Crime Statistics

New Crime Reporting Process: National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

As of September 3, 2019, the Albany Police Department transitioned from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to comply with a directive from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. All agencies that reported their crime statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation had to be NIBRS compliant by October 1, 2019. Due to this conversion, we were unable to post our crime statistics for the last quarter of 2019 until we had comparable data. I have included information to explain what NIBRS is and how any law enforcement agency can use it.

The UCR Program was initiated and developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in 1930, and congressional approval authorized the FBI to serve as the national clearinghouse for statistical information on crime. Because UCR is a summary-based reporting system, data about individual crime incidents are not readily available. The summary-based methodology, despite its reliability, is limited in many aspects, including a lack of information on offenses, arrests, and victim/offender relationships.

Recognizing those limitations, the FBI created the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NIBRS collects data on each incident and arrest in 24 offense categories, which are comprised of 52 specific crimes, known as Group A offenses, that include detailed information about each reported crime to local law enforcement. Additionally, there are 10 Group B offense categories for which only arrest data are reported. Each NIBRS offense belongs in one of three categories: Crimes against persons, Crimes against property, and Crimes against society.

In UCR reporting, the Hierarchy Rule requires LEAs to report only the most serious offense per incident; therefore, they do not report lower-listed offenses in incidents involving multiple offenses. For NIBRS, LEAs must report all offenses within a specific crime category. For example, an incident can include the crimes of Rape, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Kidnapping/Abduction. LEAS must ensure that each offense is reported as a separate, distinct crime and not just a part of another offense.

Benefits of NIBRS

NIBRS is an indispensable tool in the fight against crime because it produces detailed, accurate, and meaningful data. NIBRS identifies precisely when and where crime occurs, what form it takes, and the characteristics of its victims and perpetrators. Armed with this information, law enforcement can better define the resources it needs to combat crime and utilize those resources most efficiently and effectively.

NIBRS 101

NIBRS 101: The transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) will enhance the accuracy and timeliness of our nation’s crime statistics, facilitate the identification of crime patterns and trends, and support crime prevention efforts. For more information, visit the FBI website.

Albany Police Department Crime

The Albany Police Department's Crime Analysis Unit is pleased to provide its crime statistics online via the World Wide Web. Here you will find the Albany Police Department's current and archived Monthly Crime Statistics Reports. Our Crime Analyst, in conjunction with our Support Services Division Records Section, produces monthly crime reports. The Command Staff utilizes the monthly reports during the weekly Computer Statistics (COMPSTAT) meetings held internally at the Albany Police Department. During those meetings, the staff reviews statistics, and plans are made to address current problems identified during the sessions. The Records Section also reports crime data to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Georgia Criminal Information Center, which in turn reports our crime data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our monthly statistics are a "snapshot" of the records in our computer, which are continually changing as cases are worked and crimes solved. Therefore, the Albany Police Department makes no guarantees or warranties on the accuracy of the data