Police using new reporting system
Houston police have switched to a new crime reporting system as part of a nationwide transition by law enforcement to one that experts say will provide more information about crime in individual communities.
Chief Art Acevedo said Thursday the department has begun using the National Incident-Based Reporting System to record information about crimes across the city, a move that will provide far more details than were collected under the Unified Crime Reporting Program’s Summary Reporting System, which had been the standard for more than 80 years.
Under the previous reporting system, a series of crimes committed in one incident — such as a burglary that ends in murder — was cataloged as just one crime. The NIBRS reporting system collects information from each crime committed during an incident, with 52 types of possible offenses.
Acevedo said he believes the
system will help the department be more transparent and effective in analyzing crime trends across Houston.
“We’re going from a very narrow focus to a very indepth focus,” Acevedo said.
The department began submitting information to the NIBRS system in June last year, said Diana Poor, HPD’s deputy director for the office of planning. She cautioned against thinking that the influx of new information might appear like a spike in crime.
“It’s just a different way of counting,” she said.
Perrye K. Turner, the special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, said NIBRS provides far greater specificity about crimes, including the type of victim, residential status of the victim and the person arrested, weapons data, and the value of property stolen or recovered.
“Armed with this type of information, law enforcement can better define the resources it needs to fight crime, as well as use those resources in the most efficient and effective manner,” he said in an emailed statement. “I think that’s exactly what law enforcement and the public expects, needs, and deserves.”
HPD’s transition to the NIBRS reporting system comes as the FBI has set an August 2021 deadline for police agencies across the country to begin using the NIBRS system. About 7,000 of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies have made the switch, according to the FBI.
“It’s a massive undertaking,” said Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based crime analyst. “This is the way we count crime. NIBRS is supposed to be a step forward, in terms of technology and the scope of crimes being collected.”
Asher said the system would also help citizens and policymakers better understand how their police departments function.
“Police departments do more than fight crime … but one of the big (responsibilities they have) is to continually reduce crimes,” he said. “And if you’re not collecting statistics, and if they’re not good and reliable, then you have a hard time understanding if law enforcement is fulfilling its obligation.”
In Texas, more than 850 agencies have committed to making the switch to NIBRS reporting by the FBI’s deadline, according to information from the Texas Department of Public Safety. To date, more than 450 have successfully transitioned to the new system.
Along with HPD, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office has also recently transitioned to the new reporting system.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez echoed Acevedo’s hope that the new system would help fight crime more effectively across Houston and Harris County. “Incident-based reporting will provide a more comprehensive understanding of crime trends in our area and help measure the effectiveness of programs and initiatives,” he said. “This gives front-line supervisors the information they need to deploy our resources strategically, improving our odds of protecting our citizens and more consistently defeating criminals.”