LESDC Supporting Statement B

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Request for a new data collection with an OMB control number for the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection

OMB Control #: Request an OMB Control Number

Part B. Statistical Methods

1. Universe and Respondent Selection

The LESDC is designed to provide data on suicides and attempted suicides among the law enforcement community. According to the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act (LESDCA), the following definitions are provided for Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) and Law Enforcement Agency (LEA):

• LEA – “A Federal, State, Tribal, or local agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of any violation of the criminal laws of the United States, a State, Tribal, or a political subdivision of a State;”

• LEO – “Any current or former officer (including a correctional officer), agent, or employee of the United States, a State, Indian Tribe, or a political subdivision of a State authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of the criminal laws of the United States, a State, Indian Tribe, or a political subdivision of a State;”
  
  

These definitions create a more expansive list of occupations that make up the law enforcement community for the LESDC than for other UCR data collections. Thus, the LESDC will also include the following agency categories within the LESDC scope:

• Correctional Facilities

• Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) (911 Telecommunicators)

• Criminal Prosecutors and Adjudicators

Below is a table providing estimated counts of the number of potential agencies in each of the agency categories included in the LESDC.

Agency Type	Number of Agencies
LEAs	18,671a
Correctional Facilities	3,212b
PSAPs	5,615c
Legal Systems (Courts)	35,852d

The potential respondent universe will include any agencies that fit the definitions provided in the LESDCA. Due to this expansion of the collection scope, an exact count of potential respondents is not measurable. Based on current FBI UCR Program participation, there are 18,671 potential agencies that would classify as “traditional^e” LEAs contributing some form of crime or law enforcement data to the FBI UCR Program. The other estimated counts are drawn from participation metrics of other crime collections. However, due to differences in methodology and requirements, these other collections and their scope may not be directly comparable to the LESDC. As the FBI UCR Program moves forward with messaging and in the subsequent years of collection, an accurate picture of the total universe of eligible agencies within the expanded scope will become clear.

2. Procedures for Collecting Information

Participating law enforcement agencies will submit the details of an incident to the COLECT accessible through LEEP for all registered users. The LESDC is designed to collect all instances of suicide and attempted suicide from all eligible agencies within the law enforcement community as defined by the LESDCA. Thus, the FBI UCR Program will not be utilizing special sampling methodology for the LESDC. The LESDC will also not implement estimation methodology, as the collection is designed to report the total number of suicides and attempted suicides reported by LEAs rather than an estimated national total.

3. Methods to Maximize Response

As with all UCR data collection, participation in the LESDC is voluntary. The FBI maximizes response rates through liaison with agencies and state programs. For the LESDC, the FBI UCR Program is developing a robust communications plan to message out the existence and utility of the LESDC to bring awareness to the mission and encourage participation from eligible agencies. The FBI UCR Program also has dedicated staff available for assistance in submissions and training on the submission process. The mission of the LESDC is to acquire data on suicide and attempted suicide, establish guidelines for the collection, and publish LESDC data. Although the FBI UCR Program makes every effort through its editing procedures, training practices, and information to ensure the validity of the data it receives, the accuracy of LESDC data will depend primarily on the adherence of each contributor to the established standards of reporting. Over the next several years of the LESDC, the FBI UCR Program will continue to conduct analysis on the reported data and pursue opportunities to conduct research on the collection coverage for the LESDC.

4. Task Force and Testing

The FBI UCR Program created a task force made up of members of the law enforcement (LE) community, including representatives from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), and tribal LE representatives. The task force also includes representatives from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), academic experts in the fields of criminal justice and statistics, and subject matter experts on mental health and suicide events. The goal of the task force is to provide the FBI UCR Program subject matter expertise and guidance on the issue of suicides among the LE community and to assist in the development of the LESDC. Below is a listing of major participants and organizations taking part in the LESDC task force.

FBI Task Force Contributors:

• FBI Executive Programs Instruction Unit

• FBI Employee Assistance Program

• FBI San Diego Field Office

External Task Force Contributors:

• Association of State UCR Programs

• Kentucky Statistical Analysis Center

• John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• ATF

• Blue H.E.L.P (Honor. Educate. Lead. Prevent.)

• Public Safety Telecommunicator representative (To be determined)

• Department of Justice Executive Office for US Attorneys

Major LE Organizations:

• IACP

• MCCA

• NSA

• National Native American LE Association (NNALEA)

• Tribal LE representative

• BJS

Pilot Testing Procedures and Results

For the pilot, a sample of available LEAs as defined above in question one, were selected to participate in the cognitive interviews. As the universe of potential participants was refined, additional participants were added to cognitive interviews to achieve the final sample of 25 agencies. The selection criteria for the pilot sample reflected a purposive sample and represented a broad spectrum of agency characteristics, including agency size, agency type, and geographic location. Each participating agency was pre-screened for potential candidates which have experienced a past qualifying event for use in the usability testing and assessment of burden as detailed in the later stages of the pilot. All agencies selected for the pilot agreed voluntarily to participate in the pilot research.

The pilot began June 16, 2021 and continued through September 2021. FBI UCR interviewers conducted cognitive interviews with all participating agencies as part of the pilot process. In addition, agencies with a past qualifying event were asked to participate in usability testing on the finalized version of the questionnaire. To meet the expectations to begin data collection on January 1, 2022, the pilot activities closed in sufficient time to provide public notice on the questionnaire, complete the implementation process, and provide burden estimates in September 2021.

The pilot was conducted in the manner outlined in the LESDC comprehensive testing plan. This plan was provided to OMB for the purpose of gaining approval for the pilot testing procedures. The results of this testing are outlined in the LESDC pilot report, which is in development. The pilot report will be delivered to OMB prior to the formal launch of the LESDC.

5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

Trudy Lou Ford

Global Law Enforcement Support Section (GLESS) Chief

[email protected]

304-625-3690

Amy C. Blasher

Crime and Law Enforcement Statistics Unit (CLESU) Chief

[email protected]

304-625-4840

Lori Klingensmith

Management and Program Analyst

[email protected]

304-625-4073

Cynthia Barnett-Ryan

Statistician

[email protected]

304-625-3576

Bryan A. Sell

Statistician

[email protected]

304-625-8258

a FBI CDE National Agency Count

b Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Census of Jails, 2019

c National 911 Program Annual Report, 2019 Data

d Estimated based on NCIC ORI records and federal court survey data

e FBI UCR Program traditionally considers a LEA as any Federal, State, County, Local, or Tribal agency that employs LEOs.

The FBI defines law enforcement officer* according to the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) definition which is as follows:

All local, county, state, and federal law enforcement officers (such as municipal, county police officers, constables, state police, highway patrol, sheriffs, their deputies, federal law enforcement officers, marshals, special agents, etc.) who are sworn by their respective government authorities to uphold the law and to safeguard the rights, lives, and property of American citizens. They must have full arrest powers and be members of a public governmental law enforcement agency, paid from government funds set aside specifically for payment to sworn police law enforcement organized for the purposes of keeping order and for preventing and detecting crimes, and apprehending those responsible.

*For this collection, Parole and Probation Officers, Corrections Officers, and Juvenile Detention Officers are not included.

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