduct statistical activities within the state, conduct research to estimate impacts of legislative and policy changes, and serve as a liaison in assisting BJS to gather data from respondent agencies within their states. The Georgia Statistical Analysis Center (GSAC) is located within the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The GSAC has been tasked to produce policy-relevant research using computerized criminal history (CCH) and state agency administrative data, support juvenile justice reform efforts, and support the State Administering Agency’s responsibility in managing state and federal criminal justice funding. Under the 2017 SJS program, the SAC will builds on the state’s efforts to transition from their historical Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) method to the National Incident Based Reporting (NIBRS) method. For this project, the GA CJCC will partner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Crime Information Center to provide both agencies with a unique opportunity to set robust quality and data completeness standards for a transition to NIBRS data collection. GBI has scheduled meetings with law enforcement records management system vendors to apprise them of the NIBRS rollout and alert them about the new reporting platform. Certain agencies in the state have already alerted GBI that their Records Management Systems (RMS) are NIBRS compatible and all their vendor has to do is flip a switch. While the applicant believes that the transition will happen over the next three (3) year, this year will find the GA CJCC focused on two (2) specific tasks: 1. UCR/NIBRS comparative assessment (i.e. the “smell test”). 2. Data Audit Plan. The “smell test” involves the GA CJCC conducting comparisons between UCR and NIBRS data to determine the expected levels of variation in crime rates between the two reporting methods. The Data Audit Plan entails the GA CJCC working in partnership with GBI to conduct annual survey-based audits of the UCR program coordinators at each LEA to ensure they understand how to report, and provide technical assistance to those who demonstrate knowledge gaps or common mistakes in reporting. The GA CJCC will produce a summary report comparing UCR and NIBRS submissions for agencies that convert to incident-based reporting over the course of the project. (CA/NCF) Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.