The Long Beach Police Department NCS-X Program

The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) is an effort to expand the FBI’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 FBI’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 Long Beach Police Department currently uses an RMS provided that does not have the capability to report NIBRS data. However, the agency is interested in transitioning to an RMS that can. Under the current award, the agency plans to engage in a multiphase transition in which they will evaluate their current RMS based on operational and data needs, determine whether to purchase a new RMS or enhance their existing system, select a new RMS (if applicable), and deploy the new or modified system in order to begin submitting NIBRS data. Funds will be used to acquire a consultant to evaluate their current system and provide recommendations for how they would proceed. They will also utilize funds to acquire the NIBRS module from their eventual vendor. (CA/NCF)