Indiana Statewide NIBRS
In order to advance Indiana's participation in the FBI/NIBRS Program, the Indiana State Police has procured a statewide NIBRS program. This significant investment has taken Indiana from being one of two states without a statewide UCR program to centralized submitting via a statewide NIBRS program. The Indiana Statewide Program achieved NIBRS Certification May 17, 2017.
The vision for the NIBRS is to become the law enforcement community’s standard for quantifying crime, further supporting the mission of the FBI UCR Program, which is to provide national crime data management standards and services to inform, educate, and strengthen communities through Uniform Crime Reporting.
The primary objective of the UCR Program is to gather reliable information regarding common crimes (often referred to as Index offenses)—including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson—for use by law enforcement operations and management. Over the years, UCR data have evolved as one of the country’s leading social indicators. Criminologists, researchers, mayors, municipal planners, the media, and the general public rely on UCR data for research and planning purposes, and to understand the changing nature of crime and society’s responses.
The collection of this information vital to informative crime statistics in Indiana. HB 1189 (Digest below) was passed this pass legislation to improve the quality of the state’s crime analyzation.
DIGEST
Crime reporting requirements. Requires local law enforcement agencies to provide criminal justice data to the Indiana state police. Requires local law enforcement agencies to participate in a statewide uniform crime report program with the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Requires the criminal justice data division of the state police department to report crime statistics to the governor semiannually (rather than annually, as required under current law).
Modeled after the NIBRS program in the State of Kentucky, Indiana NIBRS:
- Allows agencies to participate using a wizard-based form completed by their officers on a statewide portal, or by submission from their own NIBRS-compliant Records Management System.
- Allows compliance with Indiana Code (I.C. 10-13-2-5) regarding submission and reporting of statewide crime statistics.
- Provides a Central repository for real-time crime statistics. Each agency can retrieve their own data, or share data with other agencies.
- Provides data analytics produced by Indiana's Management Performance Hub (MPH).
The NIBRS interface design document is now available for download for any LEA or RMS vendor. We are accepting test files for the FBI XML 4.2 specification if you have agencies that are ready to start the certification process. Please contact us with any questions regarding the design of the document.
Downloadable documents:
- Indiana Processes and Procedures of NIBRS Certification
- FBI CJIS NIBRS Technical Specifications
- FBI CJIS NIBRS User Manual
- NIBRS Group A and Group B Offenses
- ARIES NIBRS XML Import Documentation
- How to submit Zero Reports in the Crime Portal
For further information about the Indiana NIBRS Program contact NIBRS@isp.IN.gov.
National Incident-Based Reporting System
The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), implemented to improve the overall quality of crime data collected by law enforcement, captures details on each single crime incident — as well as on separate offenses within the same incident — including information on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees, and property involved in the crimes.
Unlike data reported through UCR’s traditional Summary Reporting System (an aggregate monthly tally of crimes) and published annually in Crime in the United States, NIBRS data goes much deeper because of its ability to provide circumstances and context for crimes. It includes all offenses within a single incident as well as additional aspects about each event, like location, time of day, relationship between victim and offender, and whether the incident was cleared. Ultimately, NIBRS will improve the detail and overall quality of crime data, which will help law enforcement and communities around the country use resources more strategically and effectively.
The vision for the NIBRS is to become the law enforcement community’s standard for quantifying crime, further supporting the mission of the FBI UCR Program, which is to provide national crime data management standards and services to inform, educate, and strengthen communities through Uniform Crime Reporting.
Please take a moment to view the video below for the history and future of NIBRS.