The Burbank Police Department is Improving Crime Measurement and Reporting

Burbank, CA (January 6, 2022) – The Burbank Police Department is proud to begin participating in the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). As the new national data collection standard, NIBRS collects information on nearly every major criminal justice issue facing law enforcement, including weapons offenses, drug offenses and drug involvement in all offenses, stolen vehicles, theft crimes, vandalism, gangs, domestic violence, child and elder abuse, hate crimes, white collar crimes, and terrorism. NIBRS captures details on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees, property, and drugs involved in crimes for up to 10 offenses per incident, representing a substantial shift in the way the Burbank Police Department reports crime.

The Burbank Police Department is changing how information on victimization and offending is collected and reported in order to meet federal data standards, improve operations, and better inform the public about the nature of crime in the City of Burbank. NIBRS data provides the detailed, accurate, and meaningful crime information needed to better assist law enforcement agencies with operational management and resource allocation.

The Burbank Police Department began collecting NIBRS-compliant crime data on December 1, 2021, and will begin reporting NIBRS data to the California Department of Justice mid-January for submission to the FBI.

Prior to December 1, the Burbank Police Department used the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to report data to the California Department of Justice and the FBI. UCR data is a summary of crime and follows the FBI hierarchy rule of only reporting the highest offense. The FBI saw the need for a new national crime reporting program that would be consistent across the United States and would expand the crime categories and collect more comprehensive data. NIBRS was created to meet this need.

NIBRS does not follow the prior UCR hierarchy rule. NIBRS allows for up to 10 offenses to be reported in one incident. This means law enforcement agencies are reporting every crime that occurred in each incident and not just highest crime according to the hierarchy rule. For example, if a single crime incident involved illegal drugs, a stolen vehicle, and an assault, only the assault would be reported under the UCR hierarchy rule. With NIBRS, all three offenses are reported. Due to the more comprehensive reporting and loss of the hierarchy rule, NIBRS data may give the appearance that crime has increased when that may not be the case.

For more information, please visit: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/nibrs

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QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS STATEMENT SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:
SERGEANT EMIL BRIMWAY | 818-238-3232 | [email protected]