1110-0006 Supporting Statement B

Supporting Statement B for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Extension of a currently approved collection;

1-705 Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted

OMB Control # 1110-0006

B. Statistical Methods

1. Respondent Universe

The potential respondent universe of the form 1-705 Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA), OMB No. 1110-0006, includes all United States LEAs who voluntarily report their crime statistics data via the SRS. During 2017, approximately 9,672 SRS LEAs participated in the FBI UCR Program. Of those agencies, 9,604 voluntarily reported the LEOKA data. The LEAs consist of federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that correlate to all population group sizes and have many diverse attributes. These agencies include: a mix of population density and degrees of urbanization; various compositions of population, particularly youth concentration; population mobility with respect to residents’ mobility, commuting patterns, and transient factors; different cultural factors and educational, recreational, and religious characteristics; climate; effective strength of law enforcement; policies of other components of the criminal justice system; citizens’ attitudes toward crime; and crime reporting practices of the citizenry.

The table below provides the total number of SRS agencies who are providing the LEOKA data.

SRS LEOKA Agencies, 2017
	Population Group	Number of Agencies	Population Covered
Cities	Group I (250,000 inhabitants and more)	58	48,487,426
	Group II (100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants)	149	22,389,131
	Group III (50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants)	325	22,543,583
	Group IV (25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants)	560	19,478,747
	Group V (10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants)	1,143	18,232,179
	Group VI (Less than 10,000 inhabitants)1,2	5,024	14,543,195
Counties	Group VIII (Nonmetropolitan County)2	1,141	12,626,422
	Group IX (Metropolitan County)2	1,204	52,263,617
	Total	9,604	210,564,300

¹ Includes universities and colleges to which no population is attributed.

² Includes state police to which no population is attributed.

Out of the 9,604 agencies that voluntarily reported data to the FBI UCR Program via the SRS, approximately 8,906 submitted twelve complete months, 698 submitted between one and eleven months of data, and 68 agencies did not submit reports to the FBI UCR Program. See chart below.

Number of months submitted	Number of Agencies
1 month	49
2 months	29
3 months	128
4 months	37
5 months	31
6 months	39
7 months	39
8 months	36
9 months	44
10 months	85
11 months	181
12 months	8,906
Non reporting agencies	68
Total	9,672

Of the 9,604 participating agencies, 92.1 percent responded with twelve months of complete data. The FBI is currently undergoing a transition to move SRS agencies to the NIBRS by January 1, 2021. Sixty-two LEAs received grant money to assist in their transition to the NIBRS, while 25 state UCR Programs received money to help improve their RMSs to receive the NIBRS data. The NIBRS is the path forward and will improve the way the nation collects, reports, analyzes, and uses its crime statistics to enable informed tactical and strategic decision-making.

The NIBRS reporting agencies have a higher participation rate than the SRS agencies, therefore, as the SRS agencies transition to the NIBRS, the LEOKA participation should increase. The NIBRS eases the ability for the LEAs to report the LEOKA data because it is collected within the NIBRS record layout. With the SRS, the LEAs and state UCR programs receiving the NCS-X funds to transition to the NIBRS, funds will now be available to make the necessary technical changes to collect the LEOKA data.

2. Collection of Information Procedures

The LEOKA data are collected/received from state UCR program participants on a monthly basis. The FBI UCR Program has established various timeframes and deadlines for acquiring the monthly data. State UCR programs and direct contributing agencies are instructed to submit their monthly reports/submissions to 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 UCR Program has the authority to grant these extensions. Although monthly reports are preferred by agencies, the state UCR programs, upon approval, may submit their data at intervals, e.g., monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually; this minimizes the burden to the agency.

The LEAs participating in the SRS submit the LEOKA data to the FBI UCR Program via electronic files or by using the Microsoft Excel Workbook Tool which contains an electronic version of the LEOKA.

As the UCR LEOKA data collection is intended to collect all reported LEOKA offenses from the LEAs in the United States, sampling methodologies are not used. Estimation procedures will not be applied to the LEOKA data collection. The FBI UCR Program presents the actual number of reported officers killed and assaulted in the LEOKA publication. For assault data to be included in this publication, the LEAs must have submitted information for all 12 months regarding their sworn officers who were assaulted as well as the number of officers and civilians their agencies employed full-time for the reporting year.

3. Response Rates/Non-Response

Response rates are maximized through liaison with state UCR programs. Communications encouraging data submissions occur frequently because of the relationship between the FBI UCR staff and the LEAs. The FBI UCR staff have a strong understanding of contextual challenges agencies face in reporting valid and reliable data and assist agencies in overcoming non-response challenges. Currently, 92.1 percent of the FBI UCR Program SRS reporting agencies report 12 months of complete LEOKA data to the FBI, while 7.3 percent submit between 1-11 months of data. The remaining 0.7 percent do not participate in the LEOKA data collection.

The mission of the FBI UCR Program is to acquire the LEOKA data, establish guidelines for the collection of such data, and publish the LEOKA data. Although the FBI makes every effort through its editing procedures, training practices, and correspondence to ensure the validity of the data it receives, the accuracy of the statistics depends primarily on the adherence of each contributor to the established standards of reporting.

With increased marketing of the FBI LEOKA Program’s refreshed LEOKA Officer Safety Awareness Training, response rates are expected to increase for agencies to report those law enforcement officers killed or assaulted. The FBI LEOKA Program provides outreach, statistical support, training, research studies, and instructional services for an Officer Safety Awareness Training curriculum. Since 2008, over 87,596 public safety professionals from 28,294 LEAs have received this eight-hour training course in over 1,054 offerings across the United States and abroad. In addition, from 2015-2017, the FBI UCR Program received 195 requests for the LEOKA data.

The Criminal Justice Information Systems Committees of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) provide the FBI UCR Program with vital links to local law enforcement personnel. The IACP, as it has since the UCR Program began, represents the thousands of police departments nationwide. The NSA encourages sheriffs throughout the country to fully participate in the UCR Program. Both committees serve in advisory capacities concerning the UCR Program’s operation. The Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs (ASUCRP) focuses on UCR issues within individual state law enforcement associations and also promotes interest in the FBI UCR Program. These organizations foster widespread and responsible use of uniform crime statistics and lend assistance to data contributors when needed.

4. Collection Development

The FBI has conducted the monthly LEOKA information collection since 1970. Today, the UCR Program receives guidance for implementing or making changes to a data collection from the CJIS Advisory Policy Board (APB). The APB, which is organized and exists under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, was established to ensure a “shared management” concept with the nation’s law enforcement community for all criminal justice information systems managed by the CJIS Division. It ensures law enforcement has the opportunity to discuss and vote on any policy or procedural changes to CJIS systems affecting the FBI’s ability to collect, maintain, and share information with the nationwide criminal justice community. The APB reviews policy and technical and operational issues related to the CJIS services and recommends to the FBI Director appropriate changes. In addition to the APB, the CJIS Advisory Process also includes five regional working groups and many subcommittees, including the UCR Subcommittee. The CJIS Advisory Process is an effective way to discuss proposed concepts and develop the shared systems that support law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

The working groups review topic papers on operational, policy, and technical issues related to CJIS Division programs and policies and make recommendations to the APB or one of its subcommittees. All fifty states, as well as United States territories, federal agencies, tribal representatives, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are organized into five working groups. Working group meetings are conducted as closed meetings and take place once each cycle, with two cycles per year.

The UCR Subcommittee is comprised of APB members and other UCR subject-matter experts. The UCR Subcommittee was established to review recommendations for the consideration of the entire APB. The chair of the APB, in consultation with the Designated Federal Officer (DFO), may invite any governmental or quasi-governmental entity who is involved in CJIS activities to attend any meeting of the APB Subcommittee for the purpose of consultation or providing information. Subcommittee meetings take place at least once each cycle.

The APB meets at the end of each cycle or twice during each calendar year. A notice of these meetings is published in the Federal Register, and the meetings are conducted as an open session unless determined otherwise by the DFO. The APB is composed of 35 executive representatives from criminal justice agencies and national security agencies throughout the United States. It ensures law enforcement have the opportunity to discuss and vote on any policy or procedural changes to CJIS systems affecting law enforcement’s ability to share information to the nation.

The current LEOKA form remains the same and, therefore, requires no additional testing. No comments or suggestions of problems with the form have been reported through the APB working groups, UCR Subcommittee, CJIS APB, or the ASUCRP. These groups meet frequently throughout each year and are dedicated to improving the collection, use, and utility of crime data as reported through the FBI UCR Program and all state and local crime reporting programs.

5. Contact Information

Scott A. Rago

Global Law Enforcement Support Section Chief

[email protected]

304-625-3690

Amy C. Blasher

Crime Statistics Management Unit Chief

[email protected]

304-625-4840

Cynthia Barnett-Ryan

Survey Statistician

[email protected]

304-625-3576

Kristi L. Donahue

Management and Program Analyst

[email protected]

304-625-2972

6