CA NIBRS Implementation Project

The NCS-X Program is a partnership between BJS and the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division to expand the capacity of states’ UCR Programs to report incident-based crime data to the FBI’s NIBRS. The FBI has formally announced its intention to establish NIBRS as the LE crime data reporting standard for the nation, with a complementary plan to retire the Summary Reporting System (SRS) of the UCR Program. This will result in an increase in the number of local LE agencies reporting data to NIBRS. The typical mechanism by which a local agency contributes data to NIBRS is through its “state pipeline,” where agencies report their incident-based crime data to the NIBRS-certified UCR Program in their respective state, and then the state agency sends data from all of the state’s contributing agencies to the FBI. Transitioning local agencies to NIBRS reporting requires the state pipeline to be enhanced, to ensure state UCR Programs are capable of receiving and processing local incident-based crime data. BJS funding decisions for the NCS-X Program are made in coordination and concurrence with the FBI’s CJIS Division.

In 2015, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) sought applications for funding to support the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Implementation Assistance Program Phase I – Support for State Programs. The purpose of the Phase I Implementation Assistance Program was to provide funding to states that would support (1) the implementation of a new state-level incident-based crime reporting program certified as capable of reporting data to the FBI’s NIBRS, or (2) the expansion of an existing state-level crime reporting program currently certified to report data to the FBI’s NIBRS so that the program may receive and process more incident-based crime data, or (3) state programs that are in the process of transitioning from a Summary Reporting System (SRS) to a system capable to receive state-specific incident-based crime data and report it in the NIBRS format to the FBI.

Through a competitive peer review process, the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) was awarded $635,852 to develop a comprehensive blueprint outlining how they would build a NIBRS state program in a state that currently has no certified NIBRS program and no agencies directly reporting NIBRS data to the FBI. The goal of the planning project funded under the initial NCS-X Phase 1 award was to analyze their state’s current processes, research options for implementing a NIBRS compliant state program, and to develop the requirements for both the state agency and the local law enforcement agencies within California to transition to incident-based reporting. The second part of this project was to work with the local agencies and assist local agencies in understanding the benefits and requirements for transitioning is ongoing.

The FY2019 award furthers the goals of the NCS-X initiative by providing funding to CA DOJ to implement the plan developed through the initial 2015 NCS-X award. Under this award, CA DOJ will implement a state-level NIBRS data repository. The repository will allow the CA DOJ to collect and consolidate criminal incident data from police departments and sheriffs’ offices and submit the data to the FBI.

(NCA/NCF)