FY 2023 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Estimation Project (EP)

As of January 1, 2021, the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) has become the law enforcement crime data-reporting standard for the nation. BJS and the FBI have partnered together on the NCS-X NIBRS Estimation Project (NNEP) to develop appropriate methods for generating national crime estimates based exclusively on NIBRS data. The goals of the NNEP are to develop and test: (1) statistical procedures that assess the quality and completeness of NIBRS data; (2) estimation procedures for generating reliable and accurate national indicators using NIBRS data; and (3) a semi-automated system for producing national estimates of crime that can be used on an annual basis. The project is on track and the FBI will be utilizing the results to produce the 2021 crime estimates in late 2022. The primary goal of funding for the NIBRS EP is to conduct an annual evaluation and update of the developed estimation and weighting methods to generate national, state, and regional crime estimates based on NIBRS data. The annual update will enable BJS and the FBI to adjust the methodology for changes in the data quality and coverage of the NIBRS data over time. The work to adjust and reassess the data is required, as the number of agencies providing data for the estimations changes annually and will continue to do so for at least the next several years as the NIBRS transition continues through the nation.