Evaluating The Transition from The Uniform Crime Reports Program to the National Incident-Based Reporting System

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) produced a booklet that would record crime data in the country and be used in summarize criminal reports. The booklet was called Uniform Crime Reports. In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting program (UCR) started managing the Uniform Crime Reports.

UCR’s Summary Reporting System (SRS) started collecting crime data. Over time, the volume of crimes increased, and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was implemented. NIBRS was an upgrade to the UCR’s Summary Reporting System (SRS) because it provides specific crime details.

The UCR was recently retired by the NIBRS program, which made it the only data collection program. The UCR’s Summary Reporting System program had its benefits and associated issues; it was upgraded, and in many ways, NIBRS is better than the UCR program, like NIBRS’s ability to collect more detailed information about a crime.

The Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR)

The UCR program has evolved over the years, but the IACP’s goal to make it a Uniform Crime Records remains intact. In the beginning, the UCR program only recorded 400 agencies representing 20 million citizens of 43 states which were only 16.3% of the US population.

The upgrade led to the record of 18,000 county states representing 308 million citizens, 98.1% of the US population. UCR’s SRS program collects crimes divided into two parts.

Initially, the Uniform Crime Records booklet focused only on seven crimes. The crimes included murder/non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. Arson was added as the eighth crime.

These crimes are categorized as part one. The second part of crimes includes twenty-one crimes. These include:

1. Sex offenses,
2. Vandalism,
3. Stolen property offenses,
4. Simple assaults,
5. Offenses against the family and children,
6. Forgery/counterfeiting,
7. Embezzlement,
8. Prostitution,
9. Runaways,
10. Driving under the influence,
11. Drug abuse violations,
12. Weapons offenses,
13. Drunkenness,
14. Gambling,
15. Suspicion,
16. Liquor law violations,
17. Curfew/loitering violations,
18. Weapons offenses,
19. Disorderly conduct,
20. Fraud, and
21. All other non-traffic offenses.

Other programs were implemented due to the increase in crimes in the country.

The implementation was to aid in recording data. The main program implemented was the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).  

Importance of The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

1. It helps provide specific details of crimes that occur in different states and communities.
2. The program has also enabled data collection on the changes in the arrests of males and females. Before, fewer than a quarter of arrests were women, but recent reports show that since the 1970s, women’s arrests have increased.
3. The UCR program added more crimes and programs like the Hate Crime Statistics (HCS) program. The program aids in providing reviews on the statistics of hate crimes in the US.

Limitations to the The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Program

Even though the UCR program has enabled crime data to be accessible to anyone who wants it, it has its limitations. According to Hughes (2016), the limitations include:

1. The UCR program reports only specific violent and property crimes because of their likelihood of occurring again.
2. The program agencies use the “hierarchy rule” when reporting. The hierarchy rule requires that only the most severe crimes get reported. For example, if a person rapes and murders a person, only the murder offense is going to be recorded. The offender gets punished for both crimes, but when reporting the crime in the UCR program, the murder charge is the only recorded crime.
3. Some crimes are unreported to the police; hence the recorded data affects the actual crime rates in the country.

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

The increase in crimes led to the implementation the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

The system collected more details of the crime.

The program’s goal was to enhance the quality and improve the compiling and analyzing methodology. NIBRS program collects specific data like the relationship between the offender and the victim, property damage, and arrests.

The goal was to expand the number of crimes UCR’s Summary Reporting System collected. Just like UCR, NIBRS groups the crimes into two parts. Group A has 71 offenses in 28 categories, and group B has 13 offenses.

The NIBRS program removed the hierarchy rule in the UCR program. The NIBRS program recently, in January 2021, became the only crime collection program because it is a detail-oriented and updated program compared to SRS.

Importance of the National Incident-Based Reporting System program (NIBRS)

1. According to Hanson’s report (2021)[1], the NIBRS program collects different crimes
2. It provides more details of the crime, like the time of day and the victim and offender’s relationship. It also provides detail on the weapon used by the offender
3. The NIBRS program eliminated the hierarchy rule, allowing the report of multiple offenses committed against the same victim.

Why is the NIBRS program better than UCR?

1. The NIBRS program is better than UCR in its enhanced specification in reporting,
2. The hierarchy rule is absent,
3. The higher level of details in committed crimes and
4. An accurate description of a crime

Conclusion

The UCR and NIBRS programs have helped students, law enforcement, and the general population assess police operations and update the nation’s crime statistics.

The UCR program enabled officials to report crimes committed in their states. The reports enabled different states to stay updated with crimes.

UCR had limitations, like the hierarchy rule, but the implementation of the NIBRS led to the removal of that rule.

Bibliography

FBI. 2018. “NIBRS 101.” NIBRS 101. Federal Bureau of Investigation, December. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcR-RwHcsdE.

Hanson, Emily j. 2021. “The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS): Benefits and Issues.” Congressional Research Service R46668. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2021-02-01_R46668_e8492643a8e153b439dc8552ab868a8390eca337.pdf.

Hughes, Erica. 2016. “About Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data.” Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. https://icjia.illinois.gov/researchhub/articles/about-uniform-crime-reporting-program-data.

Stogner, John. 2015. “Uniform Crime Reports.” The Encyclopedia of Crime & Punishment 6. doi:10.1002/9781118519639.wbecpx164.

Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. 2004. https://ucr.fbi.gov/additional-ucr-publications/ucr_handbook.pdf.

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