Implementation Assistance of San Diego Regional National Incident Based Reporting System Transition Project

The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) is an effort to expand the FBIÂ’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) into a nationally representative system of incident-based crime statistics. BJS and the FBI are implementing NCS-X with the support of other Department of Justice agencies, including the Office for Victims of Crime. The goal of NCS-X is to enroll a sample of 400 scientifically selected law enforcement agencies to submit data to NIBRS; when these 400 new NIBRS-reporting agencies are combined with the more than 6,300 agencies that reported to NIBRS as of 2013, the nation will have a nationally representative system of incident-based crime statistics drawn from the operational data systems of local police departments. These incident-based data will draw upon the attributes and circumstances of criminal incidents and allow for more detailed and transparent descriptions of crime in communities. The current mechanism by which local law enforcement (LE) agencies report data to the FBIÂ’s NIBRS, in general, is for local LE agencies to submit data to their state UCR reporting program, and then for the state UCR program to report those data to the FBI. While the FBI does accept NIBRS data directly from a small number of law enforcement agencies, the highly preferred route of reporting is through the state UCR program. The FY2016 Phase III solicitation furthers the goals of the NCS-X initiative by providing funding to the largest agencies in the NCS-X sample in order to assist these agencies to transition to NIBRS reporting or to develop a comprehensive plan for transitioning to NIBRS reporting via the state pipeline. Specifically, funding under this solicitation targeted the NCS-X sample of agencies with 750 or more sworn officers that are not currently reporting crime data to NIBRS.

The San Diego Regional NIBRS Transition Project is designed to enable NIBRS reporting by the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and the San Diego County SheriffÂ’s Department, through the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS). Under the current award, the grantee will engage in two primary initiatives: 1) SDPD implementation of a NIBRS-compatible police record management system; and 2) ARJIS implementation of NIBRS reporting capabilities for local San Diego agencies that provide data to ARJIS through the NIBRS compatible interface. This system has already been implemented by multiple agencies in the San Diego region, including the similarly sized San Diego County SheriffÂ’s Department, providing evidence that the solution is a product that can serve the needs of a large law enforcement agency and can meet strict ARJIS data validation requirements. SDPD can leverage project plans and lessons learned by other local law enforcement during their system implementations, facilitating a smoother and less risky transition in a shorter timeframe.
(CA/NCF)