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Violent crime statistics

LEARCAT Methodology

LEARCAT User Guide and Methodology


About LEARCAT

The Law Enforcement Agency Reported Crime Analysis Tool (LEARCAT) dashboard enables you to examine crime information reported by participating law enforcement agencies to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). As of January 1, 2021, the FBI transitioned to NIBRS as the nation’s official law enforcement crime reporting standard. NIBRS collects details on crime incidents including the number...

NIBRS Estimation Project

Beginning with the 2021 data year, estimates of crime known to law enforcement will be based solely on data provided to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS. In 2021, 67.9% of all crime-reporting law enforcement agencies were reporting to NIBRS, covering 65.7% of the U.S. population.

NIBRS Coverage, 2017 to 2021

To calculate a national crime rate based on NIBRS data, BJS, in partnership with the FBI and...

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

As of January 1, 2021, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) became the national standard for law enforcement crime data reporting in the United States. The transition to NIBRS represents a significant shift – and improvement – in how reported crime is measured and estimated by the federal government.

NIBRS captures detailed data about the characteristics of criminal incidents, including:

  • a broad array of...