HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8692INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8692
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Tf�`O Page 1 of 2
• SUBJECT: National Incident -Based Reporting of Crime Statistics
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On July 18, 2005, the Fort Worth Police Department will implement the Tiburon Records Management
system. At the same time, the department will also start collecting and reporting crime using the
National Incident Based Reporting System ( NIBRS) method. We currently report crime using
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) method. The biggest difference between NIBRS and UCR is the
degree of detail in reporting and the absence of a "hierarchy rule" in offense reporting in the new
system. The change is in response to a federal initiative to encourage all departments to provide better
data for comparison and statistical purposes.
According to a NIBRS newsletter published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), " NIBRS
captures specific details about the event, such as the time, date, location, and circumstance of the
incident; the age, sex, and race of the victim and offender as well as information about their
relationship; any involvement of weapons or drugs; details of property loss; and whether the crime was
motivated by bias." Although much of this information has always been captured in report narratives,
the new reporting system is intended to make the data available for analysis.
In UCR, when an incident occurs that includes multiple offenses, police count only the most serious
offense according to the crime hierarchy established in the report submitted to DOJ. With NIBRS, all
offenses will be reported separately which may lead to the appearance of an increased number of
incidents. However, in order to continue comparing Fort Worth with other comparable size cities,
consistent with State and Federal practice, FWPD staff will be converting the NIBRS data to UCR
until the point when a sufficient. number of cities across the country are reporting NIBRS data.
The table below summarizes the differences in offense classifications across systems:
UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING
INCIDENT BASED REPORTING
Law Enforcement tally the number of occurrences
Law enforcement collect detailed data regarding
as Part I offenses as well as arrest data for both
individual crime incidents and arrests grouped
Part I and Part II offenses.
into categories A & B.
Captures 8 specific offenses called Part I offenses
Captures 46 specific crimes within 22 offense
including Murder, Sexual Assault, Robbery,
categories called Group A offenses including
Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Theft, Motor
Arson, Assault, Bribery, Burglary,
Vehicle Theft, and Arson
Counterfeiting/Forgery,
Destruction/damage /vandalism of property,
Drugs/Narcotics, Embezzlement,
Extortion/Blackmail, Fraud, Gambling,
Homicide, Kidnapping/Abduction,
Larceny/Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft,
Pornography /Obscene material, Prostitution,
Robbery
Sex Offenses, Forcible & Non - Forcible, Stolen
Property- and Wea n Law Violations
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
E A t
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
No. 8692
Page 2 of 2
SUBJECT: National Incident -Based Reporting of Crime Statistics
UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING
INCIDENT BASED REPORTING
Collects two scoring categories: Crimes Against
Requires separate reports describing each incident
Persons and Crimes Against Property in a
and arrest for each offense and creates a new
summary format
category for Crimes Against Society such as
Drugs, Gambling, Pornography and Prostitution
offenses.
Reports all attempts as if they were completed
Distinguishes between attempted and completed
except for homicide.
crimes.
Captures age, sex and race of offenders and
Expands the victim -to- offender relationship data
victims; captures relationship between victim and
collection to report on all Crimes Against Persons
offender on homicides only
The new reporting system represents a complete change in the way that crime data is prepared and will
require significant cooperation of officers who will complete more data elements than before. Crime
statistics reports to the City Council will be delayed during the months of August and September as
data is tested and to allow data to be presented in both UCR and NIBRS format for comparison
purposes. Despite these difficulties, the goal is for more information to be available for analysis and
comparison with other jurisdictions to improve the effectiveness of the COMPSTAT strategies
employed in the Fort Worth Police Department.
Please feel free to contact Deputy Chief Pat Kneblick in the Police Department if you have any
additional questions.
0�'� a - V'�' , ,
Charles R. Boswell
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS