1110-0009_ Part B

1110-0009_ Part B.doc

Analysis of Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted

OMB: 1110-0009

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B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

The potential respondent universe of 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 (OMB No. 1110-0009) includes respondents from all law enforcement agencies within the United States who voluntarily report law enforcement officer deaths/assaults to the FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program. Law enforcement agencies consist of local, county, state, tribal, and federal 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 economic conditions including median income, poverty level, and job availability; areas with different modes of transportation and highway systems; different cultural factors and educational, recreational, and religious characteristics; family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness; 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.

Based on historical reporting trends, similar response rates are expected in future law enforcement officer death/assault collections, however, the FBI LEOKA Program actively liaisons with national law enforcement agencies to encourage participation in law enforcement officer death/assault data collections. Response rates are expected to increase for agencies to report those law enforcement officers killed or assaulted with increased marketing of the FBI LEOKA Program’s services and resources and by refreshing the LEOKA Officer Safety Awareness Training with the use of an updated curriculum.

For this collection there is an average of 243 respondents. The total respondent universe includes all U.S. law enforcement agencies. Of those agencies, 171 completed the 1-701a and 72 completed the 1-701.

As the LEOKA death/assault data collection is intended to collect all law enforcement officers deaths/assaults from law enforcement agencies in the U.S., sampling methodologies are not used. The FBI LEOKA Program does not apply estimation procedures in the LEOKA death/assault data collection. The law enforcement agencies that do not send in officer deaths/assaults are not estimated to compensate for the missing jurisdictions. The FBI LEOKA Program presents the actual number of officers killed and assaulted in the LEOKA publication. The FBI LEOKA program receives notification of a law enforcement officer’s line-of-duty death/assault by law enforcement agencies participating in the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, FBI Field Divisions and legal attaché, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, or nonprofit organizations devoted to supporting the families of fallen officers.

When the FBI LEOKA Program receives notification of a line-of-duty death, the LEOKA staff electronically sends either the 1-701 or 1-701a through FBI Field Divisions to the victim officer’s employing agency to obtain additional details concerning the circumstances surrounding the incident. The agencies are given 30 days to complete either form and send to the respective FBI Field Office. The assigned special agent at the FBI Field Office reviews the completed form for accuracy and completeness and then forwards the completed form to the FBI LEOKA Program by e-mail, facsimile, Sentinel, or hard copy mail.

When the FBI LEOKA Program receives notification of a law enforcement officer assault with injury from a firearm or knife/other cutting instrument from the FBI UCR Programs monthly LEOKA report, the LEOKA staff prepares and sends a letter and hard copy of the form to the state UCR Program or individual law enforcement agency to request completion of Form 1-701 for the victim officer’s assault. There is no deadline assigned to the completion of the form.

Response rates are maximized through liaison with FBI Field Offices and law enforcement agencies. Communications encouraging data submissions occur frequently because of the relationship between FBI LEOKA staff, FBI Field Offices, and law enforcement agencies. FBI LEOKA staff have a strong understanding of contextual challenges agencies face in reporting valid and reliable data and regularly work to overcome nonresponse issues when such challenges occur. The mission of the FBI LEOKA Program is to acquire LEOKA data, establish guidelines for the collection of such data, and publish 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. The FBI is working to help law enforcement agencies participate in the LEOKA data collection with the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division’s UCR Redevelopment Project (UCRRP). The UCRRP will manage the acquisition, development, and integration of a new information systems solution which affects UCR participating local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies. The UCRRP's goal is to improve UCR efficiency, usability, and maintainability while increasing the value to users of UCR products. The UCRRP will reduce, to the point of elimination, the exchange of printed materials between submitting agencies and the FBI and replace those with electronic submissions. The FBI UCR Program has begun the process of minimizing the exchange of paper for crime reporting purposes. Beginning July 2013, the FBI UCR Program will begin moving submitting agencies away from paper submissions. After a period of transition, the expectation is to have all data interfaces electronically managed. The goal is to have minimal paper burden on the public. The UCRRP is developing a LEOKA wizard utility/tool as an option for paperless submissions.

Previously, Form 1-701 Analysis of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted consisted 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 form be revised to better meet the needs and purpose of the LEOKA Program. Concerned with the rapid rise in the number of officers 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 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 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, management of the FBI's 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.

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 U.S.

Two separate final drafts of Form 1-701, 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.

In August 2009 the Information Collection Review package was sent to the Forms Desk for the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) approval as a revision of a currently approved collection. In March 2010 OMB approved the collection as 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.

Since the implementation of these approved LEOKA forms, approximately 31 months, the utility of the information collected on these forms have improved and has provided more detailed data on LEOKA incidents, thus further advancing law enforcement officer training and survival in the line of duty. As the FBI refreshes the LEOKA Officer Safety Awareness Training with the use of an updated curriculum and increased marketing of the LEOKA Program’s services and resources, change and redevelopment are imminent.

With updated technology comes advancement through the LEOKA wizard utility/tool. As these changes transpire the LEOKA staff will identify and document problematic areas encountered on the forms. As the forms will remain as is for this renewal, changes in the future are being foreseen and will be field tested before the next renewal of the LEOKA forms.