FOR RELEASE JUNE 28, / JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS $13 MILLION TO IMPROVE CRIME REPORTING NATIONWIDE

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1 FOR RELEASE BJS JUNE 28, / JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS $13 MILLION TO IMPROVE CRIME REPORTING NATIONWIDE 70 Year-Old Crime Reporting System Being Replaced WASHINGTON, D.C. The Justice Department s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today announced a major step toward moving the nation s crime reporting apparatus into the 21 st century with the award of more than $12 million in grants to 24 states to improve their ability to measure crime and report crime information at the national level. In another few weeks, two additional states are expected to be awarded approximately $1.4 million under this new crime reporting system, the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The NIBRS grants will assist states to convert crime statistics from simple summary counts of eight types of crime murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and the recently added arson offenses to a new and more sophisticated system of incident-based data, detailing many of the elements of crimes recorded at the scene by the investigating officer. BJS and the FBI are encouraging nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies to adopt NIBRS. The current national system for counting crimes reported to police, the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR), was begun in 1930 through the joint efforts of the FBI and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. NIBRS replaces these aggregate crime counts with information on up to 46 offenses and includes victim and offender characteristics, the circumstances surrounding the offense and the consequences of the 1

2 crime for the victim. For many agencies that receive funding, NIBRS will fit directly into their computerized field reporting systems for incident-level information to insure an accurate and substantive database on the types of crime occurring, who is being affected, and where the different types of crime are occurring. NIBRS will permit law enforcement executives, analysts and the public to better understand trends in different types of crime, including domestic violence, the victimization of children and alcohol-involved crime, and to evaluate the harm to victims, including injuries as well as monetary and other losses. NIBRS will support sophisticated techniques for insuring better allocation of resources to emerging crime hot spots. The 26 states receiving grants under this program have all proposed partnerships between state law enforcement agencies and local agencies to achieve improved measurement of crime, following the protocols and procedures established by BJS and the FBI. The total amount awarded to states receiving grant awards for NIBRS initiatives during the first stage is $11,733,202 (See attached chart). The second stage of funding will include awards to Minnesota and New York, which are expected to total approximately $1.4 million. These funds should support significant increases in the number of states that are compatible with FBI standards and in the number of persons residing in jurisdictions with NIBRS reporting systems. In addition, access to these new crime data will be improved, as many jurisdictions will use some of the federal funds to establish or enhance Web-based data collection from localities and dissemination of 2

3 crime data. NIBRS funds are authorized under the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (P.L ), which was designed to assist states in upgrading their criminal justice information systems and identification technologies. Further information about the NIBRS program, contact OJP at 202/ or the FBI at 304/ Additional information about BJS programs and statistical data may be obtained at the BJS Internet site at: Additional criminal justice materials can be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs homepage at: Source: OJP news release archive at NIBRS FISCAL YEAR 2001 AWARDS Arizona Award Amount: $290, 974 Point Of Contact: Gerald Hardt Arizona Criminal Justice Commission 3737 North 7th Street, Suite 260 Phoenix, AZ (602) Arkansas Award Amount: $414,877 Point Of Contact: Gwen Ervin-McLarty Arkansas Crime Information Center Special Services Division One Capitol Mall Little Rock, AR (501) California Award Amount: $999,194 Point Of Contact: Doug Smith California Department of Justice Bureau of Criminal Information & Analysis 4949 Broadway Justice Sacramento, CA (916) Colorado Award Amount: $525,000 Point Of Contact: Allan Stanley Colorado Bureau of Investigation 690 Kipling Street Denver, CO (303)

4 Connecticut Award Amount: $380,000 Point Of Contact: Gary Lopez Department of Public Safety Connecticut Division of State Police 1111 Country Club Road Middletown, CT (860) Delaware Award Amount: $213,122 Point Of Contact: Sharon Durham Delaware State Police State Bureau of Identification P. O. Box 430 Dover, DE (302) Hawaii Award Amount: $500,620 Point Of Contact: Lari Koga Hawaii Department of the Attorney General Crime Prevention & Justice Assistance Division 425 Queen Street Honolulu, HI (808) Illinois Award Amount: $801,741 Point Of Contact: Kirk W. Lonbom Illinois State Police P.O. Box Springfield, IL (217) Louisiana Award Amount: $948,741 Carle Jackson Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement 1885 Wooddale Boulevard, Suite 708 Baton Rouge, LA (504) Maine Award Amount: $362,970 Point Of Contact: Sergeant Thomas E. Kelly Maine Department of Public Safety Maine State Police 36 Hospital Street Augusta, ME (207) Massachusetts Award Amount: $422,038 Point Of Contact: Daniel Bibel Massachusetts State Police Crime Reporting Unit 470 Worcester Road Framingham, MA (508) Missouri Award Amount: $840,819 Point Of Contact: Lt. Timothy P. McGrail Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Records & Identification Division P. O. Box 568 Jefferson City, MO (573) Nebraska Award Amount: $115,700 Point Of Contact: Marilyn Keelan Commission on Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice P. O. Box Lincoln, NE (402)

5 Nevada Award Amount: $330,955 Point Of Contact: Sandra Mazy Department of Motor Vehicles & Public Safety 555 Wright Way Carson City, NV (775) North Dakota Award Amount: $303,813 Point Of Contact: Robert J. Helten Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Investigation P. O. Box 1054 Bismarck, ND (701) Ohio Award Amount: $1,000,000 Point Of Contact: Ed White Office of Criminal Justice Services 400 East Town Street, Suite 300 Columbus, OH (614) Oregon Award Amount: $290,632 Point Of Contact: Jeffrey D. Bock Oregon State Police 400 Public Service Building Salem, OR (503) Rhode Island Award Amount: $337,679 Point Of Contact: Linda L. Fracola Rhode Island State Police 311 Danielson Pike North Scituate, RI (410) South Dakota Award Amount: $57,335 Point Of Contact: Wanda L. Fergen Office of the Attorney General Division of Criminal Investigation 500 East Capitol Avenue Pierre, SD (605) Texas Award Amount: $935,455 Point Of Contact: Beverly Reeves Texas Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting P. O. Box 4087 Austin, TX (512) Utah Award Amount: $134,844 Point Of Contact: Richard Ziebarth Utah Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice 101 State Capitol Salt Lake City, UT (801) Vermont Award Amount: $99,157 Point Of Contact: Philip Colby State Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Justice Services 103 South Main Street Waterbury, VT (802) Washington Award Amount: $763,936 Point Of Contact: Gary S. Robinson Office of Financial Management P. O. Box Olympia, WA (360)

6 Wisconsin Award Amount: $663,600 Point Of Contact: Stephen Grohmann Office of Justice Assistance 131 W. Wilson Street, Suite 202 Madison, WI (608) *Minnesota Award Amount: To Be Determined Point Of Contact: Kathy Leatherman Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension 1246 University Avenue St. Paul, MN (651) *New York Award Amount: To Be Determined Point Of Contact: Richard A. Rosen Division of Criminal Justice Services Office of Justice Systems Analysis 4 Tower Place Albany, NY (518) *Application is currently under review and award amount has yet to be determined. June 2001 # # # BJS01107 After hours contact: David Hess at 888/ (pager) 6