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Criminal Justice Information Support
Uniform Crime Reporting
Uniform crime reporting (UCR) is a collective effort on
the part of city, county, tribal, state, and federal
law enforcement agencies to portray a statewide
and nationwide view of crime. Washington State
has approximately 240 reporting agencies that
provide monthly crime offense and arrest information
to the CJIS Department. Although it is a voluntary
program, 98% of the state's population is represented
by UCR data. This data is presented in our annual
report. Crime
in Washington, for the purposes of trend analysis,
research, and public awareness. The data are
forwarded to the FBI for inclusion of the
Crime
in United States report.
The CJIS Department responsibilities includes:
- Summary UCR Reporting
Summary UCR reporting is the most common method
used for reporting crime data in Washington State.
It consists of eight specific offenses that are
serious in nature and occur with sufficient frequency
to be able to develop comparative trends. Arrest
information is also collected through this program,
as is information on assaults against officers,
homicide circumstances, and arson information.
The data collection is a basic but useful count of offenses, not detailed
incident data as in the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The eight offenses
are: Criminal homicide, forcible rape robbery,
assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle,
and arson. There are an additional 21 offenses
collected in the arrest data.
- UCR-NIBRS
The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is a more comprehensive collection of crime data than is
Summary UCR submission. NIBRS data are designed to be a by-product of the local law enforcement
agencies' records management systems and is submitted to the State UCR Program electronically.
The data includes 22 offense categories made up of 46 specific crimes. Additional offenses are collected
in the arrest data. The data are not just a count of offense types but also contains information on the
incident, location type, property stolen, victim, offender/arrested and weapon involved.
In December 2006, WASPC became certified by the FBI to submit and report NIBRS data. By January 1, 2012, NIBRS will replace
Summary UCR submission. NIBRS submission can be accomplished through a secure Internet connection to the NIBRS Web browser. Agencies with a
NIBRS compliant records management system can upload their NIBRS data and run an error report on their data. The error free incidents will automatically be
sent to the state system at WASPC. In addition to batch upload capabilities the new web browser also allows incident data to be individually entered, checked for
errors and sent to the state system at WASPC. This provides smaller agencies the ability to report NIBRS data even if they have no records management system
Login name and password are required to enter the website. Agencies must become certified to submit NIBRS data
The process includes three months of NIBRS data with an error rate
below 4%; up to six months of dual-reporting of NIBRS and Summary data; and NIBRS training from the WASPC
staff or when available, FBI staff. Following completion of testing, the agency will be able to submit NIBRS data
and discontinue Summary UCR reporting.
For assistance in NIBRS reporting procedures, login information, and to answer questions, please call the
WASPC CJIS Department at (360) 486-2380.
- Domestic Violence
Domestic violence offenses are collected as mandated by
the Washington State Legislature. These are not
separate offenses from those collected in UCR
summary reporting but because of the nature of
the relationship of those involved, these offenses
are further categorized for analysis. The offenses
collected are limited to: homicide, forcible rape,
robbery, assault, burglary, larceny. motor vehicle
theft, arson and violation of protection/no-contact orders.
- Hate Crime
Like domestic violence offenses, hate crimes are not
distinct, separate offenses. They are traditional
offenses that are motivated in whole, or in part,
by the offender's bias. The motivations are specific
and include biases against race, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, ethnic or nation origin, and
gender. The offenses collected are limited to:
murder, forcible rape, robbery, assault, burglary,
larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, intimidation,
and vandalism. Data collected in the hate crime
program is forwarded to the federal level at the FBI.
- Full-Time Law Enforcement Employee Counts
Every year, the CJIS Department sends the Law Enforcement
Employees form out to each law enforcement agency
in the state. The form provides the department
with counts of full-time commissioned officers
and civilian employees that are paid from law
enforcement funds. Every year response to this
form is 100% without fail. The data are forwarded
to the FBI.
Contact Criminal Justice Information Support at 360- 486-2380 or
Joan Smith CJIS Manager
Linda Schaffel NIBRS Specialist
Tonya Todd Document Imager
Kellie Lapczynski Statistical Compiler
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