The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) is a partnership between the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice, and FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) to expand NIBRS to support the production of nationally representative incident-based crime statistics as a strategic first step in transitioning to NIBRS-only crime reporting by January 2021. BJS and the FBI signed a joint statement of support to recruit a sample of 400 scientifically selected law enforcement agencies to submit data to NIBRS. When data from these 400 additional agencies are combined with more than 6,900 agencies currently reporting to NIBRS, the nation will have a nationally representative sample of incident-based crime data drawn from the operational records management systems of local police departments. Incident-based data capture the attributes and circumstances of criminal incidents and allow for more detailed and accurate assessments of crime in communities and nationwide.

As of November 2021, 58% of the nationally representative sample of 400 agencies was NIBRS certified. The chart below shows the 400 agencies divided by strata. A complete list of the status for all 400 agencies can be found on the BJS website.

Spearheaded by BJS and supported by the FBI CJIS, NCS-X works to expand the reporting of more detailed crime incident data among law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.
 
NCS-X Goal: Increase the number of law enforcement agencies that report data to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) so that estimates of crime can be created at a national level. If an additional 400 selected law enforcement agencies begin reporting NIBRS data, then information could be generated describing the nature of crime, victimization, and law enforcement operations, which assists policymakers as they evaluate community needs, assess the impacts of programs, and seek to make efficient use of resources.

In addition to BJS and the FBI, the NCS-X Team is comprised of:

• RTI International
• International Association of Chiefs of Police
• Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)
• Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute
• SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics
• Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs (ASUCRP)

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is an incident-based crime reporting system of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, in which law enforcement collects data on each crime occurrence. Designed to be generated as a byproduct of local, state, federal, and tribal automated records management systems, NIBRS collects data on each incident and arrest within 24 crime categories made up of 52 specific crimes The most significant difference between NIBRS and the historical Summary Reporting System (SRS) of UCR is the level of detail in reporting. In Summary UCR, law enforcement agencies tally the occurrence of ten crimes. NIBRS, in contrast, captures detailed data about when and where crime takes place, what form it takes, and the characteristics of, and relationships between, victims and perpetrators. Details about the incident are organized into specific segments and data elements are coded in a uniform fashion to provide information about a criminal incident and its associated victims, offenders, property, arrestees, etc.. The goal of the NIBRS is to enhance the quantity, quality, and timeliness of crime data collected by law enforcement and to improve the methodology used for compiling, analyzing, auditing, and publishing the collected crime data. NIBRS offers law enforcement more comprehensive data than ever before for planning, training, management, and operations.

Resources

• Shifting the Crime Reporting Paradigm – Lessons Learned from the FBI’s Transition to NIBRS Webinar (2022)
• Five Things to Know About NIBRS (Nov 2020)
• UCR Program Quarterly: October 2020
• NIBRS: 30 Frequently Asked Questions (FBI CJIS, 2019)
• NIBRS: The Future of US Crime Data-Police Chief October 2017
• Brochure Describing NCS-X and NIBRS (2017)
• FBI: A Guide to Understanding NIBRS (2013)
• FBI Crime Data: 2016
• FBI: 2016 Crime in the United States
• Benefits of NIBRS Participation

Articles

• Are You Ready? How Norman, Oklahoma, Uses NIBRS - Police Chief Magazine (2019)
• How Urban Law Enforcement Can Benefit from NIBRS (FBI CJIS, 2019)
• 5 Reasons Law Enforcement Orgs Should be NIBRS Compliant ASAP (2019)
• Prepare Your Agency for the New and Improved Crime Reporting System (2018)
• Advances in Law Enforcement Information Technology Will Enable More Accurate, Actionable Analysis (2013)
• Why Participating in NIBRS is a Good Choice for Law Enforcement (2014)
• Incident-Based Reporting: The Foundation for Effective Police Operations and Managment (2013)

Support for NCS-X and National Transition to NIBRS

• Former FBI Director Comey's address at IACP (October 2015) (See 23.04 - 27.01)
• Joint statement in support of NIBRS (IACP, Major City Chiefs, Major County Sheriffs, National Sheriffs)
• IACP Statement: Modernizing Nationwide Crime Reporting (2015)

The FBI’s Summary Reporting System is scheduled to sunset December 31, 2020. To meet this deadline, many agencies (and some states) need to start now to plan for their NIBRS transitions. A number of resources are available to support law enforcement agencies as they seek to determine “We need to transition to NIBRS. Where do we start?” The first recommended action for most law enforcement agencies new to the NIBRS transition is to contact their State’s UCR Program. Some states have created slightly different modifications from the federal NIBRS standard, to be more responsive to some specific state statutes. A list of other recommended actions for agencies can be found in the Law Enforcement Agency Playbook. In addition to reaching out to the State UCR Program and following the Law Enforcement Agency Playbook, the NCS-X Team has created and compiled a number of other resources to assist agencies. Among the items listed below are agency self-assessments to determine how well an agency’s current RMS data collection align with the federal NIBRS standard, technical specifications needed for NIBRS, and case studies of agencies that have recently made the transition.

Agency Readiness Assessment Forms

• Agency Readiness Self-Assessment for COTS RMS
• Agency Readiness Self-Assessment for In-House RMS

Law Enforcement Agencies: Transition Materials

• Technology Talk:  Got NIBRS? Finding Efficiencies and Funding to Support Your Agency’s Transition – Police Chief Magazine (2018)
• Acquiring Incident-Based Reporting Software & Services: Key Topics for Law Enforcement for Consider and Model Statement of Work (April 2018)
• Law Enforcement Agency Playbook (Steps to Transition to NIBRS) 2017
• Five Steps to NIBRS-Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (2018)
• Technology Talk: Got NIBRS? Finding Efficiencies and Funding to Support Your Agency’s Transition – Police Chief Magazine (2018)
• Montgomery County Case Study (2017)
• Fort Worth Transition Summary (2018)
• Lessons Learned: Seattle PD (2014)

State Programs: Transition Materials

• State IBR Playbook
• Going NIBRS: Georgia's Transition to NIBRS
• Going NIBRS: Minnesota's Transition to NIBRS
• Sample IBR Project Scope Description from Minnesota
• Sample IBR Facts Sheet from Minnesota
• FBI: UCR Manuals and Specifications
• Standard Functional Specifications for RMS, Version II

Agencies that want to report NIBRS data need to not only to collect the data elements and institute the requisite edit rules, but they also must make sure their data can be transferred to the State UCR Program (or, in exceptional cases, directly to the FBI). Data must meet quality standards to be able to be combined with that from other jurisdictions. The State UCR Program (or FBI) certification process ensures the quality and integrity of the data received. State UCR Programs can assist agencies in understanding their state’s certification process. In addition, the NCS-X Team has created and compiled resources that agencies may find beneficial. Among them is a NIBRS Pre-Certification Tool that allows for comparisons between an agency’s data and the federal NIBRS standard.

Resources

• NCS-X NIBRS Pre-Certification Tool (to test your IBR data)
• FBI NIBRS Technical Specifications (3.2, 11/01/2017)
• NIBRS XML IEPD V4.2 (see zip file downloads)
• FBI: UCR Manuals and Specifications

The value of NIBRS reporting is the richness and detail of the data itself. NIBRS data provides context to what can otherwise be perceived stark crime numbers. The articles linked below highlight interesting analyses that have been performed using NIBRS or incident-based data.

Examples of Recent Analysis

• Police Department Published 2020 Annual Report
• Crime Data Explorer: Uniform Crime Reporting Data with a Focus on NIBRS
• Report on the Violent Victimization Known to Law Enforcement in the Bakken Oil-Producing Region of Montana and North Dakota (2019)
• Research in Brief: Leveraging NIBRS to Better Understand Sexual Violence (2018)
• An Analysis of Domestic Violence and Arrest Patterns in Vermont using NIBRS Data (2012)
• Assessing the Validity of Hate Crime Reporting: An Analysis of NIBRS Data (2011) (pdf)

NIBRS and Crime Statistics

• Establishing New Methods for Estimating Crime in the U.S.—The Transition to Incident-Based Crime Reporting through NIBRS Webinar (2022)
• Will NIBRS Reporting Increase Crime Statistics? Tips for Responding to Questions (2020)
• Multiple Offense Incidents in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (2019)
• FBI report on the effects of NIBRS on crime statistics (2014)
• Effects of NIBRS on Crime Statistics

FBI Materials and Links

• What NIBRS, 2019, Can Tell Us
• FBI Releases 2019 NIBRS Crime Data (Dec 2020)
• FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crime Statistics (Nov 2020)
• Uniform Crime Reporting: Still Vital After 90 Years (Nov 2020)
• FBI Releases 2019 Crime Statistics (2020)
• FBI's Crime Data Explorer (2017)
• FBI: 2016 Crime in the United States

The NCS-X initiative has created several resources for law enforcement agencies to use when working with their local media to explain the shift between reporting crime numbers using UCR Summary Reporting System and NIBRS. The primary resource is a Media/Press Kit, which contains background on NCS-X and NIBRS, as well as examples of recent press releases and news articles.

Resources

• IACP Blog: Your Agency is Transitioning to NIBRS: How Do You Let the Community Know?
• Talking About NIBRS: Messaging About Crime Data to Stakeholders (Dec 2020)
• NIBRS Transition Press Release Template (Dec 2020)
• NCS-X Media Kit
• Arlington (TX) PD Informational Handout on NIBRS (2019)
• NIBRS: The Future of U.S. Crime Data - Police Chief (August 2017)

NIBRS in the News

• Sheridan, Much of Wyoming Complaint with FBI's National Crime Data Reporting System (Nov. 2021)
• Crime on Mercer Island (WA) Increased by 11.3% in 2020 (Jul 2021)
• Numbers Don't Lie (But They Don't Always Tell the Truth (Jun 2021)
• CCSO Joins FBI's Data Collections Standard Through National Incident-Based Reporting System (Mar 2021)
• Police Now Required to Report More Details to FBI on Las Vegas (NV) Crime (Mar 2021)
• Colleyville (TX) Police Chief Presents Annual Crime Report (Mar 2021)
• WFPD (TX) Transitions to New Crime Data Reporting System (Feb 2021)
• Henderson (TX) County Approves Software to Track Crime Stats (Nov 2020)
• Springfield (MO) Police Introduce New Crime Reporting System (Oct 2020) (Article 2)
• Grant to Help Champaign County (IL) SO Track Crime Trends (Sept 2020)
• Massachusetts Launches New Website Tracking Crime, Policing Data (Aug 2020)
• Poplarville (MS) Police Working Out the Bugs with New Reporting System (Aug 2020)
• Charles County (MD) SO Announces Application for Grant (Aug 2020)
• Jones County (MS) SO Using Justice Grant to Obtain Needed Equipment (Jul 2020)
• Pipestone County (MN) Sheriff's Office – Accurate Crime Statistics Expected with New Reporting System (Feb 2020)
• Springfield (MO), Neighboring Police Department Crime Rates Could Rise Because of Reporting Change (Jan 2020)

For Law Enforcement Agencies

• NIBRS Transition Press Release Template (Dec 2020)
• Customizable PowerPoint Presentation - Moving from Summary to NIBRS

NCS-X Newsletter

• NCS-Xpress: Vol 1 (January 2018)
• NCS-Xpress: Vol 2 (April 2018)