SUPPORTING STATEMENT
1110-0001
RETURN A-MONTHLY RETURN OF OFFENSES KNOWN TO THE POLICE; AND
SUPPLEMENT TO RETURN A-MONTHLY RETURN OF OFFENSES KNOWN TO THE POLICE
A. Justification.
1. Necessity of Information Collection
In 1930, under Title 28, Section 534, U.S. Code, Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, the FBI was designated by the Attorney General to acquire, collect, classify, and preserve national data on criminal offenses as part of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
Forms 1-720, 1-720a, 1-720b, 1-720c, 1-720d, and 1-720e Return A-Monthly Return of Offenses Known to the Police were developed in order to acquire/collect/count the number of reported criminal acts reported monthly by law enforcement. On these forms data are reported on seven serious offenses or Part I Offenses (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). In an effort to ensure production and accuracy of a reliable set of crime statistics, the Return A identifies the number of unfounded offenses, (false or baseless complaints), and the number of Part I criminal offenses cleared by arrest or exceptional means. Clearances are collected on total offenses cleared and clearances involving only persons under the age of 18. In addition, form 1-706 deals with the nature of crime and the monetary value of property stolen and recovered. This form is a companion to the Return A and important for the further analysis of the Part I offenses. The Return A-Monthly Return of Offenses Known to the Police and Supplement to Return A-Monthly Return of Offenses Known to the Police are received from city, county, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout the country. For over 40 years, the FBI has maintained a database and served as the national clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of crime statistics; the FBI maintains data on Part I criminal offense, rate, trend, and clearance statistics as well as the reported monetary value of property stolen and recovered for the Nation, by region, by state, and by population group size. Collection of these data on these forms allows for quality control measures to be applied uniformly, ultimately resulting in the release of data in the Semiannual and Preliminary UCR Reports and the annual publication Crime in the United States (CIUS).
The following serve in an advisory capacity to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program: Criminal Justice Information Systems Committees of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Sheriffs' Association; Advisory Policy Board; and the Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs.
A 3-year extension of this currently approved collection is requested.
2. Needs and Uses
These forms are utilized for law enforcement agencies to report Part I offense data and monetary value of property stolen and recovered to the FBI on hard copy. This data serve as a valuable resource to city, county, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies, as well as Academe, other government agencies, public, and media. Dissemination of this data are provided in the annual publication CIUS or when requested, supplied on hard copy printout or magnetic media. These data are of invaluable use for research and statistical analysis. Examples of agencies' uses are:
a. The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), utilizes the UCR Program data in awarding local law enforcement formula grants.
The FBI is meeting obligatory/mandated purpose to generate/maintain a reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management.
c. Criminologists, sociologists, legislatures, municipal planners, media, and other students of criminal justice use the data for varied research and planning purposes.
Data collection permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions and among those with similar populations and other common characteristics.
3. Use of Information Technology
Currently, 88 percent of participating law enforcement agencies submit these forms electronically. Electronic submissions are received via magnetic media and/or Law Enforcement Online (LEO) email [email protected]. The ability of agency participants (state UCR Programs/Direct Contributors) to transmit monthly data via the LEO has eliminated the need for participants to process hard copy reports or mail magnetic media or hard copy reports to the FBI. The UCR Program has made this available as a pdf printable form on the Internet at www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/formssummary.htm
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
This information collection was authorized in direct response to the enactment of Title 28, Section 534, U.S. Code. The FBI is the only agency collecting extensive data based on the seven Part I criminal offenses, crime clearances, and the monetary values of property stolen and recovered in the United States.
5. Minimizing Burden on Small Businesses
This information will have no significant impact on small entities. No small business will be affected by this collection.
6. Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection
In order to serve as the national repository for crime reporting and to produce a reliable dataset, the FBI collects monthly statistics that are reported by participating UCR Program contributors. There is an ever-increasing need for timely and accurate data dissemination by the FBI to assist our partners in law enforcement.
7. Special Circumstances
All data are collected/received from Program participants on a monthly basis. The FBI’s UCR Program has established various time frames and deadlines for acquiring the monthly data. Monthly reports/submissions should be received at the FBI by the seventh day after the close of each month. Annual deadlines are also designated in order to collect/assess receipt of monthly submissions. There are times when special circumstances may cause an agency to request an extension. The FBI’s UCR Program has the authority to grant these extensions. Participation in the national UCR Program is voluntary.
8. Public Comments and Consultations
The 30 and 60-day notices were published and no comments were received.
9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents
The FBI’s UCR Program does not provide any payment or gift to respondents.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
This information collection does not contain personal identifier information that may reveal the identity of an individual. The data is obtained from public agencies and are, therefore, in the public domain. The UCR Program does not assure confidentiality.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
This information collection does not collect information of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of Respondent’s Burden
As of December 2008 we estimate the respondent’s burden for this data collection as follows:
Number of respondents 17,738
Frequency of responses 12/year for Return A
12/year for Supplement
Total annual responses 425,712
Minutes per response 21 minutes hard copy/10 minutes electronic
Annual hour burden 40,114
RETURN A
Means of Submitting No of Agencies Frequency Response Time Annual hour burden
Hard copy forms 2,108 12 times/year 10 min 4,216
Electronically 15,630 12 times/year 5 min 15,630
(by magnetic media and/or LEO)
SUPPLEMENT
Means of Submitting No of Agencies Frequency Response Time Annual hour burden
Hard copy forms 2,108 12 times/year 11 min 4,638
Electronically 15,630 12 times/year 5 min 15,630
(by magnetic media and/or LEO)
Total number of agencies reporting 17,738
Total annual responses 17,738 x 12 = 212,856, for Return A and 17,738 x 12 = 212,856, for Supp
212,856 + 212,856 = 425,712
Total annual hour burden 4,216 + 15,630 + 4,638 + 15,630 = 40,114
13. Estimate of Cost Burden
There are no direct costs to law enforcement to participate in the UCR Program other than their time to respond. Respondents are not expected to incur any capital, start-up, or system maintenance costs associated with this information collection.
14. Cost to Federal Government
It is difficult to estimate the annual cost to the federal government under the clearance request. The following are generalized projections based upon prior collection activity as well as activities anticipated over the next 3 years.
Data Collection and Processing Costs
$1,270,582
This detailed cost projection has been provided by CJIS Financial Management Unit
Preliminary 6/12 month reports $32,384
Crime in the United States $233,490
Manuals $27,642
Special studies $336,124
Data requests $35,692
APB services $72,944
Press Releases $1,420
State program bulletins $10,726
Audit Reports $78,922
Summary/NIBRS data collection $148,468
Summary/NIBRS $120,280
Training materials $28,698
Training $112,032
UCR Program Development $31,760
Total cost to federal government $1,270,582
15. Reason for Change in Burden
There is no increase in burden on the individual respondents; however, the overall annual burden hours have decreased due to the increase in the number of respondents submitting data in electronic format.
16. Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule
Published data are derived from data submissions furnished to the FBI from local, county, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout the country. National, regional, and state data are published in periodic reports and the annual edition of CIUS.
Request for missing Jan-Jun data August and September
Request for missing 12 month data February and March, following year
Deadline to submit data mid-March
Data processing/analysis July-May
Publication of data Preliminary Semiannual UCR Report/ December of current year
Preliminary Annual UCR Report/
June of following year
CIUS/October of following year
17. Display of Expiration Date
Due to the administrative burden related to replacing expired forms when no information on those forms has been changed, the FBI is requesting approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collected.
18. Exception to the Certification Statement
The FBI’s CJIS Division does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
The CJIS Division does not employ statistical methods when collecting this information.
| File Type | application/octet-stream |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 0000-00-00 |