Supporting Statement B (2023) (1110-0005)

Part B. Statistical Methods

1. The potential respondent universe for the forms ASRE of Persons Arrested Under 18 Years of Age (Juvenile) and ASRE of Persons Arrested 18 Years of Age and Over (Adult) includes all United States LEAs submitting crime data to the FBI’s UCR Program under SRS. Of the SRS agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s UCR Program in 2020, an estimated 6,390 reported 1-12 months of arrest data. LEAs consist of federal, state, county, city, tribal, and territorial agencies correlating to all population group sizes and having 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. (See the tables below.)

SRS Agencies, 2020
	Population Group	Number of Agencies	Population Covered
Cities	Group I (250,000 inhabitants and more)	43	26,869,362
	Group II (100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants)	113	16,383,796
	Group III (50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants)	247	17,263,981
	Group IV (25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants)	380	13,202,946
	Group V (10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants)	765	12,204,508
	Group VI (Less than 10,000 inhabitants)1,2	3,248	9,642,747
Counties	Group VIII (Nonmetropolitan County)2	710	6,744,838
	Group IX (Metropolitan County)2	884	34,302,013
	Total	6,390	136,614,191
1 Includes universities and colleges to which no population is attributed. 2 Includes state police to which no population is attributed.

SRS ASRE Participation, 2020
Number of Months Submitted	Number of Agencies
1 month	169
2 months	155
3 months	121
4 months	166
5 months	195
6 months	273
7 months	195
8 months	242
9 months	253
10 months	287
11 months	463
12 months	3,871
Total	6,390

Of the 6,390 SRS agencies submitting 1-12 months of arrest data to the FBI’s UCR Program, 60.6 percent reported complete data (12 months) in 2020. Fewer than six months (1-5) of data were reported by 12.6 percent, while 26.8 percent submitted 6-11 months.

2. ASRE data are collected/received from state UCR program participants monthly. The FBI’s UCR Program has established various time frames and deadlines for acquiring the monthly data. Monthly reports/submissions should be received by the seventh day after the close of each month. Annual deadlines are also designated to collect/assess receipt of monthly submissions. There are times when special circumstances may cause an agency to request an extension and the FBI’s UCR Program has the authority to grant them. The law enforcement community requested crime data be collected monthly since police records are based on a calendar month. However, the UCR Program minimizes burden on smaller LEAs by allowing them to submit data quarterly, twice a year, and even once a year. Participants in the UCR Program can submit data at intervals which minimize the burden to the agency.

As the UCR ASRE data collection is intended to collect all reported ASRE arrest data from LEAs in the United States, sampling methodologies are not used. The FBI’s UCR Program does estimate ASRE data for agencies with partial reports and for non-reporting agencies. Table 29 of CIUS provides the estimated number of persons arrested for the 28 offenses for which the FBI’s UCR Program collects data. The arrest totals presented in this table are national estimates based on the arrest statistics of all LEAs participating in the FBI’s UCR Program (including those submitting less than 12 months of data). The estimated total number of arrests in this table is the sum of estimated arrest volumes for 28 offenses, not including suspicion. The arrest total for each of the individual offenses is the sum of the estimated volumes within each of the eight population groups. The FBI calculates each group’s estimate by dividing the reported volume figures (as shown in Table 31) by the contributing agencies’ jurisdictional populations. The resulting figure is then multiplied by the total population for each population group. Tables 30-69 of CIUS present ASRE data as it is reported to the FBI. Data in these tables are not estimated.

Although the FBI attempts 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 relies on the integrity of data contributors; however, staff from the CJIS Audit Unit are available to conduct Quality Assurance Reviews upon request. The results of the audits are not used to adjust crime data but to educate reporting agencies on compliance with UCR Program guidelines.

3. Response rates are maximized through liaison with state UCR programs. Communications encouraging data submissions occur frequently between UCR Program staff and LEAs. UCR Program staff have a strong understanding of contextual challenges agencies face in reporting valid and reliable data and regularly work to overcome non-response issues when such challenges occur. The mission is to acquire ASRE data, establish guidelines for the collection of such data, and publish the information.

The FBI’s UCR Program received complete arrest data (12 months) from 60.6 percent of submitting SRS LEAs in 2020 and 1-11 months from the remainder. Some SRS LEAs were nonresponsive due to being understaffed, underfunded, or in the process of implementing a new data record system. Even though these agencies are non-reporters, they are considered participants of the Program and will submit data when the problems have been resolved. Based on historical reporting trends, similar response rates are expected in future arrest collections, however, the UCR Program actively liaisons with national LEAs to encourage participation in all UCR data collections.

The UCR Program assists agencies in submitting 12 months of complete data through continuous communication. The FBI provides a list of missing reports to state UCR programs and individual LEAs twice a year. UCR Program training staff also encourage participation by providing guidance and answering specific questions. Providing vital links between local law enforcement and the FBI are the CJIS committees of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). The IACP represents the thousands of police departments nationwide and has since the UCR Program began. The NSA encourages sheriffs throughout the country to fully participate. Both organizations serve in advisory capacities regarding the UCR Program’s operation. The Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs focuses on UCR issues within individual state law enforcement associations and promotes interest in the FBI’s UCR Program. These organizations foster widespread and responsible use of UCR statistics and assist data contributors as needed.

4. The FBI has conducted the ASRE information collection since 1952. The response rates for ASRE data have remained relatively consistent from year to year. During the implementation of the ASRE information collection in the early 1950s, extensive research regarding arrests was conducted by UCR Program staff, the IACP, the Committee on UCR Records, and the Census Bureau. Liaison with members of law enforcement, IACP, NSA, and the CJIS APB have been effective in the effort to collect ASRE data and to design a collection form which would provide meaningful information to all.

Beginning in 1980, in response to Public Law 94-311 and OMB Circular #A-46, the FBI’s UCR Program expanded its arrest data collection to include the ethnic origin of arrestees. In 1986, the directive to collect the ethnic origin data was no longer in effect, and there was no reason to collect such data. The ASRE forms were revised to delete all references to ethnic origin. Then in 1997, the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity were revised, and federal agencies were directed to adopt the changes by 2003. The revision included ethnicity to be recorded along with race. OMB required the FBI’s UCR Program to adopt the new standards; therefore, the ASRE forms were revised to include ethnicity categories. These changes were not retested because ethnic origin had been collected by the FBI in previous years and state contributors continued to collect the ethnic data within their state record management systems. Although testing was not done, the addition of ethnic categories was vetted through the CJIS APB process and no comments or suggestions of problems with the form were reported through CJIS APB Working Groups, UCR Subcommittee, CJIS APB, or the ASUCRP. These organizations meet frequently throughout each year and are dedicated to improving the collection, use, and utility of crime data as reported through the FBI’s UCR Program and all state and local crime reporting programs. The CJIS APB offers guidance to the UCR Program by attesting to the data collected at state levels rather than from a statistical standpoint.

5. Scott E. Schubert

Law Enforcement Engagement and Data Sharing (LEEDS) Section Chief

seschubert@fbi.gov

304-625-3690

Joey L. Hixenbaugh

LEEDS Assistant Section Chief

jlhixenbaugh@fbi.gov

304-625-4507

Edward L. Abraham

Crime and Law Enforcement Statistics Unit Chief

elabraham@fbi.gov

304-625-2136

Chad M. Garman

Supervisory Survey Statistician

cmgarman@fbi.gov

304-625-3296

Malissa C. Vavra

Survey Statistician

mcvavra@fbi.gov

304-625-3010

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