Supporting Statement A (2023) (1110-0008)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

1110-0008

Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement

Part A. Justification

1. Necessity of Information Collection

Under the authority of Title 34, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 41303; 28 U.S.C., § 534, Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, June 11, 1930, a Congressional Directive in 1979; and the Anti-Arson Act 1982, the FBI was designated by the Attorney General to acquire, collect, classify, and preserve national arson data as a Part I crime in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

Form 1-725, Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, provides the UCR Program with the number of arson offenses reported monthly by law enforcement, the number of unfounded arson offenses, the total number of arson offenses cleared by arrest or exceptional means, and clearances for persons under the age of 18 regarding structural property, whether it is uninhabited, abandoned, or normally not in use; mobile property, as motor vehicles, trailers, airplanes, or boats; or other types of property, such as crops, timber, or signs. This collection also provides an estimated value of property damage for each arson reported.

This information collection is necessary for the FBI to maintain a database and serve as the national clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of arrest data and to ensure publication in Crime in the United States (CIUS) and on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE).

2. Needs and Uses

The Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook and the Arson Flat File Data Specification are needed to provide law enforcement agencies (LEAs) a mechanism to report Part I arson offense data to the FBI’s UCR Program. The data are used in many ways and serve many purposes. The statistics provide law enforcement with data for use in budget formulation, planning, resource allocation for arson investigators, assessment of police operations, etc., to help address the crime problem at various levels. Chambers of commerce and tourism agencies examine the data to determine the impact on specific geographic jurisdictions. Criminal justice researchers study the nature, cause, and movement of arsons over time. Legislators draft anti-crime measures using the research findings of the arson data.

The FBI serves as the national clearinghouse for storage of all arson statistics and these data are available upon request. Other entities use the information in various ways. For example, the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance, and Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) use UCR Program data for determining grant recipients under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

3. Use of Information Technology

All participants in the FBI’s UCR Program submit arrest data electronically via web services or through the UCR Dashboard using a flat file data specification or Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook. The collection of UCR crime data begins at the local agency level when the law enforcement officers submit administrative and operational data to record management personnel from hardcopy or electronic incident reports. The local agency record managers then compile and submit the crime data to their state UCR programs. Many state UCR programs have a centralized repository and have established electronic communications with the LEAs throughout their state, as well as the FBI’s UCR Program. This link allows for information technology interaction within the required electronic data submission formats.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

This information collection was authorized in direct response to the enactment of 28 U.S.C § 534, Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, June 11, 1930, a Congressional Directive in 1979, and the

Anti-Arson Act of 1982.

Another known entity collecting fire data, which includes arson, is the United States Fire Administration (USFA). USFA publishes, “Fire in the United States,” which receives its data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System, National Fire Protection Association, National Center for Health Statistics, and state fire marshals’ offices. This report provides a statistical overview of fires in the United States and is designed to equip the fire service and others with information which motivates corrective action, sets priorities, targets specific fire programs, serves as a model for state and local analysis of fire data, and provides a baseline for evaluating programs.

The FBI’s arson data are critical for obtaining a count of those arsons considered to have been willfully or maliciously set. The UCR Program has successfully collected and published arson data since 1979.

5. Minimizing Burden on Small Businesses

This information will have no significant impact on small businesses. The law enforcement community requested the forms be collected monthly since police records are based on a calendar month. However, the FBI minimizes burden on small LEAs by allowing them to submit quarterly, twice a year, or once a year. Although monthly is recommended, agencies can submit data at intervals which minimize the burdens of the agency upon approval by the UCR Program.

6. Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection

To serve as the national repository for crime reporting and to produce a reliable dataset, the FBI collects monthly statistics which are reported by participating UCR Program contributors. There is an ever-increasing need for timely and accurate data dissemination by the FBI to assist law enforcement partners.

Although monthly reports are preferred, the UCR Program has agencies submitting data quarterly, twice a year, and even once a year. Upon approval by the UCR Program, agencies can submit data at intervals which minimize the burdens to the agency.

LEAs use UCR Program data for tracking crime and staffing levels, along with officer and task force placement. The UCR Program’s data are used for administration, operation, management, and to determine effectiveness of task forces. Agencies will justify staffing levels and officer counts compared to other LEAs to receive additional staffing levels or equipment. Some agencies use other agencies’ crime statistics and staffing levels to justify their own crime statistics and staffing levels to obtain funding.

7. Special Circumstances

All data are collected/received from UCR Program participants monthly. Monthly reports/submissions should be received at the FBI by the seventh day after the close of each month. Annual deadlines are designated to collect/assess receipt of monthly submissions. There are times when special circumstances may cause an agency to request an extension. The UCR Program has the authority to grant these extensions.

8. Public Comments and Consultations

The 60- and 30-day notices have been submitted and published in the Federal Register with no public comments received.

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents

The UCR Program does not provide any payments or gifts to respondents.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The UCR Program does not assure confidentiality. However, this information collection does not contain personally identifiable information which may reveal the identity of an individual. The data are obtained from public agencies and are, therefore, in the public domain.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

The information collection does not seek information of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of Respondents’ Burden

The estimated burden hours on the respondents for this data collection are as follows:

Number of Summary Reporting System (SRS) agencies: 6,652

Frequency of responses: Monthly

Total annual responses: 71,204

Minutes per response: 9

Annual burden (minutes): 640,836

Annual burden (hours): 10,681

SRS Agencies, 2020
Number of Months Submitted	Number of Agencies	Number of Responses	Nine-Minute Burden
0 months	252	0	0
1 month	126	126	1,134
2 months	84	168	1,512
3 months	53	159	1,431
4 months	52	208	1,872
5 months	39	195	1,755
6 months	72	432	3,888
7 months	48	336	3,024
8 months	136	1,088	9,792
9 months	150	1,350	12,150
10 months	140	1,400	12,600
11 months	258	2,838	25,542
12 months	5,242	62,904	566,136
Total	6,652	71,204	640,836

13. Estimate of Cost Burden

There are no direct costs to law enforcement to participate in the FBI’s UCR Program other than the time to respond. With the renewal of this collection, respondents are not expected to incur any capital, start-up, or system maintenance costs associated with this information collection. Costs to agency records management systems are very difficult to obtain. Vendors do not divulge costs because charges differ from agency to agency and many costs are built into the contracts. Depending on the contracts, changes mandated by law may be included within the original contract with no other additional costs. However, over $100,000 in annual maintenance costs have been projected.

14. Cost to Federal Government

The following is a cost module for the UCR Program provided by the FBI’s CJIS Division, Resources Management Section, Fee Programs Unit. The information is based on prior collection activity, as well as activities anticipated for both the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and SRS. The cost module does not separate the costs between the two methods of collecting UCR data.

Data Collection and Processing Costs, Fiscal Year 2020
Activity	Cost	Full-Time Equivalent
Manage Projects	$136,422.83	0.77
Perform Research and Analysis	$248,971.41	1.46
Produce Publications	$101,490.58	0.71
Provide Editing Services/Support	$201,781.15	1.22
Provide Supervisory Review/Oversight	$35,087.25	0.19
Provide Writing Services/Support	$179,648.95	1.09
Conduct Assessment/Perform Analysis	$91,131.52	0.45
Deliver Curriculum - External Customers	$224,874.50	0.91
Develop Curriculum - External Customers	$232,560.74	1.13
Perform and oversee Information Technology (IT) Service Management activities	$89,747.05	0.65
Perform organization IT Management and Strategic Planning	$29,193.42	0.18
Perform the Client Management function	$98,372.14	0.64
Provide and administer Databases and Database services	$156,234.60	1.01
Provide and administer Middleware services	$114,732.49	0.94
Provide and maintain Servers	$51,570.68	0.41
Provide and maintain UNIX operating systems	$26,097.18	0.23
Provide Application Development services	$637,425.54	4.64
Provide Application Support and Operations services	$106,185.25	0.84
Support and Manage IT Programs, Product Initiatives	$200,321.45	1.38
Provide Application Development services	$18,787.17	0.13
Conduct UCR Audits	$471,586.24	3.75
Deliver Curriculum - External Customer	$166,650.42	1.18

Data Collection and Processing Costs, Fiscal Year 2020—continued
Activity	Cost	Full-Time Equivalent
Develop Curriculum - External Customer	$166,650.42	1.18
Support CJIS Advisory Policy Board (APB)	$26,534.28	0.20
Conduct Liaison, Education, and Promotion	$446,011.63	3.56
Develop and Manage Policy	$346,293.24	2.89
Perform Administrative and Human Resource tasks	$786,846.88	6.56
Perform APB tasks	$199,920.81	1.53
Perform Budget, Strategic Planning, and Program Control	$264,364.78	1.77
Perform Duties as the Agile Product Owner	$410,981.42	3.31
Perform Other Agile Duties	$249,750.88	1.72
Support the CIUS publication	$1,018,058.46	9.02
Support the FBI’s CDE	$89,490.54	0.61
Support the Hate Crimes Statistics publication	$426,491.16	3.57
Support the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted publication	$408,565.98	3.48
Support the National Use-of-Force Data Collection	$171,314.98	1.41
Define and oversee Compliance within IT infrastructure	$41,059.01	0.30
Perform IT Finance functions	$35,946.65	0.20
Select and oversee vendors via the IT Vendor Management process	$35,946.65	0.20
Support and Manage IT Programs, Product Initiatives	$136,355.22	1.05
Grand Total	$8,879,455.55	66.47

15. Reason for Change in Burden

Much of the crime data collected by the FBI is submitted by LEAs via NIBRS. However, the UCR Program has opted for a short-term collection of additional incidents from those agencies still collecting data under SRS. Renewing the Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement data collection will also allow LEAs to submit updates to previously reported incidents. The decrease in burden to state programs and local LEAs is expected to continue as more agencies transition to NIBRS. Due to the transition, the FBI’s UCR Program will shift a large portion of these operational and administrative burden hours to the NIBRS collection.

16. Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule

Published data are derived from data submissions furnished to the FBI’s UCR Program from federal, state, county, city, tribal, university and college, and territorial LEAs. Data will be published on an annual basis.

Process	Month
Request missing data from agencies	February-March, following year
Deadline to submit data	End of March
Data processing/analysis	July (current year)-April (following year)
Publication date	September, following year

17. Display of Expiration Date

All information collected under this clearance will display the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Number and Expiration Date on the Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook.

18. Exception to the Certification Statement

The FBI’s CJIS Division does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

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