SUPPORTING STATEMENT
1110-0004
Number of Full-Time Law Enforcement Employees as of October 31
Justification
Necessity of Information Collection
Under the authority of Title 28, U.S. Code, Section 534, Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, June 11, 1930, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program request data about police employee counts from city, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies (LEAs) throughout the country in order to generate reliable information on police employee counts.
Form 1-711, Number of Full-Time Law Enforcement Employees as of October 31, provides for the national UCR Program a yearly total count of full-time sworn male and female law enforcement officers and the total number of full-time male and female civilian employees as of October 31 of the reporting year. This information collection is a necessity in order for the FBI to maintain a database and serve as the national clearing house for the collection and dissemination of the total number of full-time law enforcement employees, both officers and civilians.
Needs and Uses
The Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook and the Police Employee Flat File Technical Specification are needed to provide LEAs a mechanism to report the total number of police employee counts to the national UCR Program. The FBI is able to generate reliable information annually for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management, nationwide. The information released is viewed as a guide or an indicator of police strengths, to establish manpower needs, in both number and makeup, and to provide enforcement and protection. Examples of other agencies’ uses are:
Local, state, tribal, military, and federal agencies, domestic and foreign, have used the data for selected city population groupings to determine standard police strengths.
Criminal justice coordinators have used the data in the form of percentage of cities employing female officers.
City and county police agencies have used the data to request assistance from other departments.
The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, utilizes the FBI UCR Program data in awarding local law enforcement formula grants.
The Community Orienting Policing Servicing “COPS” Program received FBI UCR data for the purpose of awarding grant money to LEAs.
City councils, legislators, citizens, organizations, and social scientists have requested police employee data.
Annual UCR Program data are provided to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). This central repository serves as a single facility from which colleges/universities can obtain social science data. The ICPSR website houses seventeen years of UCR Police Employee data.
Use of Information Technology
All FBI UCR Program participants submit their crime data electronically. The FBI provides three different electronic options for UCR Program participants to submit arson data: Extensible Markup Language (XML), Flat File Data Specification and the FBI– Provided Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook.
The XML interface specification complies with the National information Exchange Model (NEIM) and Logical Entity Exchange Specifications (LEXS), which are both data standards for information exchange. The Flat File Data Specification are submitted as a standard ASCII text file. Finally, the FBI–Provided Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook allows agencies to submit data via an Excel Workbook that is translated into a standard format for processing the data into the new UCR System. These electronic submissions are currently received from state UCR programs and individual law enforcement agencies via e-mail at <ucrstat@leo.gov>.
UCR Program crime data collection begins at the local agency level when the law enforcement officers submit administrative and operational data to their record management personnel from hardcopy or electronic incident reports. The local agency record managers then compile the crime data and submit it 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 national UCR Program. This link allows for information technology interaction within the required electronic data submission formats.
Efforts to Identify Duplication
This information collection was authorized in direct response to the enactment of Title 28, Section 534, Acquisition, and Exchange of Identification Records; Appointment of Officials, June 11, 1930.
There are two additional entities that collect law enforcement employee statistics. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publishes “Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA)” every four years with 2008 being the most current available. The Bureau of Census (BOC) also publishes the “Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll (ASPEP)”.
BJS, BOC, and UCR Program have different purposes for collecting this data, respondent universes, and data collection procedures. Each entity provides data about the number of sworn and nonsworn officers on a voluntary basis, but differs in the type of information provided about police employees as well as in the number and size of the participating agencies.
BJA – CSLLEA
Respondent Universe
All state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to include primary state police, sheriffs’ offices, local police departments, tribal police, special jurisdiction agencies, and other agencies (such as courts and jails).
Data Collection
The survey measures the number of sworn and nonsworn employees within state, local, and special jurisdiction agencies in the U.S.
The data is disaggregated by full-time or part-time status, population and patrol assignments.
Frequency
Every four years.
Imputation
The CSLLEA imputes missing data due to unit and item nonresponse.
BOC – ASPEP
Respondent Universe
The ASPEP includes data for full-time law enforcement officers from local police departments, sheriffs’ offices, state police, federal agencies, coroners’ offices, police training academies, investigation bureaus, and temporary holding or lockup facilities.
Excludes sworn officers employed by transit police or school police agencies.
Data Collection
The U.S. Census Bureau collects employment data for the federal, state, and local governments as well as their gross monthly salary for March of the survey year.
Employee information is captured from the payroll records on an annual basis.
Frequency
Annually
Imputation
The Census Bureau imputes missing data due to agency nonresponse
UCR – Number of Full-Time Law Enforcement Employees as of October 31
Respondent Universe
Participants from local, state, county, college/university, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies.
Data Collection
The UCR Program collects data on the number of full-time sworn officers and civilian personnel, by sex.
Sworn officers must have full arrest powers and must be paid from government funds set aside for sworn law enforcement officers.
Civilian personnel must be paid from police funds and includes clerks, radio dispatchers, meter attendants, stenographers, jailers, correctional officers, and mechanics.
Excluded from these counts are officers not paid from police funds as well as employees who serve court- and jail-related functions.
This data collection also provides the population for each reporting agency.
Frequency
Annually
Imputation
Data is not imputed for missing agency data.
The Police Employee data are critical for officer assault rates produced in Crime in the United States (CIUS) and in Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted publications. Police Employee data files are one of the most requested data files within the user community. The FBI UCR Program has successfully collected and published police employee data since the program’s inception in 1930. In December 1944, a conference was held with the then Division of Statistical Standards, the BOC, the Department of Labor, and the FBI to discuss collection duplication. The outcome of that conference was to allow the FBI to continue the data collection as requested by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).
Minimizing Burden on Small Businesses
This information will have no significant impact on small businesses. The FBI minimizes burden on small LEAs by allowing them to submit this collection once a year.
Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection
The FBI law enforcement employee counts are collected annually from participating FBI UCR Program contributors because our crime data is distributed on an annual basis. LEAs use this UCR data to justify staffing levels and officer counts compared to other LEAs in order to receive additional staffing levels, equipment, or funding. There is an ever-increasing need for timely and accurate data dissemination by the FBI to assist our partners in law enforcement. With the increasing demand, the FBI UCR Program has established a task force comprised of the Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Program (ASUCRP) representatives and the FBI CJIS Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit. The task force convened to discuss risks, issues, and options that are currently available for reporting timely data and will be providing recommendations for receiving timelier crime data in the near future.
Special Circumstances
All data are collected/received from the FBI UCR Program participants on an annual basis. There are times when special circumstances may cause an agency to request an extension. The FBI’s UCR Program has the authority to grant these extensions. Participation in the national UCR Program is voluntary.
Public Comments and Consultations
The 60 and 30 day notices have been submitted and published in the Federal Register with no public comments received.
Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents
The FBI’s UCR Program does not provide any payment of gift to respondents.
Assurance of Confidentiality
This information collection does not contain personally identifiable information that may reveal the identity of an individual. The data is obtained from public agencies and are, therefore, in the public domain. The FBI UCR Program does not assure confidentiality.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
The information collection does not seek information of a sensitive nature.
Estimate of Respondent’s Burden
The estimated hour burden on the respondent for this data collection is as follows:
Number of respondents: 18,439 respondents
Number of non-respondents: 1,685
Frequency of responses: Annually
Total annual responses: 18,439
Minutes per response: 8
Annual hour burden: 2,459 hours
Total number of agencies reporting 18,439
Total annual responses 18,439 x 1 = 18,439
Total annual hour burden 18,439 x 8 / 60 = 2,459 hours
The FBI UCR Program frequently has operational and administrative questions for the state program managers and local LEAs. In order for the FBI to conduct this outreach with a larger universe of contributors, the UCR Program is including additional 300 annual burden hours to this information collection request.
State Program and Local LEA Outreach:
Number of respondents: 100
Frequency of responses: Varies
Minutes per response: 180
Annual hour burden: 300 hours
Total Annual Burden: 2,759 hours
Estimate of Cost Burden
There are no direct costs to law enforcement to participate in the FBI UCR Program other than their 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 due to the fact that vendors charge differently from agency to agency, many costs are built into the vendors contracts. Depending on the contracts, changes mandated by law can be included within the original contract with no other addition costs. However, an estimate has been projected that agencies pay an $107,000 maintenance fee every year for system maintenance costs.
Cost to Federal Government
The following is a cost module provided by the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, Resource Management Section, Fee Programs Unit, for the entire FBI UCR Program. These are projections based upon prior collection activity, as well as activities anticipated over the next three years for both the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Summary Reporting System (SRS). The cost module does not separate the costs between the two methods of collecting UCR data.
Data Collection and Processing Costs
Administrative $ 51,366.58
Application for Resources Support $ 33,313.62
Assessments/Analysis – External Customers $ 50,520.46
Budget Activities, Strategic Planning & Program
Control $ 245,155.22
Communication/Reporting $ 132,441.55
Curriculum Design – External Customers $ 98,745.93
Customer Service Group $ 8,610.83
Customer Service Support $ 52,773.95
Data Entry $ 18,476.56
Development, Test, and Integration $ 279,530.52
Editing $ 285,589.82
Human Resource Management $ 172,388.58
Liaison, Correspondence, Data Requests $ 694,243.64
Life Cycle Records Management $ 23,322.74
Manage Congressional Correspondence $ 15,548.49
Manage Freedom of Information Act Requests $ 15,548.49
Marketing $ 23,214.69
Operational Assistance $ 60,685.07
Operations Research and Analysis $ 4,589.31
Perform Strategic Planning $ 28,704.05
Perform Unit Budget Activities $ 13,667.22
Policy, Development, and Program Planning $ 290,486.20
Project and Program Management $ 213,406.96
Provide Technical, Statistical, Mathematical Assistance/
Training $ 3,511.71
Provide Training Instruction – External Customers $ 223,899.58
Request for Information $ 8,748.18
Research and Analysis $ 224,431.85
SENTINEL Management $ 23,322.74
Software Maintenance $ 37,137.98
Source Selection Support $ 6,833.61
Special Interest Research $ 1,529.77
Special Studies Using UCR Data $ 279,492.14
Training/Leadership Development $ 4,680.04
UCR Automation/Development $ 222,424.57
UCR Data Analysis $ 697,374.36
UCR Data Collection $ 235.854.05
UCR Publications/Reports $ 424,671.11
Writing Services/Support $ 206,237.60
Total Cost to Federal Government $ 5,412.479.77
Reason for Change in Burden
There will be an increase in burden for the individual respondents as a result of including a burden estimate for state program manager and local LEA outreach; therefore, the overall annual burden hours have also increased. This adjustment, from 2,431 to 2,759 is an increase of 328.
Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule
Published data are derived from data submissions furnished to the FBI UCR Program from local, county, state, tribal, and federal LEAs throughout the country. Data will be published on an annual basis.
Initial Request for Police Employee Data October, current year
Follow-up Letter Requesting Police December, current year
Employee Data
Deadline to submit data Late December, current year
Data Processing/Analysis November (current year)-February
(following year)
Publication data September, following year
Display of Expiration Date
All information collected under this clearance will display the OMB Clearance Number and Expiration Date on the Microsoft Excel Summary Workbook.
Exception to the Certification Statement
The FBI CJIS Division does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Donahue, Kristi L |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-23 |