2014-02650. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; New Collection; National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

ACTION:

30-Day notice.

The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with established review procedures of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register Volume 78, Number 235, pages 73565-73566, on December 6, 2013, allowing for a 60 day comment period.

The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days for public comment until March 10, 2014. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice, especially the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to Mrs. Amy C. Blasher, Unit Chief, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306; facsimile [phone].

Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are encouraged. Comments should address one or more of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques of other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of information collection: New collection.

(2) The title of the form/collection: National Incident-Based Reporting System.

(3) The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the department sponsoring the collection: Criminal Justice Information Services Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: City, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies. Abstract: Under U. S. Code, Title 28, Section 534, Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, June 11, 1930; Public Law 109-177 (H.R. 3199), March 9, 2006, USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005; PL 110-457, Title II, Section 237(a), (b), December 23, 2008, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008, and Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, April 28, 2009, this collection requests Incident data from city, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies in order for the FBI UCR Program to serve as the national clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of crime data and to publish these statistics in Crime in the United States, Hate Crime Statistics, and Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. NIBRS is an incident-based reporting system in which law enforcement collects data on each crime occurrence. Designed to be generated as a byproduct of local, state, and federal automated records systems, currently, the NIBRS collects data on each incident and arrest within 23 crime categories made up of 49 specific crimes called Group A offenses. For each of the offenses coming to the attention of law enforcement, various facts about the crime are collected. In addition to the Group A offenses, there are 10 Group B offense categories for which only arrest data are reported. The most significant difference between NIBRS and the traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS) is the degree of detail in reporting. In reporting data via the traditional SRS, law enforcement agencies tally the occurrences of eight Part I crimes. NIBRS is capable of producing more detailed, accurate, and meaningful data because data are collected about when and where crime takes place, what form it takes, and the characteristics of its victims and perpetrators. Although most of the general concepts for collecting, scoring, and reporting UCR data in the SRS apply in the NIBRS, such as jurisdictional rules, there are some important differences in the two systems. The most notable differences that give the NIBRS an advantage over the SRS are: No Hierarchy Rule, in a multiple-offense incident NIBRS reports every offense occurring during the incident where SRS would report just the most serious offense and the lower-listed offense would not be reported; NIBRS provides revised, expanded, and new offense definitions; NIBRS provides more specificity in reporting offenses, using NIBRS offense and arrest data for 23 Group A offense categories can be reported while in the SRS eight Part I offenses can be reported; NIBRS can distinguish between attempted and completed Group A crimes; NIBRS also provides crimes against society while the SRS does not; the victim-to-offender data, circumstance reporting, drug related offenses, offenders suspected use of drugs, and computer crime is expanded in NIBRS; the NIBRS update reports are directly tied to the original incident submitted. The Group A offense categories include arson, assault offenses, bribery, burglary/breaking and entering, counterfeiting/forgery, destruction/damage/vandalism of property, drug/narcotic offenses, embezzlement, extortion/blackmail, fraud offenses, gambling offenses, homicide offenses, human trafficking, kidnapping/abduction, larceny/theft offenses, motor vehicle theft, pornography/obscene material, prostitution offenses, robbery, sex offenses, sex offenses/nonforcible, stolen property offenses, and weapon law violations. The Group B offense categories include bad checks, curfew/loitering/vagrancy violations, disorderly conduct, DUI, drunkenness, family offenses/nonviolent, liquor law violations, peeping tom, trespass of real property, and all other offenses.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: There are approximately 6,038 law enforcement agencies. The amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond is two hours monthly which totals to an annual hour burden of 24 hours. The 2 hours to respond is the time it takes for the agencies records management system (RMS) to download the NIBRS and send to the FBI. By design, law enforcement agencies generate NIBRS data as a by-product of their RMS. Therefore, a law enforcement agency builds its system to suit its own individual needs, including all of the information required for administration and operation; then forwards only the data required by the NIBRS to participate in the FBI UCR Program.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with this collection: There are approximately 144,912 hours, annual burden, associated with this information collection. The total number of respondents is 6,038 with a total annual hour burden of 24 hours, (6,038 × 24 = 144,912 total annual hours).

If additional information is required contact: Jerri Murray, Department Clearance Officer, Policy and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, United States Department of Justice, Two Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE., Room 3W-1407B, Washington, DC 20530.

Dated: February 4, 2014.

Jerri Murray,

Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U. S. Department of Justice.