SUPPORTING STATEMENT
1110-0009
ANALYSIS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS KILLED AND ASSAULTED
A revision of this currently approved collection is requested in addition to a 3-year extension.
Presently, Form 1-701 Analysis of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted consists of eight pages of data with three to eight of these pages being utilized depending upon the circumstances of the death or assault. In February 2004, it was agreed upon that the current form would need to be revised to better meet the needs and purpose of the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) program. Concerned with the rapid rise in the number of officers that were being accidentally killed, the LEOKA program coordinator met with members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Highway Safety Committee and Law Enforcement Stops and Safety (LESS) Subcommittee. The focus of the meeting was law enforcement safety issues. Specifically, the committees were concerned with the rapid rise in the number of officers that were being accidentally killed. The LEOKA program's statistical data and the most current annual LEOKA publication were thoroughly examined and assessed regarding the rise in accidental deaths. Due to the limited information captured, the committees requested that Form 1-701 be redesigned to capture additional information regarding accidental and felonious deaths and assaults. The committees also offered their resources and expertise in assisting the FBI with this project.
In the spring of 2004, upper management of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division approved the request as submitted by the IACP committees. Input was solicited from the IACP members of the Highway Safety Committee and the LESS Subcommittee, and the following agencies submitted suggestions and recommendations regarding the redesign of the Form 1-701: National Sheriffs Association; New Hampshire Department of Public Safety; California Highway Patrol; New York State Police; Florida Highway Patrol; Missouri Highway Patrol; Alabama Department of Public Safety; Colorado State Patrol; North Carolina State Highway Patrol; Pennsylvania State Police, Washington State Patrol; Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Other members of the IACP; and various advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).
After the initial solicitation for suggestions, a LEOKA redesign team was formed at the FBI's CJIS Division. The redesign team consisted of five persons from the Crime Statistics Management Unit and the Crime Analysis, Research and Development Unit. Numerous outside entities were also consulted throughout the redesign process, and they are as follows: Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; American Society of Criminology; and subject matter experts from various universities throughout the United States.
Two separate final drafts of Form 1-701 form, one for officers accidentally killed and one for officers feloniously killed or assaulted and injured with a firearm or knife/other cutting instrument, were completed by the LEOKA redesign team in May 2008.
In May 2008, the new forms were field tested by law enforcement agencies to assess any problems they may have understanding and completing the new forms. Cases were preselected by the redesign team and assigned to the agencies in order to ensure a healthy mixture of incident types. Each agency was assigned one felonious and one accidental form to complete. Agencies in Arizona, California, New Jersey, Colorado, Florida, and Ohio participated in the field tests. None of these agencies experienced major problems completing the forms, and the time needed to complete either the accidental or felonious/assault forms is averaging one hour or less for each. It is requested to keep the same OMB number and add an (a) to the second form, so we would have Form 1-701 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program; Analysis of Officers Feloniously Killed and Assaulted and 1-701a Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program; Analysis of Officers Accidentally killed.
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). In 1971, as a result of a Presidential directive, the UCR Program expanded its collection of data to include more detailed information on incidents in which law enforcement officers were feloniously and/or accidentally killed and was later expanded to include serious assaults of officers assaulted in the line of duty.
The Forms 1-701, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program; Analysis of Officers Feloniously Killed and Assaulted and 1-701a Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program; Analysis of Officers Accidentally Killed information collection provides the national UCR Program with a detailed description of circumstances in which law enforcement officers were accidentally killed, feloniously killed, or assaulted and sustained injury with a firearm or knife or other cutting instrument in the line of duty.
This information collection is a necessity in order for the FBI to maintain a database and serve as the national clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of law enforcement officers killed and assaulted statistics and to ensure publication of the annual edition of LEOKA.
2. Needs and Uses
Officers killed and assaulted data are collected and maintained by the UCR Program. Dissemination of the data are provided in the annual publication LEOKA. This publication serves as a valuable source of annual, as well as 5- and 10-year data on officer deaths and assaults. Officer death and assault statistics are used for research. Training centers specifically use the LEOKA publication as a tool to develop training initiatives that support officer safety. In addition, UCR participants utilize the LEOKA data for research, as do government officials, special interest groups, academe, and all who are concerned about the men and women who serve in law enforcement. Examples of other entities utilizing the data:
a. FBI/Quantico and the National Academy request LEOKA information.
City, county, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies request LEOKA information to perform research on specific topics of interest, i.e., use of body armor, weapon information, etc.
Local, state, and national legislators request LEOKA information.
Liaison is maintained with the White House to inform of officer deaths on a monthly basis.
The data collection has inspired the further publication of three studies entitled: Killed in the Line-of-Duty, In the Line of Fire, and Violent Encounters.
3. Use of Information Technology
Currently, 0 percent of participating law enforcement agencies submit Forms 1-701 and 1-701a electronically. Upon approval of this information collection the UCR Program will update and make these revised forms available as a pdf fillable form on the FBI Intranet. In this pdf format, it is possible for the victim’s agency to complete the forms as a soft copy document. The paths to access these forms are http://cjis.fbinet/library/forms/csmuforms.htm and http://cjis.fbinet/pss/csmu_forms.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’s UCR Program is the only agency collecting extensive data on law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in the line of duty.
5. Minimizing Burden on Small Businesses
This information will have no significant impact on small business. No small business will be affected by this collection.
6. Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection
The national UCR Program would be unable to meet guidelines of the 1971 Presidential directive. An accurate and timely accounting of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty would not be possible. The law enforcement community has an ever-increasing need for timely and accurate data on officer deaths for a variety of purposes. The data maintained on felonious deaths, accidental deaths, and assaults on officers can further assist the law enforcement community in possibly reducing officer deaths/assaults.
7. Special Circumstances
It is only when an officer has been accidentally killed in the line of duty that a victim officer’s agency is contacted and requested to complete Form 1-701 or it is when an agency has reported that an officer was feloniously killed or assaulted and sustained injury with a firearm or a knife or other cutting instrument that the agency is contacted and requested to complete Form 1-701a.
8. Public Comments and Consultations
No public 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
Forms 1-701 and 1-701a collects the name of the slain/assaulted officer and also the name and FBI number of the offender. According to UCR Program policy, only the victim name can be released for condolence purposes. Although, these data are obtained from public agencies and are, therefore, in the public domain. The FBI UCR Program does not assure confidentiality.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
Forms 1-701 and 1-701a does not collect information of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of Respondent’s Burden
The estimated respondent’s burden for this data collection is as follows:
Number of respondents 258
Number of responses per respondent 1
Total annual responses 258
Minutes per response 60
Annual hour burden 258
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.
LEOKA Collection and Processing Costs
$1,023,331.35
This figure is a detailed cost projection provided by CJIS Financial Management Unit
15. Reason for Change in Burden
There is no increase in burden on the individual respondents; however, the overall annual burden hours have decreased. This is an adjustment; a decrease from 275 to 258 which is a decrease of 17 due to the reduction in the number of respondents. The number of respondents would vary from year to year because the respondent is only contacted when a line of duty death/assault is reported.
16. Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule
The LEOKA publication is released annually. There is a yearly time line prepared in order to meet publication deadlines. National, regional, and state data are published in the annual edition of LEOKA.
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-June
Publication of data LEOKA/October of following year
17. Display of Expiration Date
The UCR Program will display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.
18. Exception to the Certification Statement
The UCR Program does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
The UCR Program does not employ statistical methods when collecting this information.
| File Type | application/octet-stream |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 0000-00-00 |