NIBRS great questions reference
Great Questions
From NIBRS Contributors in Washington State
Questions Submitted Between 2017 - 2019
Abstract
The following pages are a compilation of some of the great questions
related to NIBRS submission that the WASPC CJIS team has received
from our contributors. This information is provided as a resource in
the interest of expanding everyone’s knowledge about NIBRS.
cjis@waspc.org
(360) 486-2400
Contents
Administrative Segment ................................................................................................................................. 5
Cargo Theft: Yes or No (Data Element 2A)........................................................................................ 5
Incident or Report Date (Data Element 3) ....................................................................................... 6
Cleared Exceptionally (Data Element 4) ........................................................................................... 7
Hate Crime (Bias Motivation) (Data Element 8A) ........................................................................ 9
Offense Segment.................................................................................................................................................. 9
UCR Offense Code (Data Element 6) .................................................................................................... 9
Animal Cruelty (UCR Offense Code 720) ............................................................................................ 9
Arson (200) ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Assault Offenses ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Aggravated Assault (13A)................................................................................................................. 11
Simple Assault (13B) .......................................................................................................................... 14
Intimidation (13C)............................................................................................................................... 14
Bribery (510) ............................................................................................................................................. 15
Burglary (220) ........................................................................................................................................... 15
Counterfeiting/Forgery (250) ............................................................................................................. 17
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property (290) .................................................................. 19
Drug/Narcotic Violations (35A) ......................................................................................................... 21
Drug Equipment Violations (35B) ..................................................................................................... 22
Embezzlement (270) ............................................................................................................................... 23
Fraud Offenses ........................................................................................................................................... 24
Fraud - False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game (26A) ................................................ 25
Credit Card/Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Fraud (26B) ............................................. 26
Fraud - Impersonation (26C) .......................................................................................................... 27
Wire Fraud (26E) ................................................................................................................................. 28
Fraud - Identity Theft (26F) ............................................................................................................ 28
Fraud - Hacking/Computer Invasion (26G) .............................................................................. 28
Homicide Offenses.................................................................................................................................... 29
Negligent Manslaughter (09B) ....................................................................................................... 29
Justifiable Homicide (09C) ............................................................................................................... 30
Kidnapping/Abduction (100) .............................................................................................................. 30
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Larceny/Theft Offenses ......................................................................................................................... 30
Theft - Shoplifting (23C) ................................................................................................................... 31
Theft from Building (23D)................................................................................................................ 32
Theft from Motor Vehicle (23F) ..................................................................................................... 33
Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories (23G) ................................................................ 35
Theft - All Other Larceny (23H) ..................................................................................................... 35
Motor Vehicle Theft (240)..................................................................................................................... 36
Pornography/Obscene Material (370) ............................................................................................ 37
Robbery (120) ........................................................................................................................................... 38
Sex Offenses ................................................................................................................................................ 39
Rape (11A) ............................................................................................................................................. 40
Sodomy (11B) ....................................................................................................................................... 40
Fondling (11D)...................................................................................................................................... 40
Statutory Rape (36B) ......................................................................................................................... 41
Stolen Property Offenses (280) .......................................................................................................... 41
Traffic Offenses.......................................................................................................................................... 42
Weapon Law Violations (520) ............................................................................................................. 42
Violation of No Contact/Protection/Anti-Harassment Order (500) .................................... 43
Attempted or Completed (Data Element 7) .................................................................................. 44
Location Type (Data Element 9) ......................................................................................................... 44
Number of Premises Entered (Data Element 10) ...................................................................... 45
Type of Weapon/Force Involved (Data Element 13) ............................................................... 45
Property Segment ........................................................................................................................................... 46
Type of Property Loss/Etc. (Data Element 14) ........................................................................... 46
Property Description (Data Element 15) ....................................................................................... 47
Value of Property (Data Element 16) ............................................................................................... 51
Victim Segment ................................................................................................................................................. 55
Victim Connected to UCR Offense Code (Data Element 24) .................................................. 55
Type of Victim (Data Element 25) ...................................................................................................... 55
LEOKA (Data Elements 25A-C)............................................................................................................. 57
Race of Victim (Data Element 28) ...................................................................................................... 59
Resident Status of Victim (Data Element 30) ............................................................................... 59
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Aggravated Assault/Homicide Circumstances (Data Element 31) ................................... 60
Type of Injury (Data Element 33) ...................................................................................................... 60
Relationship of Victim to Offender (Data Element 35) ........................................................... 60
Offender Segment ............................................................................................................................................ 61
Age of Offender (Data Element 37) ................................................................................................... 61
Sex of Offender (Data Element 38) .................................................................................................... 62
Arrestee Segment ............................................................................................................................................ 62
Type of Arrest (Data Element 43) ...................................................................................................... 62
Multiple Arrestee Segments Indicator (Data Element 44) ................................................... 63
Arrestee Was Armed With (Data Element 46) ............................................................................ 63
Age of Arrestee (Data Element 47) .................................................................................................... 64
Sex of Arrestee (Data Element 48) .................................................................................................... 64
Resident Status of Arrestee (Data Element 51) .......................................................................... 64
Disposition of Arrestee Under Age 18 (Data Element 52) .................................................... 64
Miscellaneous .................................................................................................................................................... 65
Citizenship ...................................................................................................................................................... 65
Clearance by Arrest ................................................................................................................................... 65
Conspiracy to Commit .............................................................................................................................. 66
Counting Offenses ....................................................................................................................................... 66
Direct Entry to State NIBRS Repository .......................................................................................... 66
File Submission ............................................................................................................................................ 66
Group B Arrest-Only Offenses .............................................................................................................. 67
Disorderly Conduct (90C) ..................................................................................................................... 67
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) (90D) ....................................................................................... 67
Liquor Law Violations (90G) ................................................................................................................ 68
All Other Offenses (90Z) ........................................................................................................................ 68
Jurisdiction .................................................................................................................................................... 70
Mutually Exclusive ..................................................................................................................................... 71
Non-Reportable Incidents ...................................................................................................................... 72
Race Codes ...................................................................................................................................................... 75
Same Time and Place ................................................................................................................................ 75
Unfounded ...................................................................................................................................................... 77
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Vendors and Consultants........................................................................................................................ 78
Warrants ......................................................................................................................................................... 79
4
Administrative Segment
Cargo Theft: Yes or No (Data Element 2A)
Question: A victim moved from California to Washington and used a moving company to
move her things. When she was at her home in Washington, she discovered a box
containing electronics was missing. We don’t know where the Theft actually
occurred. Also, we don’t know if the box was stolen off the truck or if it even made it to the
truck. I used the Cargo Theft indicator but something tells me that’s not right.
Answer: The situation you described would be 23H = All Other Larceny. And, you
are correct: Cargo Theft is not appropriate for this situation. The key factors to the
classification of Cargo Theft are “commercial shipment” and “in the supply
chain”. Since the items from the victim cannot be defined as goods for sale that are
in transit as part of a store stock delivery, Cargo Theft does not apply.
Question: A victim ordered a computer on-line and the delivery service claimed delivery
was made on a specific date and time. However, the victim stated that the video recording
for the front door showed no one approached the door on that date or around this time. Is
this a cargo theft?
Answer: No, thefts from the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, pizza delivery, floral
delivery vehicles, etc. are not considered cargo theft because the goods are already
purchased by the consumer and being delivered.
Question: We have a case of a Commercial Burglary where thousands of dollars of
merchandise was forklifted onto a truck and subsequently taken away. Does this constitute
a Cargo Theft?
Answer: With the information given, this would not be considered Cargo Theft as the
merchandise was not moving in commerce. Here are some key definitions regarding
Cargo Theft:
Cargo must be a part of a commercial shipment and must be in the supply chain
(moving in commerce).
Theft from mail, UPS, FEDEX, pizza delivery, floral delivery vehicles, etc. is not
considered cargo because the goods have already been delivered to the end user
(business) in the commercial shipment/supply chain.
Cargo vs. Merchandise
o The businesses are the end users of the cargo in commercial shipment/supply
chain.
o The personal deliveries are the end users of the merchandise received from the
businesses.
o If a truck arrives at a store, but the goods have not been received by the store
before the theft occurred, this would be considered Cargo Theft (the cargo is a
commercial shipment and is still in the supply chain).
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o If there is a Bill of Lading reserved for a commercial shipment, it would be
considered a Cargo Theft.
Incident or Report Date (Data Element 3)
Question: One of our deputies took a report of a sex crime that occurred in 2002. A
detective investigated it and has now charged the suspect with 1st Rape of a Child and 1st
Child Molestation. Since the crime occurred in 2002, would we still report it as though it
occurred this year? If I report it as the incident date of 2002, I would receive an error
stating “Incident date is outside the base date calculation” because it was pre-NIBRS.
Answer: In situations like this, you would use the report date instead of the incident
date. That will allow it to be reported to NIBRS.
Question: For NIBRS submission, is it the “reported date” or the “occurred date” that is
reported to you?
Answer: The “occurred date” is when you know the date that the incident
happened. The “report date” is when you don’t know the exact date the incident
occurred and you use the date the incident was reported to law enforcement.
An example is when a person is gone on vacation and when they arrive home, they
discover their house has been burglarized. The date of the incident would be the
date the owner reported the Burglary to the law enforcement agency.
Question: We have an Aggravated Assault case from 2010 that was reported via the
Summary Reporting System (we are now converted to NIBRS). The victim has now died
and the case will be investigated as a Homicide. How should I update this case? Should I
build it directly in the repository so it’s available for any future updates?
Answer: Yes, you should build the case as a new incident in NIBRS. You can enter it
as a Homicide and for the incident date, use the date that the death became known
to your agency (reported date).
Question: Regarding NIBRS Incident Date and Hour: If a victim knows a time period in
which an incident occurred (e.g., a Burglary between the dates he was on vacation or the
car was prowled overnight), should the agency use that time period to determine the NIBRS
Incident Date? Should the agency use the Reporting Date as the Incident Date since the
victim doesn’t know exactly when during that time period (the actual day) that the crime
occurred/began? For example: The victim left for vacation on August 21st and returned
home on September 3rd to find his house burglarized; he files a police report on September
3rd. He knows the burglary occurred while he was on vacation but he doesn’t know on the
exact date it actually occurred. Should this Incident Date be reported as August 21st or as
the Reported Date of September 3rd?
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Answer: In an incident like this, the Report Date should be used. Even though the
timeframe in which the incident happened may be known, it did not become known
to law enforcement until the date reported.
Cleared Exceptionally (Data Element 4)
Question: We have a question regarding the Exceptional Clearance Code D = Victim
Refused to Cooperate. We have an incident where two males were fighting in the street
and a passerby called it in. The men were contacted and admitted they were fighting but
that only one threw a punch. The victim clearly has a minor swelling to the face but does
not want to press charges. We will submit this as an Assault but since the victim isn’t
cooperating, does this qualify as an exceptional clearance or is it non-reportable?
Answer: The Exceptional Clearance Code D = Victim Refused to Cooperate (in the
prosecution) does not apply to the situation you described. This data value is only
used when the case has been referred to the prosecuting attorney and then the
victim withdraws cooperation.
For the NIBRS submission on the incident you described, you would report the
assault with the N = Not Applicable value entered in the Exceptional Clearance field.
Question: How are the following incidents reported as cleared? First incident: Two
juveniles were fighting and it was discovered to be mutual combat. The school is going to
handle the discipline of both students, and no arrests were made. Second Incident: A
Robbery victim reported theft of property and minor injuries; she identified the suspect
and our officer contacted him. Because the suspect was an elderly man with mental issues,
the victim chose to not cooperate with the investigation. No arrest made and the case was
never referred to the prosecutor.
Answer: As you know, arrest information automatically generates a clearance for an
incident. The “Exceptional Clearance” indicator is mandatory and can be entered as “N”
for Not Applicable (meaning it was not cleared exceptionally). Otherwise, in order to
clear an incident by exceptional means, all of the following four (4) conditions must be
met:
1. The investigation must have clearly and definitely established the identity of at
least one offender.
2. Sufficient probable cause must have been developed to support arresting,
charging, and prosecuting the offender.
3. The exact location of the offender must be known so that an arrest could be
made.
4. There must be a reason outside the control of law enforcement which prevents
the arrest.
In both of your examples below, it appears all four of these conditions exist for the
juvenile case. However, in the Robbery case, the allowed entry for “Victim Refused to
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Cooperate” relates to a decision by the prosecutor rather than the law enforcement
agency. In other words, the prosecutor should have received the case and then failed to
prosecute because the victim refused to cooperate.
Also, for the purposes of FBI UCR, the clearance of an incident should not be confused
with closing an investigation nor does it include cases for which a law enforcement
agency could not proceed with an investigation due to an uncooperative or unavailable
witness or victim (as in the Robbery case).
Question: Our agency has an incident that was not sent to the prosecutor’s office due to
the victim refusing to cooperate with our investigator. Can we clear this by exceptional
means - victim refuses to cooperate?
Answer: The exceptional clearance of “Victim Refused to Cooperate” is used only
when the victim refuses to assist in the prosecution of the case, not when they
refuse to assist in the law enforcement investigation.
Question: A sex offense was reported with an unknown suspect. The victim has decided
not to help with the investigation at this time. The officer closed the case out as
exceptionally cleared/victim refused to cooperate; however, our records management
system (RMS) is giving an error about Race, Sex and Age of the offender. We’ve been told
that there must be an IDENTIFIED suspect in order to close exceptionally, is that accurate?
Answer: That is correct. There are four criteria which must be met for an
exceptional clearance, one of which is that you must have established the identity of
at least one offender. Here are the criteria for an exceptional clearance, according to
the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 73):
1. The LEA investigation must have clearly and definitely established the identity of
at least one offender.
2. The LEA must have sufficient probable cause to support arresting, charging, and
prosecuting the offender.
3. The LEA must know the exact location of the offender so they could make an
arrest if circumstances did not prevent it.
4. There must be a reason outside the control of the LEA preventing the arrest.
In addition, the victim not cooperating with law enforcement is not a valid reason to
exceptionally clear an incident. If all four of the above circumstances exist, an
incident can be cleared exceptionally only pursuant to the following reasons:
Death of the offender
Prosecution was declined for other than lack of probable cause
The offender is in custody of another jurisdiction (this includes extradition
denied)
The victim refused to cooperate in the prosecution
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The offender was a juvenile and the incident was handled without taking
him/her into custody, but rather by oral or written notice given to the
parents or legal guardian in a case involving a minor offense
Hate Crime (Bias Motivation) (Data Element 8A)
Question: In reviewing the list of anti-bias codes, I didn’t see codes for marital status, age,
or parental status. Are these covered under a different bias code? In practice, how would
an officer indicate these biases?
Answer: The biases you listed are not included in the NIBRS data; if an officer
encounters one, the “Bias Motivation” is not reported.
Question: In the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 76) regarding Bias Motivation, it states that
“incidents involving ambiguous facts (some facts are present but are not conclusive) should
be reported as data value 99 = Unknown. When an offense is initially classified as bias
motivation 99 = Unknown and subsequent investigation reveals the crime was motivated
by bias or no bias was found, the agency must update its original submission.”
We have two questions based on this: 1) What happens when in the follow-up, no suspect
or further information is revealed? Do we change it to No Bias or do we leave it as
Unknown forever? 2) In an incident where flyers were dropped or pasted onto poles with
racially charged propaganda on them, is this should be listed as a hate crime?
Answer: 1) Change it to None (No Bias) (88 code); otherwise, you will continue to
receive data quality questions from the FBI. The Unknown (99 code) is a temporary
classification until the subsequent investigation reveals the specific bias motivation
or that no bias was found. The FBI expects the Unknown (99) will always be
updated. 2) Unless there is an offense related to this incident and victim(s)
identified, there would be no need to report this via NIBRS.
Offense Segment
UCR Offense Code (Data Element 6)
Animal Cruelty (UCR Offense Code 720)
Question: We have animal control officers that are part of our department. They complete
reports but until now, our records management system has not been updated to report
animal crimes. Should we be submitting these in NIBRS and if so, are they reported
separately from our normal NIBRS submission?
Answer: Yes, you should be reporting Animal Cruelty incidents via NIBRS and they
should be submitted through your normal NIBRS batch upload procedures. Please
confirm with your records management system vendor that Animal Cruelty
incidents are included in your batch file uploads.
Question: We have a case where a police dog was assaulted by strangulation. Is this an
Assault on a police officer?
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Answer: This would be Animal Cruelty because police dogs are not considered law
enforcement officers in NIBRS. You would enter the Victim Type as society and the
Criminal activity as I = Intentional Abuse/Torture. Also, you can only report the
Law Enforcement Officer Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) information when it involves
a person.
Question: Can you tell me what the offense of Harming a Police Dog (RCW 9A.76.200)
should be reported as? Our system is sending it as an Assault (because it is a police dog)
but I don’t think this is correct.
Answer: This could be either a Group A Animal Cruelty offense (720) as there was
the intentional act of harming an animal or a Group B Arrest-Only All Other Offense
(90Z). If you choose Animal Cruelty, enter the Criminal Activity as “I – Intentional
Abuse and Torture.”
Here is a partial definition of the Intentional Abuse and Torture: “I = Intentional
abuse and torture: These are crimes of animal cruelty that are active, or ‘crimes of
commission’. The animal suffered because someone or some people took action that
caused harm to an animal. These would be non-accidental injuries such as (but not
necessarily limited to) blunt force trauma, sharp force trauma, burns, drowning,
strangulation, hanging, or bullet or arrow projectile wounding.”
Arson (200)
Question: A suspect threw gasoline on the victim and had a lighter that he was clicking, but
never lit the victim on fire. The deputy included the first-degree Assault offense with the
weapon listed as fire/incendiary device and also listed first-degree Arson with a property
entry of “None/Unknown”. For NIBRS, would we report Arson in addition to the Assault?
Answer: For the NIBRS submission, you would want to report the completed
Aggravated Assault only; Arson involves real or personal property, not humans.
Question: We have an arson case in which a suspect has been arrested for Arson 1st
Degree; however, the suspect set fire to his own home. Because NIBRS requires a victim
entry, how do I submit this one?
Answer: It is most likely that a financial institution holds a mortgage on the home,
so the victim would be that entity. Also, if the offender was attempting to commit
Insurance Fraud, there may be an additional offense with the insurance company as
the victim.
Assault Offenses
Question: One of our officers responded to a report of a male who appeared to be sleeping
or unconscious in his vehicle while his children were playing in a local park. The officer
announced himself after opening the car door to check the man for consciousness and the
subject looked at him, then punched the officer in the nose. For the purposes of NIBRS,
would this be an Assault 3rd offense?
10
Answer: For the purposes of submitting this incident to NIBRS, the state statutory
definition or the degree are not relevant. If the officer suffered serious injury, it
would be an Aggravated Assault; if the injury was minor, it would be Simple
Assault. The Type of Weapon would be “Personal Weapons” (hands, fist, feet, teeth,
etc.). Although it’s not relevant for NIBRS, in state statute, the offense for assaulting
an officer is Assault 3rd (RCW 9A.36.031).
Question: We have a case in which a female was pushed by a male in a domestic violence
(DV) incident; the female then shot the male in the leg. Should we report the Aggravated
Assault for the shooting? Can we report one offense of Simple Assault (for the push) and
one for the Aggravated Assault (for the shooting)?
Answer: In this incident, you should report both assaults and list both the female
and male as victim and offender. There would be a different victim for each offense
(the female is the victim of the Simple Assault and the male is the victim of the
Aggravated Assault). As long as you don’t relate each victim to both assaults it
should pass through the edits.
Question: A man, using a pellet gun, shot through a homeowner’s window and an elderly
female resident inside was hit in the arm with a pellet; she suffered only a minor injury. I
entered the offense code of Assault with a Firearm because the investigating officer noted
the pellet gun can be used for small game hunting due to its high velocity. In NIBRS, Assault
with a Firearm equates to Aggravated Assault (13A) but I’m receiving an error for the Type
of Injury. We believe the weapon was an important element of this crime so we don’t want
to downgrade it to a Simple Assault. How should we categorize an incident like this?
Answer: Because the FBI does not classify a pellet gun as a firearm and only minor
injury occurred, this offense would be a Simple Assault (13B) and the Type of
Weapon/Force Involved would be “Other” (90). The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 96)
describes firearms as “weapons that fire a projectile by force of an explosion;
handguns, rifles, shotguns, assault rifles, semiautomatics, homemade guns, flare
guns, etc. … This data value does not include ‘BB’, pellet, or gas-powered guns.”
Question: A victim reported that her vehicle was tagged with vulgar language and hot
sauce was smeared all over the underside of the door handle. The victim unknowingly
transferred the hot sauce from the handle into her eyes causing injury. Is this considered
“Simple Assault” as the intent (which succeeded) was to injure the victim?
Answer: Correct! Since the hot sauce was placed with intent to cause injury, it
should be Simple Assault (13B) with “Apparent Minor Injury”; Type of Weapon
should be “Other”. If the injury was serious or potentially fatal (due to an allergy), it
would be Aggravated Assault (13A).
Aggravated Assault (13A)
Question: During an incident where the suspect was DUI and eluding police, he hit one of
our officers with his vehicle and then took off. The primary officer entered the offense as
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Hit and Run - Injury. We are receiving an error that states that the UCR Offense code is not
a valid code. The officer was injured in this case.
Answer: This should be submitted as an Aggravated Assault with Motor Vehicle
entered as the Type of Weapon/Force Involved. Also, this is reported as a Law
Enforcement Officer Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) incident when you enter the Type
of Victim as L=Law Enforcement Officer.
Question: We have quite a few offenses of Aggravated Assault where strangulation was
involved. The officers are choosing a 13A offense (Aggravated Assault) with Personal
Weapons. Do we need to add code 85 - Asphyxiation to these and submit an adjustment?
Answer: Yes, you need to add the Asphyxiation and submit as an update.
Question: Our agency frequently investigates Assault offense where the victim's breathing
is partially or temporarily obstructed by the suspect's hands (no loss of consciousness). If
we list the weapon in those cases as asphyxiation and the injury as none, would this result
in an Aggravated Assault for NIBRS purposes?
Answer: Yes, you are correct … the asphyxiation or “strangling” of another person is
classified as an Aggravated Assault.
Question: Our officers responded to a shooting where the reporting party observed a
vehicle drive slowly by a location and a subject in the front passenger seat started shooting
towards an apartment complex under construction. The officers located shell casings but
could not find anyone or anything that had been hit by the bullets. How is this reported in
NIBRS - Drive-By-Shooting, Assault with a Firearm, or Reckless Endangerment?
Answer: In this case, if there were people at the construction site the offense should
be a 13A = Aggravated Assault. However, if there were no people around and the
shooter was arrested, it would be a Group B Arrest-Only 90Z =All Other Offenses.
Question: According to the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 21), if an offender uses a weapon
with the potential to cause serious personal injury but does not cause injury or causes only
minor injury, the offense is classified as an Aggravated Assault (13A). What if the offender
uses personal weapons and causes serious injury; is this Aggravated Assault (13A) or
Simple Assault (13B)?
Answer: If the offender uses personal weapons (defined as Hands, Feet, Teeth, etc.)
and causes the victim to suffer obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury, the
offense should be classified as Aggravated Assault (13A).
Question: In an incident where the son tried choking his dad and the dad stated he could
not breathe, is this coded as an Aggravated Assault?
Answer: Yes, choking or strangulation is an Aggravated Assault; the Type of
Weapon or Force Involved would be Asphyxiation.
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Question: Please review this probable cause statement for one of our cases. What offenses
should be included in the NIBRS submission?
I responded to an incident which had occurred the day prior. The victim stated that on
the prior evening, her roommate’s boyfriend said to her, “Look, I bought a gun!” and he
pointed the handgun at her head, scaring her. The boyfriend told her not to worry
because the safety was on. The boyfriend became angry when the victim asked him to
leave the apartment; she is now afraid to go home and asked for an escort because the
boyfriend texted her a message with a picture of the gun in his waistband. Upon
escorting the victim to her apartment, I contacted the roommate’s 19-year-old
boyfriend; he had a semi-automatic handgun concealed in his front waistband. In
addition, the boyfriend was in possession of Xanax without a prescription and
marijuana; he admitted he had “waved the gun around” the prior evening.
Answer: In addition to the Weapon Law Violation and Drug/Narcotics Violation, an
Aggravated Assault should be reported because he brandished the weapon and the
victim felt threatened.
Question: We have a case where one subject lit the hat of another subject on fire while the
person was wearing the hat. Would you code this as an Assault, Arson, or both? It seems as
if the intent was to “Assault” and the method was fire. No injuries were sustained.
Answer: This would be counted as an Assault. Due to the weapon (fire) being used
in a manner in which it could cause severe bodily harm. The offense would be
Aggravated Assault – Other weapon – with no injury.
Question: We have a DV report where the suspect strangled the victim, pushed her down,
and punched her. When she finally stood up to face him, he took her phone and told her
she was not going to call the police. The officer wrote this up as Aggravated Assault,
Robbery, and Interfering with Reporting DV. Is the Robbery reportable since the Assault
was a separate offense - would they still be mutually exclusive since the two were
unrelated?
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, this incident should be reported as a
13A=Aggravated Assault and a 90Z=All Other Offenses arrest for Interfering with
the Reporting of DV offense. The circumstances of the incident do not meet the FBI’s
definition of Robbery so for the data submission, it would not apply. However, you
can retain all offenses in your RMS and in the referral to the prosecutor.
Question: A female was taken to the hospital for a medical crisis. The blood work reveals
that her boyfriend gave her Meth but it was unknown to her. Is this classified as an
Assault? The victim is making a complaint that he gave it to her against her will and
without her knowledge. She was hospitalized due to her irrational behavior (due to the
Meth) and not necessarily a physical injury. Should we classify as Simple Assault or is the
drug considered a weapon (for an Aggravated Assault)?
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Answer: It would be an Aggravated Assault and the Meth would be considered the
weapon.
Question: A suspect pointed a gun at the victim - the victim was scared and ran away. In
the process of running, items fell out of his baggy pants pockets and the suspect then
picked up some of the contents and left. Is this Robbery? The offender did not initially
intend to rob him, just assault him. The wallet fell out of the victim’s pocket and the
offender took it.
Answer: It would be reported as an Aggravated Assault (13A) with a weapon and
Theft - All Other Larceny (23H).
Simple Assault (13B)
Question: Should an Assault 4th degree with sexual motivation be submitted to
NIBRS? Our records management system isn’t including it in the NIBRS submission.
Answer: Yes, the offense should be submitted as 13B – Simple Assault. Your RMS
vendor needs to address this in their offense conversion table.
Question: If a report is taken for a Simple Assault but the victim doesn’t want to pursue
charges, should this be submitted via NIBRS?
Answer: Yes, this should be reported to NIBRS because it was a crime that became
known to law enforcement.
Intimidation (13C)
Question: Our police department is working with the local school district to start the “See
Something, Say Something” campaign. It doesn’t appear there is a consistent procedure for
reporting school threats through NIBRS. How should a school threat be reported?
Answer: Unfortunately, for the purposes of NIBRS, the FBI has not provided a data
element specifically for reporting “school threats”. Regardless of the method of the
threat (via phone, written note, text, social media, etc.), it is reported in NIBRS as
“Intimidation”; the victim is whoever received the threat (student, custodian,
secretary, etc.). The only data element that would identify the “Intimidation”
offense as a potential school threat is if the threat was actually received by the
victim at the school location. There is nothing to preclude your agency from
maintaining internal documentation of school threats; however, at this time these
are not specifically identified for NIBRS.
Question: How do we classify an incident when a student with mental illness problems
threatens to kill his school classmates?
Answer: This would still be coded as an Intimidation. A person’s mental health
status is not a factor in NIBRS submissions.
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Bribery (510)
Question: Is bribery completed once the money is offered or is it attempted until money is
accepted? Is the victim the person to whom the bribe was offered?
Answer: The completion of the bribery is once the transaction has been completed;
the victim would be person to whom the bribe is offered.
Burglary (220)
Question: We have a case where a suspect was found to be temporarily living in a locked
room on campus. The suspect was not caught and there is no evidence that he stole
anything. There was no damage to the exterior of the door but the interior locking system
was broken/removed. The officer wrote this up as a Trespass and Vandalism, but we’re
wondering if this should be classified as a Burglary?
Answer: For NIBRS purposes this would be classified as a Burglary with forcible
entry.
Question: What offense would be used for theft of a lawnmower from a city building with
no forced entry?
Answer: If the building was not open to the general public and the offender did not
have legal access to it, the offense would be Burglary and the victim would be
Government.
Question: In a Burglary where nothing is stolen, is this considered a completed but no
property is involved? Also, do we enter a recovery of a vehicle that was stolen in another
jurisdiction?
Answer: Yes, you can submit a completed Burglary when no property is
stolen. After entering the Burglary offense, enter the Property Loss code as 1 =
None in the Property Segment. Regarding the stolen vehicle that is recovered in
your jurisdiction, your department does not submit anything to NIBRS for this
crime. Only the agency where the theft occurred should report the recovered
vehicle which is done by updating the original stolen vehicle report.
Question: We have a Burglary and a Vehicle Prowl that occurred in the same incident. Do
we list both offense codes?
Answer: Yes, you can list both if there was a separation between where the vehicle
was located and the building that was burgled. For example, if the vehicle was in an
attached garage, it could be considered part of the Burglary. However, if the vehicle
was parked outside the garage, you would report it as a Theft from Motor Vehicle or
Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories - whichever is appropriate.
Question: A suspect unlawfully entered a boat, broke the door and lock, and ransacked the
inside but didn't take anything. Is this offense a Burglary or Theft - All Other Larceny? The
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FBI NIBRS User Manual states that theft from boats should be considered All Other
Larceny; however, Burglary mentions ships as an example of a burglary.
Answer: As you know, the FBI User Manual (p. 22) defines Burglary as “the
unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent to commit a felony
or a theft”. A structure is defined as having four walls, a ceiling, a floor, and a door
(examples include a vessel or ship). This offense should be a Burglary.
Question: A subject entered a store that had a trespass notice against him; the subject
stole a bottle of beer and fled the scene. What is the appropriate offense classification for
NIBRS?
Answer: This is classified as “Burglary” (220) because the suspect had a trespass
order against him by the store, thus he did not have the legal right to enter the
establishment.
Question: In reviewing cases of commercial burglaries, I found one that is to the manager’s
office of a residential building. Should this be a Residential Burglary?
Answer: It would be a nonresidential Burglary as the main use is an office rather
than a residence.
Question: We have a case where a home is for sale and still occupied by the owner. The
homeowner is assuming that a theft occurred when a realtor visited with potential buyers;
however, we cannot verify this. There was no forced entry and a lockbox is on the front
door. Someone took the pills out of prescription containers and left the empty containers
in the home. Would this be Theft from a Building or Burglary?
Answer: Because it is unknown that it happened when the realtor was there, it
should be classified as a Burglary.
Question: Currently, when a Burglary of any sort occurs and something was stolen, our
officers enter the offenses of Burglary and Theft into the case; later, I go back into our
records management system (RMS) and remove the Thefts from the NIBRS
submission. When I look at other cases from departments on our RMS system, I notice that
they delete or do not even put the Theft in their offenses. Are any other agencies entering
like we do or are they deleting/not entering the Theft?
Answer: While you can have both offenses shown in your RMS, when your system
creates your NIBRS file it should show only the Burglary. We understand the
officers have to include certain offenses in their charges in an incident for local
reasons.
Theft is inherent of a Burglary, therefore when a Burglary is reported it should not
include the offense of Larceny-Theft. The items stolen within structure would
connect to the offense of Burglary. The only time a Larceny would be reported is
when something is stolen outside the structure that is burglarized. For example:
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Someone breaks into a home and steals jewelry and cash; when they leave the home,
they steal a bicycle that is outside the house. You would enter one offense of
Burglary and one of Theft.
Many other agencies are handling this within their RMS file extraction. We
recommend your contact your RMS vendor and explain this issue with them. There
should be a programmatic fix for allowing both Burglary and Theft to be entered
and retained locally but the Theft removed for the NIBRS submission.
Question: If a Burglary resulted in the theft of a car from inside an attached garage, should
we list both Burglary and Theft of a Motor Vehicle, or just the Burglary?
Answer: In this instance, you would count only the Burglary. If the vehicle is within
a structure (four walls, a roof, and a door) then it is considered a burglary.
However, if the offender leaves the structure and steals a car parked at the
neighbor’s curb, you would submit the Motor Vehicle Theft as well.
Question: During a Burglary, offenders stole a driver license and credit cards then used the
credit card and forged the signature. We’ve entered the driver license and credit card as
stolen but we’re receiving an error in our system those items aren’t listed as seized, forged,
or recovered. How do we enter the offenses and property loss?
Answer: You should enter the following:
Burglary: Property = Stolen; Description= Identity Document (for the driver
license) and credit card(s); Value = $0 value
Counterfeiting/Forgery: Property = Counterfeited/Forged; Description =
Identity-Intangible (signature); Value = $0 value
Fraud–False Pretense/Swindle/Confidence Game: Property = Stolen (for
what they purchased with the credit card); Value = $ amount of wholesale
value
Counterfeiting/Forgery (250)
Question: A rather large box of business checks was delivered to a front porch and then
stolen. One check was used and cashed by a third party for $1,321.00. The checks cost the
business $199.00 to purchase but since unsigned checks are considered non-negotiable
and do not allow a value greater than $0, how do I record the loss of the checks? On the
check that was used, the person signed a scrawl that is fairly illegible but it is not a forged
signature of a person. Would the check be considered a Forgery or an Impersonation of a
representative of the business?
Answer: For the stolen checks, the value would be zero for NIBRS purposes. For
the signed check, submit a Forgery and a Fraud for the money/goods received from
the third party. Please refer to the note in the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 26).
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Question: A woman wrote a personal check to her grandson for $100 as a gift but he said
he never received it. She contacted her bank and received a copy of the check which had a
signature indicating her grandson’s name but also “pay to the order of” another person.
The grandson stated he knew the other person because she was the girlfriend of his former
roommate. What offenses should be reported?
Answer: For NIBRS submission, there would be two offenses:
Counterfeiting/Forgery (250) for the altered check and All Other Larceny (23H) due
to the grandson stating that he never received the check in the mail. If it is
determined that the check was not stolen, this can be updated later.
Question: How would we report an incident where a subject is contacted and found to be
in possession of a counterfeit $100 bill? He knew it was counterfeit but hadn’t tried
passing it and nobody suffered property loss. When we report the Counterfeiting/Forgery
(250) offense, what is the Type of Property Loss and who is the Victim?
Answer: This would be a completed Counterfeiting/Forgery offense with the
Property Loss of 3 = Counterfeited/Forged and the Criminal Activity of P =
Possessing/Concealing. As the offender was only in possession of the bill and did
not try to pass it, there is no Individual or Business victim; in this situation, the
Victim Type would be Government.
Question: A person goes to a restaurant, orders food, and pays for it with a counterfeit bill.
The employee recognizes that the currency is counterfeit, keeps the counterfeit bill, and
does not give the suspect the food. Is this offense considered attempted or committed?
Answer: This Counterfeiting/Forgery offense is completed. According to the FBI
User Manual (pp. 25-26): “If the offense of Counterfeiting/Forgery is completed, the
Type Property Loss/Etc. can only be 3 = Counterfeited/Forged, 5 = Recovered, or 6
= Seized…. LEAs do not report items the offender(s) obtained as the result of passing
a forged or counterfeit instrument. When incidents occur involving the passing of a
forged or counterfeited instrument to obtain items, an additional Fraud offense
should accompany the Counterfeiting/Forgery to allow the capture of fraudulently
obtained items.”
Question: What is the proper offense, property loss, and property type for a forged
resident alien card?
Answer: The proper offense to report is Counterfeiting/Forgery; the Property Loss
= Counterfeited/Forged; Property Type = Identity Document; Value = $0 value, and;
Victim = Government.
Question: Our agency has a guideline for using the Forgery offense classification that
contains just one portion of the full UCR definition: The agency addition is “the signature is
witnessed” which does not appear in the UCR definition of the crime. Is witnessing the
signature a requirement for using a Forgery offense for UCR/NIBRS?
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Answer: The signature in a Forgery offense does not need to be witnessed. For
example, if an individual has stolen a prescription pad from a doctor’s office, forged
the doctor’s signature for a prescription, and then handed it to the pharmacy, the
doctor’s forged signature would be on the prescription prior to the exchange.
Question: A victim discovered that there was a check for $3500.00 taken from her account.
The check was not one of her checks but had all her banking info on it and the signature on
the check was not hers. The officer has listed the offense as Financial Fraud. Should there
also be a Counterfeit/Forgery for the check being forged?
Answer: Yes, this is correct. You would have both offenses: Counterfeiting/Forgery
(250) and Fraud (26A) for this incident.
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property (290)
Question: In reviewing the Data Quality Report, we have an incident of Malicious Mischief
where the tires were slashed on a vehicle. The officer listed the vehicle as having $200 in
damage and “vehicle parts” are also listed with $200 damage. Should we be sending only
the vehicle as damaged and not the parts?
Answer: When Damage/Destruction/Vandalism occurs to a vehicle and the
“attached” vehicle parts are what was damaged, the appropriate description would
be the vehicle. If the parts are not attached to the vehicle at the time of the incident,
then you would show vehicle parts and accessories.
It appears that the total loss was $200; if you reported both the vehicle and vehicle
parts as the property loss, you would be dual reporting the loss and this could cause
a jump in the crime statistics.
Question: We have a case where a single gunshot was fired into a dorm room on campus
but there were no injuries. The bullet went through the window and embedded into the
wall. No suspect was identified so we don’t know what the actual intent was. The officer
indicated two offenses, “Drive By Shooting” and “Vandalism”. Should there be two offenses
reported or just one?
Answer: You should report the Destruction/Damage/Vandalism only if your agency
deems the amount of damage to be substantial. Your agency determines the dollar
amount of what to report. If someone was in or near the dorm room, you would also
have an Aggravated Assault for the Drive-By Shooting.
Question: A subject parked his car in a parking lot and went into a business; while in the
business, he heard what sounded like gun shots. When he went out to his car later, there
were bullet holes in it. It appears that the offenders were driving down the highway
randomly shooting at things. The officer listed the offense of Drive-By Shooting which
equates to the NIBRS offense Aggravated Assault. It doesn’t seem like it would be an
Aggravated Assault if the victim was not in the immediate vicinity or in danger. There was
no one in the parking lot at the time and there are no other victims/witnesses. We have
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him listed as a victim of Destruction/Damage/Vandalism for the vehicle. Should we report
the Aggravated Assault offense as well?
Answer: Because the victim was neither near the vehicle nor received personal
threat or injury, the Drive-By Shooting would not be reported in NIBRS as an
Aggravated Assault. Since the vehicle was damaged, and if it meets your agency’s
damage threshold, report only the Destruction/Damage/Vandalism offense.
Question: We have a case where the complainant discovered someone had used heavy
equipment to clear an area of his wooded property and create a firearms range without the
owner’s knowledge or permission; the suspect is a neighbor. There was obvious damage to
his property and shell casings were found. Would this be a vandalism case since it was
intentional?
Answer: Yes, the offense in this situation would be Destruction/Damage/Vandalism
of Property (290). The FBI definition is “to willfully or maliciously destroy, damage,
deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the
owner or person having custody or control” of the property. This offense is
reported to NIBRS only if your agency deems that substantial damage to property
has occurred. Page 26 in the FBI NIBRS User Manual provides more information
regarding determination of substantial damage.
Question: If there is a vehicle prowl and a window is broken to gain access into the
vehicle, do we submit the Malicious Mischief as an offense?
Answer: You should show an offense of Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of
Property (290) when substantial property damage occurs. Your agency should set
the amount it considers to be substantial.
Any Destruction of Property offense involving a bias motivation should be
submitted regardless of the amount or type of damage.
Question: If a key is broken in the ignition of a vehicle during an Attempted Vehicle Theft,
is it categorized as a Malicious Mischief of the destruction of vehicle as parts & accessories,
or the vehicle itself?
Answer: It would be considered a Malicious Mischief (NIBRS offense =
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property) of the vehicle parts and accessories.
Question: A vehicle was prowled, items taken, and the vehicle sustained $600 worth of
damage. For NIBRS, would we submit offenses to cover the damage to vehicle as well as
the items stolen?
Answer: Yes, you should submit an offense of Theft from a Motor Vehicle (stolen
items) as well as Destruction/Damage/Vandalism (damage to vehicle).
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Drug/Narcotic Violations (35A)
Question: We have a report where the suspect had multiple drug violations and the officer
listed four different offenses separately under 35A because there were four different RCWs
that the suspect was violating. We keep receiving the NIBRS error that the “victim cannot
be associated to duplicate offense codes”. We are unsure of how to capture the four
different RCWs.
Answer: You can list them as four offenses (with the associated RCWs) in your
records management system; however, for the NIBRS submission, you would send a
single Drug/Narcotics Violation (35A) and list each drug type as attached to the
single 35A offense.
You can report up to three types of drugs/narcotics per incident; if more than three
are involved, the two most important should be reported under their applicable
drug types and the remaining drugs/narcotics should be entered as a single X =
Over 3 Drug Types entry. Please read the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 109) for the
explanation. Also, you can list up to three criminal activity types for a single 35A
offense as well.
Question: We have a case where juveniles were contacted on school grounds with
marijuana; the officers contacted the parents and the juveniles were released to the
parents. The marijuana was taken home by one of the parents as it was legal for them to
have. NIBRS is requiring property be entered but what would we use since the property
was released to a parent?
Answer: This would be reported as the NIBRS offense Drug/Narcotics Violation
(35A) with the Suspected Drug Type of Marijuana and 1=None as the Type of
Property Loss code.
Question: We have a case where a father was taking/stealing his son’s prescription
medication. The mother reported the theft of the medicine. The officer has Theft 3 and
VUCSA-Possession listed as the offenses. The pills taken are listed as stolen. NIBRS is
requiring VUCSA property - how do I enter this?
Answer: The FBI requires that a property segment for a Drug/Narcotics
Violation. If no drugs were seized, enter the Property Loss as 1 = None and enter a
suspected drug type.
Question: We have a case with two people arrested on drug charges: one person for
Possession of Heroin and one person for Delivery of Methamphetamine; the victim is the
State of Washington (Society). I’m receiving a NIBRS error that if more than one victim is
connected to a UCR offense code is entered, it cannot be a duplicate. How do resolve the
error situation when both the Possession and Delivery need to be reported?
Answer: There should only be one offense code submitted for the Drug / Narcotic
Violations, include both drugs as separate property entries, and connect both
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suspects to the offense. Both activities can be submitted because up to three of the
following Types of Criminal Activity can be included for this offense:
B = Buying/Receiving
C = Cultivating/Manufacturing/Publishing (i.e., production of any type)
D = Distributing/Selling
E = Exploiting Children
O = Operating/Promoting/Assisting
P = Possessing/Concealing
T = Transporting/Transmitting/Importing
U = Using/Consuming
Question: We have an incident where a minor suspect was contacted for smoking
marijuana in a public area but the marijuana was not seized; no citation was issued. Our
records management system will not accept the Drug/Narcotics offense without seized
drugs. Can a Drug/Narcotic Offense be reported to NIBRS without a seized drug in the
property module? With an offense of this type, the drug would normally be seized, but it
was unknown why it wasn't for this specific incident.
Answer: You should be able to put in a Property Loss of “None” and then a
suspected drug type.
Question: We have a “Minor in Possession” (MIP) arrest for a minor with marijuana in
which we seized both marijuana and related paraphernalia. If we code for the drugs, how
will it reflect that those crimes were cleared by arrest?
Answer: You should code this with the Drug/Narcotic Violation and Drug
Equipment Violation. Even though the arrest was for an MIP, the incident still
includes a drug offense for NIBRS. After entering the drug-related offenses in the
incident, you can add the arrest for a lesser offense (MIP) to clear an incident.
Drug Equipment Violations (35B)
Question: Our officers have been frustrated having to report a Drug Equipment Violation
offense (35B) with nearly every Drug/Narcotic Violation offense (35A) in order to report
that the drugs were stored in a baggie or container of some kind. Is there a broad
definition of drug equipment and from where did it originate? From the FBI NIBRS User
Manual, it appears that we don’t have to report a container used to store drugs.
Answer: As you know, the Washington State statute has a wide definition for drug
paraphernalia:
RCW 69.50.102 Drug paraphernalia—Definitions.
(a) As used in this chapter, "drug paraphernalia" means all equipment, products,
and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in
planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing,
compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing,
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packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling,
or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance.
The ultimate procedural decision is with your agency. Most likely, the majority of
agencies report the Drug Equipment Violation for baggies or other containers if that
is the only thing the offender had in his/her possession. The FBI recommends
reporting the Drug Equipment Violation only if the container has drug residue.
Question: Is the charge “Use Building for Drugs” (RCW 69.53.010) reportable in NIBRS?
Answer: It is reportable if the building is being used as an illegal lab; the
appropriate offense code should be “Drug Equipment Violations” (35B). If the
building is being used as a place where drugs can be used (also known as a “drug
house” or “drug den”), then it is reportable only if an arrest has been made and as a
Group B Arrest Offense, “All Other Offenses” (90Z) or “Disorderly Conduct” (90C), if
you believe it’s a public nuisance.
From the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 25):
35B Drug Equipment Violations: The unlawful manufacture, sale, purchase, possession,
or transportation of equipment or devices utilized in preparing and/or using drugs or
narcotics.
This offense covers those cases involving drug paraphernalia, equipment, chemicals,
illegal labs, etc. Various statutes and/or codes may vary in the description of
unlawful equipment or paraphernalia involved with drugs/narcotics.
Question: If a deputy seizes drug paraphernalia and destroys it instead of entering it into
evidence, should it still be reported for NIBRS as seized property? For example: seized
needles that are put in a sharps container instead of evidence.
Answer: Yes, it should still be reported as seized drug paraphernalia.
Question: We are receiving an error on a case where the officer entered a Drug/Narcotic
Violation (35A) but did not include a Drug Paraphernalia (35B) offense. When my batch
uploaded, my RMS put the paraphernalia into the property and it is now erring out. Should
I delete the paraphernalia in this case?
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, a property entry of drug/narcotic equipment
must be accompanied by a Drug Equipment Violation. You will need to add the Drug
Equipment Violation as an offense or completely remove the property entry
(paraphernalia) related to the Drug/Narcotic Violation.
Embezzlement (270)
Question: Our officer contacted the Loss Prevention Manager at a large store. They started
investigating a sales associate after they received notice of a missing refund slip; there was
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no customer or product on the slip. Upon reviewing the sale on video, the Loss Prevention
Manager saw the sales associate sell two tool items but they were not actually rung up; the
sales associate’s transaction history indicated there were nine instances of him not ringing
up items that he allowed the customer to leave with. The items were not purchased at
another register and the inventory count verified the store was missing those items. The
sales associate would scan some items and would not scan others. The total estimated
value of the stolen items was over $3100.00. Is this an Embezzlement, Theft, or Fraud?
Answer: This would be an Embezzlement: “The unlawful misappropriation by an
offender to his/her own use or purpose of money, property, or some other thing of
value entrusted to his/her care, custody, or control.”
Fraud Offenses
Question: How do we report Fare Evasion (bus, train or light rail)? Is it a Fraud or a
Larceny offense?
Answer: A method of determining if an offense is Fraud or Larceny/Theft is to
remember that it is the method used to steal that differentiates the two. According
to the FBI NIBRS User Manual (pp. 26-27): “Fraud is achieved through deceit or
lying, whereas larceny is the physical taking of something. By definition, fraud
involves either the offender receiving a benefit or the victim incurring a detriment.
The benefit or detriment could be either tangible or intangible.”
In the case of Fare Evasion, the offender made a tacit agreement to pay for services
rendered (a transit ride) and failed to pay for it. Therefore, this offense should be
classified as Fraud.
Question: We have a number of incidents where a victim reported that Deputy Sheriff
Smith called them and said there is an active warrant and the victim needs to pay money to
take care of the warrant. Our call takers are classifying this as a Criminal Impersonation
offense; however, if the caller states only that they are with XYZ Company and no role is
being impersonated, is this a Criminal Impersonation or a Fraud-Swindle/Con Game?
Answer: If the offender is identifying himself or herself in a role such as a law
enforcement officer, it should be classified as an Impersonation offense. According
to the FBI User Manual (p. 28), Impersonation is: “Falsely representing one’s
identity or position and acting in the character or position thus unlawfully assumed
to deceive others and thereby gain a profit or advantage, enjoy some right or
privilege, or subject another person or entity to an expense, charge, or liability that
would not have otherwise been incurred”.
If the offender does not assume a role, the offense should be classified as Fraud-
False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game. The definition on page 27 of the FBI
User Manual states is: “The intentional misrepresentation of existing fact or
condition or the use of some other deceptive scheme or device to obtain money,
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goods, or other things of value.” If the victim did not believe the caller and send
money, the offense would be “Attempted” rather than “Completed”.
Fraud - False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game (26A)
Question: A woman received a check in the mail for $1900.00 and was told it was to hire
her to be a marketing auditor. She was asked to deposit the check into her bank account,
buy an Apple gift card for $1650.00, and keep the remaining $250.00 for herself. After she
deposited the check and bought the card, she was instructed to text another person with
the Apple card’s serial number. She said the man was pushy so she looked up the company
and found out it was a scam. She didn’t give them the card number and notified the bank of
the fraudulent check; she believes she’ll be able to return the Apple card so she will not be
out money. Our deputy entered this as a Business Opportunity Fraud Violation (RCW
19.110.120). What is the NIBRS offense code for this?
Answer: For the purposes of NIBRS, since the victim received the fraudulent check
via mail, it should be classified as an Attempted Fraud – False
Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game (26A). If this activity had occurred via e-mail
or other electronic means, it would be classified as an Attempted Wire Fraud (26E).
Question: A person changed the name on a check and deposited it through a mobile app.
The check was issued by our city and the original check cleared the system under the
intended payee. Since the bank caught it prior to dispersing the money, do we report the
$2000 as Stolen/Recovered or the entire thing as attempted?
Answer: This should be classified as an Attempted Fraud (False
Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game - 26A) because the person used an intentional
misrepresentation of existing fact or condition (by changing the name on the check)
to obtain the money. The Type of Property Loss for an Attempt would be “None” or
“Unknown”.
Question: A suspect paid for product to be delivered to their catering company. The
vendor received a check for the merchandise and waited for the check to clear before
shipping the product. The check never cleared the bank and the product was not shipped.
What would the offense be?
Answer: This would be an Attempted Fraud (False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence
Game - 26A). Because the check did not clear the bank and the merchandise was not
sent to the catering company, the Type of Property Loss would be “None”.
Question: When entering the offense False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game for a
rental car that is not returned but the car is recovered later during a collision, do we also
enter the offense Motor Vehicle Theft and note the vehicle as stolen then recovered in the
property field?
Answer: This is a 26A - False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game for the rental
transaction as the person did not return the vehicle once the time frame of the
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rental was completed. Because the vehicle was damaged in a collision, an additional
offense of 290 – Destruction/Damage/Vandalism can be entered.
Question: How do we submit a Fraud offense that originates from Selling Controlled
Substances Without a License to the Public, such as a cannabinoid-type oil used in vaping.
Our detective considers it Fraud because it’s being sold illegally as well as not actually
being what it’s proclaiming to be.
Answer: The first offense would be “Attempted Fraud - False Pretense/ Swindle/
Confidence Game” with a Property Loss of “None”; the second offense would be
“Counterfeiting / Forgery” for the “fake” cannabinoid oil. The victim for both of
these offenses can be “Other”.
Question: How do we quantify a certain theft of services charge? The suspect faked a
medical problem and the officer is charging him with Theft of Services for the following:
taking an aid car, engine, and 5 firefighters/EMTs out of service for treatment plus the
hours he spent in the ER taking up bed space and being evaluated when there was nothing
wrong. How should the property be entered and what is the monetary value?
Answer: For NIBRS purposes, this would be False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence
Game – the intentional misrepresentation of existing fact or condition or some other
deceptive scheme or device to obtain money, goods, or other things of value. Fraud
is achieved through deceit or lying, whereas larceny is the physical taking of
something. The property would be Other (services) and the value would be a $1
(for the services rendered).
Question: An individual purchased books from an eBay seller and received an empty box
in the mail but the funds had been transferred already with the sale complete. Is this
offense classified as a Theft-All Other (23H) or is it more similar to a Fraud?
Answer: If the eBay seller intentionally sent the empty box, the offense would be
Fraud-False Pretense/Swindle/Confidence Game (26A).
Question: In an apparent grandparent scam, the victim sent money after being told his
grandson was in a head-on collision, was in a stolen car, and there were drugs found with a
bail set at $7,700. In total, the offender received $33,000 from the victim. What is the
proper way to report these types of incidents?
Answer: This incident correlates to the Fraud - False Pretenses/ Swindle/
Confidence Game offense code of 26A.
Credit Card/Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Fraud (26B)
Question: If a card skimmer was found in a convenience store on the device that people
scan their card and enter a pin, would this be classified as a Fraud with the store as the
victim? There was no property taken so how would this be submitted?
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Answer: The installation of a credit card skimmer that is either located prior to use,
or prior to the credit card data being fraudulently sold or used, would be reported
as Attempted Credit Card/ATM Fraud (26B).
Question: How do we report finding a skimming device on an ATM machine? The bank has
no idea who or if anyone was affected by the skimmer and the device has now been turned
over to the FBI so we no longer have it in our possession. Would it be Fraud or possibly
Counterfeiting? What would the loss be?
Answer: The installation of a credit card skimmer that is either located prior to use
or prior to the credit card data being fraudulently sold or used, would be reported
as Attempted Credit Card/ATM Fraud (26B). The property loss would be “None”.
Question: We have a case where someone’s credit card account was used but the victim
never lost possession of the card. The suspect successfully charged $220.19. The officer
used a “Forgery” offense but didn’t indicate any property loss. It looks like the offense
should be a Fraud and the property entered as “stolen”, but what should the property
description be?
Answer: The incident you describe should be reported to us as a Credit Card Fraud
(26B), the Property Loss code of “Stolen”, the Property Description would be
“Money”, and the Property Value would be the $220.19.
Question: We have a case of Credit Card/ATM Card Fraud with stolen property of the
credit/debit card. The victim's card was stolen and the suspect attempted to use it several
times with no success; therefore, there was no monetary loss. How do we enter this for
NIBRS?
Answer: If the credit card was stolen in your jurisdiction, report the theft of the
card (under the appropriate offense), as well as the attempted fraudulent use of it.
The “attempted” fraudulent use of the card would have a Property Loss = None (1).
Question: We have a case where an occupant of a home stole two watches and a couple of
credit cards; the offender pawned the watches and used the credit cards with a loss to the
owner of over $10,000. The officer listed Identity Theft (26F) but I believe it should this be
reported as Theft from Building (23D) for the watches and credit cards and Fraud-Credit
Card/ATM (26B) for the use of the credit cards.
Answer: Yes, you are correct. The fraudulent use of the credit cards is UCR code
26B; it is not Identity Theft (26F).
Fraud - Impersonation (26C)
Question: We are trying to classify a case in which a suspect placed a vacation hold on
mail. The unauthorized hold was discovered prior to the suspect obtaining any mail. Is this
Attempted Theft of Mail or Fraud? We’re assuming that the suspect pretended to be an
authorized party when he/she filled out the mail hold form, so is this False Pretenses?
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Answer: This situation should be reported as Fraud - Impersonation (26C). The
definition of Impersonation in the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 29) reads:
Falsely representing one’s identity or position and acting in the character or
position thus unlawfully assumed to deceive others and thereby gain a profit or
advantage, enjoy some right or privilege, or subject another person or entity to an
expense, charge, or liability that would not have otherwise been incurred.
Wire Fraud (26E)
Question: We have a case where a victim was selling his phone on eBay and a buyer
supposedly sent $1500 through PayPal so the victim mailed his phone. Later, the buyer
said PayPal double charged him and asked the victim to send him $1500; however, the
buyer had never sent any money through PayPal.
Is this classified as a False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game (26A) since the buyer was
using a deceptive scheme to get money or Wire Fraud (26E) since it was through PayPal?
Answer: This incident should be reported as a Wire Fraud (26E). The FBI definition
in the NIBRS User Manual (p. 30) states: “The use of an electric or electronic
communications facility to intentionally transmit a false and/or deceptive message
in furtherance of a fraudulent activity.”
Fraud - Identity Theft (26F)
Question: We have a case report in which a suspect was in possession of another person’s
ID - he was picked up on a warrant and the search of his person located an ID that he said
he found. At this time, we have no evidence that he used the ID and we don’t have a victim
statement indicating the ID was stolen. What would be the correct classification of this
offense?
Answer: This would be a 26F – Identity Theft even though there is no report from
the person to whom the ID belongs.
Question: We have an incident where the suspect verbally gave his brother's name to
avoid going to jail on his felony warrant; he did not possess identification documents
belonging to his brother. For NIBRS, would this be Fraud-Impersonation (26C) or Fraud-
Identity Theft (26F)?
Answer: The offense should be Fraud-Identity Theft (26F); Identity Theft involves a
real person while Impersonation does not involve a real person as the victim.
Fraud - Hacking/Computer Invasion (26G)
Question: An accounting firm had someone hack into their computer system and steal
$80,000 worth of tax return funds. None of the employees who access the system were on
the site when this happened. Would the offense be Fraud-Hacking/Computer Invasion
(26G) with the dollar amount stolen?
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Answer: Yes, you are correct; you would report it as Fraud-Hacking/Computer
Invasion (26G). However, because the property description should be
Documents/Personal or Business, the property value must be zero (0) for this
offense. A second offense of Fraud-False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game
should be submitted to report the $80,000 taken.
Homicide Offenses
Question: How do other agencies report investigative deaths? For example, our agency
starts with a death investigation and the investigation can then lead to a homicide, suicide,
natural death, or justifiable homicide. However, there may be no determination within the
reporting year. If three years later it’s discovered that it’s a justifiable homicide, that’s well
outside the reporting period. How do other agencies reconcile deaths at the end of the
year?
Answer: Most other agencies report what their responding or investigating officers
believe it to be at the time of the incident. If it appears to be a Justifiable Homicide,
they report it immediately (within the month); however, once the investigation is
done, they may have to correct the submission if it is found to be a different
circumstance. Because NIBRS data are submitted from the officer’s perspective and
based on a response to an incident, the findings of the prosecutor, coroner, or court
are not relevant at the time of the submission.
It is best that the agency submit the incident involving a death as soon as the
responding officer completes the incident report; for example, the death may appear
to be a Murder but later found to be a Negligent Manslaughter. NIBRS is incident-
based reporting … it’s the initial call to service that the officer is
reporting. Otherwise, waiting too long may be too late to submit incident and the
agency’s data will be incomplete or inaccurate.
Negligent Manslaughter (09B)
Question: I’m attempting to enter a Vehicular Homicide but NIBRS won’t validate the
entry. What do I need to do to get it to validate?
Answer: Until January 1, 2019, for NIBRS purposes, a vehicular homicide is not a
reportable Group A offense unless it was intentional.
However, starting January 1, 2019, the definition for the Group A offense of
Negligent Manslaughter will be expanded to (emphasis added) “the killing of
another person through negligence. This offense includes killings from hunting
accidents, gun cleaning, children playing with guns, and arrests associated with
driving under the influence, distracted driving (using cell/smartphone), and reckless
driving traffic fatalities.” Please ensure your records management system vendor
accommodates this change.
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Justifiable Homicide (09C)
Question: When there is an officer-involved shooting that results in injury or death, does
the officer need to be listed as the offender for NIBRS reporting? The FBI NIBRS User
Manual states that Justifiable Homicide (09C) is reportable but not a crime. However, it
does also state that “Offender Number(s) to be Related” is a required data element. Also,
how we would report a shooting where the suspect survives?
Answer: For NIBRS submission, the officer’s or private citizen’s information would
be listed as the “offender” for 09C - Justifiable Homicide. It is not a crime; however,
the only method to report Justifiable Homicide is via NIBRS, using the terminology
“offender” and “victim”.
In reference to an officer-involved shooting where the individual was not killed, this
information is not reported to NIBRS. This would be reported through your
agency’s Use of Force process.
Kidnapping/Abduction (100)
Question: Does Unlawful Imprisonment crimes fall under Kidnapping?
Answer: Yes, Unlawful Imprisonment is classified as Kidnapping. You can find an
offense look-up table with RCWs on our website under the Training, Manuals, and
Reference page, Quick Reference Guides, at https://waspc.org/cjis-training--
manuals---reference
Question: Please review the narrative of this report and help us make a determination as
to what the reported offense should be. Is there no offense, an attempted abduction, or an
assault?
An unknown male stopped a woman outside the women’s bathroom, grabbed her by
the arm, and asked her to go to his car with him. She told him "no" and pulled away
from him; he then ran from the area heading in an unknown direction.
Answer: This should be reported as an Attempted Kidnapping/Abduction (100).
Larceny/Theft Offenses
Question: What type of offense is classified if a money order has been stolen and used at a
local store? Would it be a Forgery because the offender may made it out to himself to cash
it?
Answer: This situation would be reported in NIBRS as a Theft.
Question: We have an incident where a suspect was attempting to steal a bike from a bike
rack; the victim walked up to him and told him that it was his bike and the suspect turned
around, pepper sprayed him, and ran off. He did not try to take the bike after the pepper
spray attack. Initially, this was classified as an attempted Robbery, but now we think it
should be two separate offenses: an Assault and Attempted Bike Theft.
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Answer: For NIBRS purposes, this would be an Attempted Theft and an
Assault. The offender used the pepper spray to aid in his escape, not the Theft.
Question: We have an incident where a gentleman reported checks were stolen from his
mail box and one of the checks was altered and deposited into an ATM with a written value
of $1000. What offenses are reported for this?
Answer: For NIBRS, you should report a completed Theft, a completed
Counterfeit/Forgery, and if no funds were obtained, an attempted Fraud. If the
Fraud was only attempted, there would be no Property Loss and the entry should be
1 = None.
Question: If a company has a former employee who uses knowledge of the company’s
financial data to access the company credit accounts for purchases, would that be
considered Embezzlement or not since they are no longer employed there?
Answer: Because the person is no longer employed and therefore, did not have
anything entrusted into his/her care, custody, or control, this would be considered a
Larceny-Theft and not an Embezzlement offense.
Theft - Shoplifting (23C)
Question: After a suspect placed items in her bag at a grocery store, she went through an
empty check stand to customer service. She “returned” the items she had not purchased
and received money for them. She used to money to buy cigarettes. Is this a Fraud-False
Pretenses (26A), Theft-Shoplifting (23C), or both?
Answer: For the NIBRS submission, you would report both a Theft-Shoplifting
(23C) (physically stealing the items) and a Fraud-False Pretense/ Swindle/
Confidence Game (26A) (using deception to obtain the money).
Question: In an incident where a suspect stole food from a grocery market and was caught
right outside the store (she hadn't eaten any of the items and gave them all back to the
officers), would the offense be Trespass or Shoplifting?
Answer: This would be Group A incident of Theft-Shoplifting with the items stolen
and recovered; the arrest offense can be submitted as Trespass.
Question: A suspect was caught shoplifting by a business. The victim business
representative detained the suspect, recovered the stolen items, and secured a video of the
theft. The representative called the police department to issue a No Trespass Notice to the
subject; however, the business did not want to “press charges”. The officer issued trespass
notice and did not arrest the suspect. Do we still submit a Theft-Shoplifting offense for
NIBRS? Can we clear this exceptionally since the victim refused to cooperate?
Answer: This would still be a Theft-Shoplifting incident. Although the store didn’t
want to press charges, you cannot clear the incident exceptionally. When clearing a
case exceptionally, it has to be meet the four questions:
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1. The LEA investigation must have clearly and definitely established the
identity of at least one offender.
2. The LEA must have sufficient probable cause to support arresting,
charging, and prosecuting the offender.
3. The LEA must know the exact location of the offender so they could make
an arrest if circumstances did not prevent it.
4. There must be a reason outside the control of the LEA preventing the
arrest.
In this case, law enforcement knows who the offender/suspect is, they have
probable cause, they may know the location, but there isn’t anything reason outside
the control of preventing an arrest. Regarding the issue of a victim refusing to help
in the investigation versus prosecution: The investigation isn’t up to the victim, it is
up to the law enforcement agency. We can clear exceptionally only when the victim
refuses to cooperate in the prosecution of the offender/suspect.
Theft from Building (23D)
Question: A suspect at our local Walmart “bought” 3 laptops. When he counted out the
cash for the cashier, he used a slight-of-hand trick to pocket some of the money, giving the
cashier only a portion of the amount owed. The money was never in Walmart’s custody -
the suspect counted out the money by laying it in stacks, talked to the cashier, then counted
another bill but only handed part of the cash to the cashier. Would this be Theft-Shoplifting
or Fraud-Confidence Game?
Answer: The difference between Larceny/Theft and Fraud is the method of stealing:
Larceny/Theft is the physical taking of something while Fraud is achieved through
deceit or lying.
This would be a Theft from Building with money as the property stolen because the
offender physically took the money from the victim rather than promising to pay
through deceit. You could list the laptops as stolen property as well; however, the
offender partially paid for the merchandise and the transaction was completed by
the victim, therefore no Shoplifting.
The offender and victim laid out the money and the transaction was completed;
however, the offender then stole the cash from the victim.
Another way of looking at this would be if the offender and victim completed the
transaction but while the victim was distracted, the offender reached into the till
and stole some of the money back.
Question: We have a case where three employee lockers at a restaurant were broken into
and each locker had credit cards, purses, etc. Would this be three counts of Theft from
Building (23D) or All Other Larceny (23H)?
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Answer: It would be one offense of “Theft from Building” (23D) listing the three
employees as victims along with their stolen property. If the room was accessed by
a person who was not authorized to be in the employee locker room, then the
offense would be reportable as “Burglary”; again, only one offense with each
employee listed as a victim. If the damage to the lockers is deemed to be substantial,
also report an offense of “Destruction / Damage / Vandalism” (290) and list the
restaurant as a victim for the incident.
Question: A daughter, who is a known drug addict, had been staying at her parents’ house;
she has a key. Recently, the daughter was in jail so the parents didn’t expect her at the
house. When the parents went to bed, they locked the doors to their home. The daughter
was released from jail and she went to the parents’ house, stole her mother’s cell phone
and debit card; subsequently, there was a $400.00 withdrawal at a bank ATM. Is the
offense a Burglary, Theft from a Building, Credit Card/ATM Fraud, or a Fraud-Identity
Theft?
Answer: This would not be a Burglary because she has a key to the house and prior
consent to enter; it appears there were no protection orders or “do not trespass”
orders against her entering. It should be Theft From Building (23D) for taking the
debit card and Credit Card/ATM Fraud (26B) for taking the money.
Question: How do we classify a theft of a purse from a shopping cart? I remember it was
something different than a purse snatching.
Answer: This should be classified as Theft from Building (23D). For it to be Purse-
Snatching (23B), the purse must be in physical control of the victim. Also, if the
offender used more force than necessary to snatch the purse from the grasp of the
victim, or if the victim resists the theft in any way, then the offense would be
Robbery (120).
Theft from Motor Vehicle (23F)
Question: A taco truck was parked in a parking lot of a furniture store (not permanent
placement) and the suspect reaches up, steals the tip jar, and then runs off. The suspect
was located and the cash recovered. The tip jar was in the window where customers
order/pay but it is undetermined if the tip jar was within the unit’s threshold or not
(behind the counter vs on the counter scenario). What would be the offense and the
incident location?
Answer: This incident should be reported as a Theft from Motor Vehicle and the
Location Type would be Parking Lot.
Question: For a Vehicle Prowl 2nd and no property was taken, do we submit this offense for
NIBRS or is there was way to fix the property error without having stolen property?
Answer: This should be reported as an Attempted Theft from Motor Vehicle with a
Property Loss Type of “None”. This should fix the error you are receiving.
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Question: For an incident of Vehicle Prowl, our deputy has listed three offenses: Vehicle
Prowl, Theft 3rd, and Theft of a Firearm. How do we submit this incident for NIBRS?
Answer: If the Theft of a Firearm occurred during the Vehicle Prowl, then submit
the incident as a Theft from a Motor Vehicle offense (23F), Type of Property Loss =
Stolen (7), Property Description = Firearm (13), and include the appropriate value
of the firearm. Do not submit any separate offenses for this case.
Question: A suspect entered the fenced backyard area of a business where work trucks
are stored; the tool truck was parked under a covered open-ended garage and tools were
taken from the truck. Because an “open ended garage” is not a building, would this offense
be Theft rather than Burglary?
Answer: Correct, this is Theft From Motor Vehicle (23F). The FBI defines Burglary
as the “unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent to commit a
felony or a theft … a structure has four walls, a ceiling, a floor, and a door ….”
Question: If a bicycle was stolen from a bike rack attached to the back of a vehicle that was
parked in a public parking garage, what is the NIBRS offense? The rack was damaged in the
course of Theft. What offenses would be reported?
Answer: The offense should be reported as Theft from a Motor Vehicle because the
bicycle was secured to the car. If the damage to the bike rack was substantial, you
can submit an additional offense of Destruction/Damage/Vandalism with a Property
Description of Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories.
Question: The officer is submitting an incident with both Theft of a Motor Vehicle and
Theft from a Motor Vehicle; the victim has provided a list of items that were in the vehicle
when it was stolen. Do we submit both offenses at the time of Theft or just add the Theft
from a Motor Vehicle after the vehicle recovery if the objects in the vehicle are missing at
that point?
Answer: Submit both offenses: If items were taken from the vehicle as well as the
vehicle itself, include the Theft from a Motor Vehicle offense.
Question: For Theft from Motor Vehicle (23F), the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 36) states,
"The theft of articles from a motor vehicle, locked or unlocked." We are wondering if this
would include theft of an article from an open bed of a truck.
Answer: Yes, articles from a bed of a truck should be classified as Theft from Motor
Vehicle (23F).
Question: A car was broken into in the gated parking garage under a condo building; is this
considered Burglary?
Answer: This would be Theft from a Motor Vehicle. In order to be a Burglary, it
must be a structure with four walls, a roof, and door.
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Question: When a purse is stolen from a vehicle and the credit cards are then used by the
offender, is this Vehicle Prowl, Theft 2-Access Device, or both?
Answer: Regardless of how we would charge an individual in our state, for the
purposes of NIBRS submission to the FBI, the Vehicle Prowl equates to Theft from
Motor Vehicle (23F) and the property is the credit cards with zero value.
When the offender unlawfully uses the credit cards, the NIBRS offense is Credit Card
Fraud (26B) and the property is what was the offender received from the fraud (gas,
merchandise, etc.). The difference is the Theft of credit cards versus Fraud by credit
cards.
Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories (23G)
Question: A suspect stole wheels and tires off a vehicle and replaced them with wheels and
tires of significantly lesser value. Is this a Theft of property where I show property stolen
or a Vandalism of the vehicle where I show damage to the vehicle?
Answer: This would be a Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories with the
appropriate value of the wheels and tires that were stolen.
Question: A hose was cut to the gas line and 10 gallons of gas stolen from a vehicle. Should
the NIBRS offense be Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories (23G)?
Answer: Yes, the offense would be Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories
(23G); the Property Loss Type would be Stolen and the Property Description would
be Fuel (64) with a value of what the fuel would cost.
Theft - All Other Larceny (23H)
Question: In the parking lot of our post office, mail drop boxes were broken into and all the
mail stolen. The Postmaster estimated that 500-800 pieces of mail were stolen. How do I
report this? Is this considered a Cargo Theft? Is the location “Government/Public Building”
or “Parking Lot”?
Answer: This would be Theft-All Other Larceny (23H) with the victim listed as
“Government”; if individuals come forward because their mail is missing, they can
be added as victims. It would not be a Cargo Theft because the mail was not in
transport (moving in commerce). The Property Description is Documents/Personal
or Business with a zero value and the Location Type should be Parking/Drop
Lot/Garage.
Question: What is the NIBRS offense for a theft of a trailer with an excavator on the trailer?
Answer: This would be All Other Larceny (23H) and the property descriptions
would be Heavy Construction/Industrial Equipment (15) and Trailer (78).
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Question: There was an old brass bell stolen off of a train car. Is this classified as Theft of
Vehicle Parts/Accessories? Does it matter what type of vehicle as long as the stolen item
was attached/installed?
Answer: Since a train is not included in the definition of Motor Vehicle (Motor
Vehicle = a self-propelled vehicle that runs on land surface and not rails) and Vehicle
Parts/Accessories are defined items attached to the inside or outside of a motor
vehicle, this offense should be classified as All Other Larceny (23H). The property
description could be either Metals, Non-Precious (71) or Other (77) … brass is
included in the “Metals” definition.
Question: We have a Theft report where an unknown person stole three Christmas yard
displays from the victim’s front yard. The officer indicated Theft-All Other Larceny (23H)
and Trespass (90J). Is this correct or should it just be the Theft Offense? The offender is
unknown.
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, this incident should just include the Theft offense
with the three Christmas items listed as the property. Trespass (90J) is a Group B
Arrest-Only offense and only reported if the offender was arrested.
Motor Vehicle Theft (240)
Question: Our agency has a case with “Taking Motor Vehicle Without Owner’s Permission”
listed as the offense. The officer contacted a suspect at a gas station and the male admitted
that he does not have permission to be driving the vehicle. The registered owner is the
grandfather who confirmed that the grandson does not have permission to drive his vehicle
and then the grandfather came and picked up the vehicle. The vehicle was never entered
into ACCESS as stolen. Does the vehicle need to be listed as stolen/recovered for NIBRS?
Answer: Yes, you should still submit the NIBRS incident as a Motor Vehicle Theft
with a stolen and recovered motor vehicle.
Question: A teenage girl stole a vehicle and while she was driving, she took a corner too
fast, ran into a tree, and the vehicle caught on fire, totaling the vehicle. The officer entered
the offenses as Motor Vehicle Theft and Malicious Mischief. How should this be submitted
for NIBRS?
Answer: For NIBRS, it should be reported as a Motor Vehicle Theft. In the Property
details, it would be indicated as “Stolen” with the value of the vehicle at the time it
was stolen, i.e. a $35,000 truck. Then, enter the “Recovery” with the value of the
vehicle at the time it is found: $0.
Question: We have an incident where a motor vehicle that contained $48,000 of
equipment was stolen. Would this just be classified as a Motor Vehicle Theft (240) or
would we include All Other Larceny (23H) in addition to the Motor Vehicle Theft?
Answer: You would classify as these two offenses:
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Motor Vehicle Theft (240), Property Description and Property Value of the vehicle
(auto, bus, truck, etc.)
Theft from a Motor Vehicle (23F), Property Description and Property Value of the
equipment stolen
Pornography/Obscene Material (370)
Question: We have an incident where someone anonymously turned in a phone with
possible child pornography. The subject who turned in the phone stated that he found
photos and videos of children in swimsuits posing. The officer wrote this as a Police
Information without an offense or suspect and victim. Since the phone was not in any
person’s possession at the time it was found and no suspect has been located yet, is this a
Child Pornography offense for NIBRS even though there is no suspect and it’s still an open
investigation?
Answer: Yes, you can have an unknown offender for a Crime Against Society, such
as with a Pornography/Obscene Material - 370 offense. Remember to update any
applicable information discovered during further investigation.
Question: If an adult offender electronically transmitted nude photos to a juvenile victim
and requested photos from the unwilling victim, would this be a Pornography case?
Answer: Yes, this is considered a Pornography/Obscene Material (370)
offense. Please see page 37 of the FBI NIBRS User Manual for more information
regarding Pornography/Obscene Material.
Question: Two teenagers sent photos and video of a sexual nature to one another; what
NIBRS offense would this be? Would it be a different offense if one forwarded those photos
or video to other people?
Answer: In both cases, the NIBRS offense is Pornography/Obscene Material.
Question: We have a case where the offense used is Dealing in Depictions of Minor
Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct (RCW 9.68A.050). The investigating officer listed the
juvenile that is in the video as a victim. A NIBRS error is indicating that an individual
cannot be listed as a victim for this offense and that the State of Washington should be. The
involved a male who recorded a sexual act between him and a female without consent and
then sent it to a friend without the victim’s knowledge/consent. Is there a different offense
that should be used so she can be listed as a victim?
Answer: For NIBRS purposes, this offense is considered Pornography and “Society”
is the only victim that can be listed. The female victim can be included in your local
records management system; however, for NIBRS, Society is the victim.
Question: What is the correct NIBRS code we should be using for Possession of Child
Pornography cases?
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Answer: Possession of Child Pornography would fall under the UCR offense code for
Pornography-Obscene Material (370).
Robbery (120)
Question: The offender forced the victim out of his vehicle and drove off. Is this Robbery
and Theft of a Motor Vehicle?
Answer: The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 38) states, “Agencies should report
incidences of carjacking as 120 = Robbery, with the type of vehicle taken
(automobile, truck, etc.) identified in the property description. The offense of 240 =
Motor Vehicle Theft is not to be identified as an additional offense, as the stolen
motor vehicle is the proceeds of the offense of robbery, and not a separate, distinct
operation.”
Question: Our officer responded to an incident at Home Depot where a suspect stole two
expensive drills. When confronted by the loss prevention officer (LPO), the suspect
assaulted the LPO, fled the scene, but left the merchandise behind. Should this be coded as
only an Assault since the suspect didn’t take anything?
Answer: It should be submitted as an Attempted Robbery. Assault is an inherent
element of a Robbery; the intent was to take the merchandise and then the assault
happened to LPO when confronted.
The victims should be both the LPO (Individual) and the business; injuries to the
LPO should be included, and; the property would be reported as “None”.
Question: A man went inside a store and stole a bunch of items. In the parking lot, the
security officer stopped him and the suspect pulled a knife and made physical threats. Do
we have two crimes here? The officer listed Robbery as the only offense with the victims
being the security guard and store. Or should this be a Theft of the merchandise where the
business is the victim and the security guard is a victim of the Robbery?
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, you would report a Robbery. Per the FBI, every
Robbery includes elements of an Assault and Theft; so the incident you described
would be classified as a Robbery only. Also, for NIBRS purposes, you need to list
both the business and the security guard as victims of the Robbery.
Question: Two offenders entered a pharmacy, jumped over the counter, stole two bottles
of promethazine with codeine syrup off the shelf, and fled the scene. Is this a Burglary or a
Robbery? Would an offense for Drug/Narcotics be submitted?
Answer: To classify this incident, review the circumstances of the event and the
definitions of the offenses:
Burglary is the unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent
to commit a felony or theft; the person did not have a legal right to be there.
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Robbery is the taking or attempt to take anything of value under a
confrontational circumstance from the control, custody, or care of another
person by force or threat of violence and/or putting the victim in fear of
immediate harm.
Theft from a Building is a theft from within a building which is either open to the
general public or to which the offender has legal access.
Based on the circumstances of the incident, the offense would most likely be a
Robbery because the drugs were behind the counter and under the control of the
pharmacist. The Property Description would be Drugs/Narcotics with the stolen
value of the drugs. It would not be necessary to report a “Drug/Narcotic Violation”.
Question: A suspect shoplifted items from a store and while walking out the door, the store
security officer stopped the suspect. The suspect still had the items in his hands and
threatened the security officer with “If you don’t let me go right now, I will come back and
shoot you!” The investigating officer indicated the offense as Robbery-Gun. Would this be
a Robbery-Gun if a gun isn’t displayed and the suspect only threatened to come back with it
later?
Answer: This should be a Robbery but since no gun was displayed or present, it
should not be included.
Sex Offenses
Question: We have an incident where a male babysitter is being charged with Rape 1st and
Child Molestation 1st and the victim is male also. When I tried enter it for NIBRS, I receive
an error that the “VICTIM’S SEX CANNOT BE SAME FOR ALL OFFENDERS FOR OFFENSES
OF RAPE”. How do we get this charge validated with this situation?
Answer: The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 41) indicates that the Rape offense can be
used for either male or female victims but only if “at least one of the offenders is the
opposite sex of the victim”. For NIBRS purposes, when the victim and the offender
are the same gender in a forcible sex offense, the offense can be either Sodomy or
Sexual Assault with an Object.
Question: I have received several data quality warnings or errors about sex offenses on
my NIBRS submissions. How can I determine what the FBI UCR Offense Code should be for
a Washington State statute, for example: Sexual Misconduct with a Minor?
Answer: We have created a new “Quick Reference Guide” with a list of the
Washington State sex offenses and to what FBI UCR offense code they refer; also, the
February 2017 Tip of the Month refers to this question. Both the Quick Reference
Guide, “NIBRS Sex Offense Coding Grid”, and the February Tip of the Month can be
found on the CJIS Training, Manuals, & Reference webpage at
http://www.waspc.org/training-manuals-reference.
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The Tip of the Month explains that there are only six FBI NIBRS codes for sex
offenses: four are considered forcible and two are non-forcible. To equate the
Washington State statutes to the NIBRS offense codes, there must be enough details
about the incident to determine 1) if the offenses if forcible or non-forcible; 2) if
there was sexual intercourse versus sexual contact, and; 3) if the ages of the victim
and offender, their genders, or their familial relationships affect the offense
classification.
Question: One of our detectives is using the state statute for “Sexual Misconduct with a
Minor 1st Degree” but entry into NIBRS is resulting in an error. The case is a teacher/coach
having sexual relations with a student; the student is 18 and both the victim and offender
are females.
Answer: You will want to look further into the circumstances of the incident to
determine if there was sexual intercourse or sexual contact. Further, the FBI does
not allow the victim and offender to be the same sex for the offense of Rape. For
NIBRS reporting purposes, if sexual intercourse took place, the reportable offense
could be “Sodomy” or “Sexual Assault with an Object” (due to same sex
victim/offender). If there was no sexual intercourse, you could report as “Fondling”.
Rape (11A)
Question: A victim was forced to have sex unwillingly with her ex-spouse. On numerous
occasions, he wouldn’t let her see the kids unless she had sex with him. Would this be
Rape, Extortion, or both? If it’s Extortion, what property do we need to add?
Answer: This should be counted as both Rape and Extortion. You would show
“Stolen” for the type of property loss, “Identity-intangible” for the property
description, and a value of zero.
Sodomy (11B)
Question: A female reported that a male forced her head to his crotch with the intent of his
sexual gratification. Both were fully clothed and the act was not completed. What is the
NIBRS offense for this incident?
Answer: This would be classified as an Attempted Sodomy.
Question: Are Sodomy (11B) offenses restricted to same-sex situations? Can we use it to
report sexual assaults between opposite sexes that include oral and/or anal sex but not
“carnal knowledge?”
Answer: Yes, you can report Sodomy (11B) with opposite sexes involved.
Fondling (11D)
Question: I have a question regarding the sex offense crime codes. The NIBRS manual says
you can report both a Rape (11A) and Sodomy (11B) together and our RMS error check
supports that. What about a Rape (11A) and Fondling (11D)? Our RMS gives a “mutually
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exclusive offense error” with them both checked to submit. Would we report the Rape
only?
Answer: You cannot report a Fondling (11D) offense with a Rape (11A) offense
because Fondling is a lesser included offense of Rape (an inherent element) (FBI
NIBRS Technical Specification Manual, p. 72). The FBI advises that Fondling (11D)
should be reported only if it is the sole offense; so, yes, report only the Rape (11A).
Question: We have a case with unwanted touching - the offender and victim are adults who
work together. The female has asked the male numerous times to stop grabbing her
breasts and buttocks, but it has continued. Does Fondling (11D) only apply to children? If
so, would this be considered a Simple Assault (13B) or other offense?
Answer: The Fondling offense (11D) applies to both adults and children. The
incident you describe should be reported to NIBRS as Fondling (11D).
Statutory Rape (36B)
Question: How is an incident reported when a 17-year-old student victim and a 24-year-
old teacher suspect are involved in a consensual sexual relationship? The prosecutor is
charging Sexual Misconduct with a Minor in the first degree. In our RMS, this statute is
mapped to a 36B crime code; however, it is flagging it as an error due to the victim being
over the age of consent (16). Is there another NIBRS offense code that would apply?
Answer: It doesn’t matter if the sexual relationship was consensual or not. If the
victim is at least age 16 but less than age 18 and the offender is at least 60 months
older than the victim, this is Sexual Misconduct with a Minor 1st Degree. This
offense is appropriately mapped to the NIBRS offense of Statutory Rape (36B). It
appears your records management system (RMS) vendor needs to make an
adjustment regarding “age of consent”.
Stolen Property Offenses (280)
Question: We have an incident where a juvenile was found in possession of and booked for
a stolen firearm. The firearm is one of 16 listed as stolen in a Burglary from another
agency; the juvenile is suspected of being involved in that Burglary. Should this be entered
with the offense Weapons Law Violation or Stolen Property Offenses?
Answer: In this instance, the Stolen Property Offense (UCR Code 280) is the
appropriate offense classification; the other agency that reported it stolen will
report the recovery.
Question: A subject was caught with property that was reported stolen on another case;
however, the officer wasn’t able to prove the subject is actually the person that stole the
property. The person was arrested and charged with Possession of Stolen Property.
Should the Possession charge be added to the original stolen property report so that it
clears it or should the Possession charge be on a separate report leaving the actual theft
open?
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Answer: The Possession of Stolen Property should be submitted as a separate
incident from the Theft. Submit an arrest or clearance when an arrest for the actual
Theft is made.
Traffic Offenses
Question: We have a case where the offense is Hit and Run but we’re receiving errors for
this through NIBRS. Is this not a reportable offense?
Answer: Traffic offenses (e.g., parking, moving violations, or Hit and Run-property
damage only) are not collected by the state or FBI UCR Programs. The only traffic-
related offenses reported in NIBRS as of January 2019 are:
Group A Vehicle Manslaughter if the killing of another person is associated
with driving under the influence, distracted driving (using a cell or
smartphone), or reckless driving
Group B-Arrest Only offense of Driving Under the Influence
Per the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 45): “Hit and Run (of a person) … could be
Group A or Group B offenses depending on the circumstances of the
incidents.”
Weapon Law Violations (520)
Question: We have an incident where the suspect (inmate) had a sharpened mop handle
that he planned to use to assault the corrections officer. He never took a swing at the
officer. Would this be an Assault even though he never had a chance to act on it?
Answer: Because the offender had possession of the weapon but did not assault
anyone, it would be classified as a Weapon Law Violation. According to the FBI
NIBRS User Manual (p. 42), a Weapon Law Violation is defined as: “The violation of
laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation,
possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives,
incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons.”
Question: We have a case where the offense listed is Possession of Stolen Firearm (RCW
9A.56.380) and the owner of the firearm is listed as the victim. The firearm was later
recovered in a hotel room. When attempting to associate the offense to the victim, the
NIBRS error states that the offense is a crime against society and society must be the
victim.
Answer: That is correct: Stolen Property Offenses are Crimes Against Society and
cannot be associated with a victim other than “Society”. Remember to return to the
original case where the firearm was reported stolen and enter the recovery
there. Any previously stolen item that is recovered should be reported as recovered
in the incident in which it is stolen.
Question: We have a case that an officer is sending to the prosecutor for “Unlawful
Possession of Firearm 2nd/Order Violation”; the suspect has a restraining order out of
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Colorado with a prohibition from owning or purchasing a firearm. The firearm was
released from evidence in Colorado, shipped to an FFL here in our city, and then released to
the suspect. The officer entered the firearm in the “Property Module” and now I get the
error message: “Invalid Property Data; Invalid to submit property for offense type 520”.
What do I need to do to fix the error? Do I take the firearm out of the property?
Answer: Because the NIBRS offense “Weapon Law Violation” is a Crime Against
Society, it should not have a property segment. Delete the NIBRS property entry for
the firearm and the incident should validate. For local RMS purposes, the firearm
can be entered as evidence and your RMS should exclude it from the NIBRS
submission.
Violation of No Contact/Protection/Anti-Harassment Order (500)
Question: The Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) is a new thing for us. We received
an ERPO on a subject and he surrendered a couple guns to us at the time. At a later contact
with him, we found numerous additional guns. It seems like this is a violation of the order
but we don’t have any individual victim, which is required to validate for NIBRS.
Answer: This would be a Violation of No Contact/Protection Order (500); a Weapon
Law Violation (520) should be reported as well. You can have a victim of
“Unknown” in NIBRS: Enter “Unknown” for everything with the age as “00”.
Question: How do we submit a Violation of No Contact/Protection Order when our officer
has listed both spouses as victims and suspects in the same case?
Answer: For a Violation of No Contact/Protection Order, only the respondent of the
order can be the offender. You should enter one individual as the victim, note that
the relationship is SE-Spouse, and ensure that the Domestic Violence field is marked
Y (Yes).
Question: In the 2017 legislative session laws, there are new crime codes that need to be
classified for NIBRS purposes:
RCW 7.94.120(1): Firearms-Extreme Risk Protection Orders; Materially False
Petition or Intent to Harass
RCW 7.94.120(2): Firearms-Extreme Risk Protection Orders; Custody, Control,
Purchases, Possesses, or Receives Firearm When Prohibited
Is this classified for NIBRS as a Violation of No Contact/Protection Order (500), a Weapon
Law Violation (520), an arrest-only All Other Offense (90Z), or something else?
Answer: RCW 7.94.120(1) is equal to False Swearing or False Report so it would be
a Group B Arrest-Only All Other Offenses (90Z). RCW 7.94.120(2) would be the
Washington offense of Violation of No Contact/Protection Order (500).
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Attempted or Completed (Data Element 7)
Question: What is the difference between a “committed” versus “attempted” Forgery
and/or Counterfeiting? For example, if I forge a signature on a check with the intent to
defraud, would that act alone make the forgery committed or do I have to pass the check
for it to become committed? What if a person is picked up on a Burglary and is found to
possess a counterfeit bill?
Answer: We checked with the FBI UCR Trainers and they state that the possession
or passing of a forged check would both be considered Completed. Possession of the
equipment to commit Forgery would be Attempted. If an individual has a
counterfeit bill in his/her possession, determining whether it is Attempted or
Completed depends on if the offender knew it was counterfeited. If he/she did not
know the bill was counterfeit, there is no offense; if he/she knew it was counterfeit,
it would be Completed.
Location Type (Data Element 9)
Question: We have a case in which two inmates from our local county jail called up the
victim and advised that she was going to get beat up once one of the suspects was released.
Is it more accurate to use the victim’s location or the suspects’?
Answer: In this case, you would use the location of where the threats were
received. It is somewhat like a bomb threat at the local high school where the school
is the location that would be used.
Question: What is the Location Type for an offense of 500 - Violation of No Contact Order if
the suspect is calling or texting the victim? Would the location be “Cyberspace”?
Answer: The definition of cyberspace is “a virtual or Internet-based network of two
or more computers in separate locations, which communicate either through
wireless or wire connections” (FBI NIBRS User Manual, p. 86). Because a phone is
considered a Portable Electronic Communications device rather than a computer,
the location would be where the victim was at the time the text was received.
Question: Is the Location Type for a Les Schwab Tire Store described as a “Service/Gas
Station” or a “Specialty Store”?
Answer: A Les Schwab Tire Store would be a Specialty Store.
Question: Is the location for a community swimming pool classified as Amusement Park
(38) or a Park/Playground (50)? The definition for Lake/Waterway/Beach (16) indicates
it includes shorelines, lakes, streams, canals, or bodies of water other than swimming pools.
However, it doesn’t list what the location description for swimming pool would be.
Answer: If the swimming pool is a commercial enterprise, it should be described as
an Amusement Park; it provides entertainment to the public.
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Number of Premises Entered (Data Element 10)
Question: If there is an incident at an apartment complex where multiple detached garages
are broken into and vehicles prowled in the lot, do we report everything under the same
incident? Also, if multiple cars are prowled in the lot of an apartment complex, would this
be reported in the same incident as they were all at the same location or separately as each
apartment is technically a different address? What about multiple detached garages that
are broken into, would this be one Burglary with the number of premises entered number?
Answer: This is incident involves the concept of Same Time and Place. If the same
person or group of persons committed more than one crime and the time and space
intervals separating them were insignificant, all of the crimes make up a single
incident (FBI NIBRS User Manual, p. 10). Also, detached garages do not fall under
the Hotel Rule in a Burglary; the Hotel Rule applies only apply to 14-Hotel/Motel or
19-Rental Storage Facility locations (FBI NIBRS User Manual, p. 23 and p. 81).
Type of Weapon/Force Involved (Data Element 13)
Question: If an offender is arrested with a multi-tool on his person that contains a knife or
small blade, would that need to be listed as being armed with a lethal cutting instrument
under the arrest? Another question, would an arrest for Obstructing a LEO (no Assault) be
reported as a Group B Arrest, 90Z – All Other Offenses?
Answer: If the weapon was not being used, then no, it should not be entered. Please
see the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 134) stating in part:
“Because LE does not generally consider a small pocket knife to be a weapon (unless
used in that manner), the LEA should not report it.”
Yes, the Obstructing without Assault would be considered a 90Z – All Other
Offenses.
Question: One of our officers has a question regarding the offenses “Weapons Prohibited in
Certain Places” and “Carrying Concealed”. When choosing one of these offenses under the
offense tab in our RMS, there is drop down box titled “Weapon”. In reading the FBI NIBRS
User Manual (p. 91) under Weapon Law Violations, there is a requirement for entry of Type
Weapon/Force Involved. With the two offenses, should the Type of Weapon be “Handgun”
or should it be “None”?
Answer: For the Weapon Law Violations you describe, indicate the weapon the
offender had even if he/she did not brandish it or threaten anyone with it. Selecting
Handgun from the options is the correct entry.
Question: What’s the difference between the Type of Weapon of “Firearm (Data Value 11)”
and “Other Firearm (Data Value 15)”?
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Answer: The FBI requests that items be classified as specifically as they can be. If a
firearm does not meet the definition of “weapons that fire a projectile by force of an
explosion”, it should be placed in a category that most closely identifies it.
Question: In an Aggravated Assault-Domestic Violence incident, the offender brandished
what looked like a handgun, then threatened and chased the victim. After the victim
escaped, the offender went to the victim’s car, broke out the rear window
(Vandalism/Destruction), and tossed the weapon in the car. When the officer responded, it
was determined the weapon was a PX4 Storm BB Gun, which looks very much like a real
pistol. For the Weapon Type on the Aggravated Assault offense, should the weapon be
listed as Handgun or Other Firearm?
Answer: A BB gun should be classified under “Other - 90”. A firearm is defined as a
weapon that fire a projectile by force of an explosion. Because a BB/pellet gun
usually is gas-powered, it is classified as “Other”.
Question: One of our officers recently confiscated a homemade 12-gauge loaded and
working zip shotgun, an illegally modified handgun (serial number obscured), and an
illegal length (sawed-off) shotgun. Do illegal modifications change the Type of Weapon
classification?
Answer: If the weapon fires a projectile by the force of an explosion, it should be
reported as a firearm. For the homemade weapon, we would suggest you use the
category of “Firearm” because this type of weapon does not have a specific category.
Illegal modifications do not change the weapon designations for NIBRS purposes.
Question: Is Type of Weapon/Force Involved (data element 13) a required field for
Violation of No Contact/Protection Order (500)?
Answer: Type of Weapon/Force Involved is an optional field for a Violation of No
Contact/Protection Order - you only enter it if it applies. Please see the Washington
State NIBRS User Manual (p. 18) for the reference.
Property Segment
Type of Property Loss/Etc. (Data Element 14)
Question: Does UCR-NIBRS require that property that is stolen be associated to a subject in
the case? Currently, we enter this association in our RMS so I’m thinking it was at one time
a UCR requirement; however, I can’t find in the NIBRS manuals that this association is
required.
Answer: NIBRS tracks property in relation to the offense not the victim or
offender. Your RMS may track it to help ensure that recovered property is returned
to the proper person but it is not a NIBRS requirement.
Question: What is the Property Loss code for the offense of 39B - Operating/
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Promoting/ Assisting Gambling?
Answer: If the offense was attempted, the property loss should be “None” or
“Unknown”. If the offense was completed, the property loss should be “Seized” and
the property description and value added.
Question: In a case report where juveniles are seen smoking marijuana but nothing was
left to add for property evidence seized, how should we list the property?
Answer: Indicate “None” in the Property Loss Type and a suspected drug type of
“Marijuana.”
Question: What do we use for the Type of Property Loss for Kidnapping/Abduction (UCR
Offense 100)?
Answer: If no property was stolen or a ransom paid, the appropriate Type of
Property Loss will be “None” (1). If a ransom was paid, then you would use a Type
of Property Loss as “Stolen” (7) and a Property Description of “Money” (20).
Question: We have a question about marijuana edibles. The officer indicated an offense for
Chapter 69.50 RCW - Distributing of a Marijuana-Infused Product. What do we enter into
the property section? There wasn’t anything seized because it was ingested.
Answer: The NIBRS offense should be Drug/Narcotic Violation (35A) with the
Suspected Drug Type of Marijuana. The Property Loss Type should be “None”.
Question: We have a case where the offense is Residential Burglary. The officer entered
into property a damaged door, damaged window, and a damaged phone charger as well a
stolen pellet gun. I’m receiving a property error message, “Property record found with
invalid status; A property record with something other than NONE, RECOVERED, STOLEN
OR UNKNOWN HAS BEEN FOUND.” I believe this has to do with the damaged property.
Should I add the offense of “Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of property” and link it to the
damaged property?
Answer: Yes, add an offense of Damage/Destruction/Vandalism; only the stolen
pellet gun is property related to the Burglary.
Property Description (Data Element 15)
Question: What happens when there are more than ten types of properties to report? The
FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 93) states if there are more than ten, you should report the
most serious 9 with a 10th combined “other” entry. However, this is not user-friendly for
our needs because a lot of this property is potentially recoverable so we would want it
listed individually for record-keeping purposes. How can these cases be submitted?
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, the FBI allows only 10 property
entries. However, there is no issue with your RMS storing more than 10 property
entries; the RMS should forward only ten for NIBRS but retain the total entries
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locally. Your RMS vendor should be able to take any entries over the NIBRS
property entry allowance and combine them into a 10th entry marked “other” for the
NIBRS submission.
Question: For items that come through the mail or packages that are stolen from the porch,
what is the appropriate Property Description? Is it “Merchandise”?
Answer: Merchandise would not be used in this situation. Most of the time, the
victim should know what they were expecting in the mail and a description of that
item should be used or you can enter 77 - Other. If the victim is going to get a list of
what is missing, you can indicate 88 - Pending Inventory; this is a placeholder only
until the items identified. It is best to be as specific as possible to make the crime
statistics meaningful.
Question: What property type is appropriate for cattle fences, fencing in general, road
signs/electrical poles?
Answer: As the items you have listed do not fit in the specific property descriptions
listed in the FBI NIBRS User Manual (pp. 80-86), you would list them under the “77=
Other” property type.
Question: Are car keys and/or a key fob reported as a Property Type of Vehicle
Parts/Accessories (Data Value 38) or Other (Data Value 77)?
Answer: Keys and key fobs should be classified as 77 = Other. The FBI NIBRS User
Manual (p. 100) describes Vehicle Parts/Accessories as “items that are attached to
the inside or outside of the vehicle”; this includes vehicle batteries, engines,
transmissions, heaters, hubcaps, tires, radios, CD/DVD players, GPS navigation
devices, radar devices, etc.
Question: We need clarification on what Property Type to classify for Parking Passes and
Receipts. We've been using "Non-Negotiable Instruments" but are starting to question if
that is correct. The FBI NIBRS User Manual states that Non-Negotiable Instruments are
“documents requiring further action to become negotiable; unendorsed checks, money
orders, traveler’s checks, stocks, bonds, blank checks, etc.”
Answer: Because these items do not fit into any specific property description type,
they should be entered as “77 = Other” with the value of the item.
Question: What Property Description should be used for “Paint” that was stolen from our
local Sherwin Williams Paint store?
Answer: This should be entered as Property Description “19 = Merchandise”; this is
an item or goods which are exposed or held for sale.
Question: A bill payer’s check (for $15,000) was stolen from a mailbox: Is that negotiable
or non-negotiable?
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Answer: Here are the definitions of negotiable and non-negotiable instruments:
Negotiable instruments – documents, other than currency, that are payable without
restriction; an unconditional promise or order of payment to a holder upon issue,
possession, on demand, or at a specific time; endorsed checks (including forged
checks that have been endorsed), endorsed money orders, endorsed traveler’s
checks, bearer checks, and bearer bonds
Non-negotiable Instruments – documents requiring further action to become
negotiable; unendorsed checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, stocks, bonds,
blank checks, etc.
In this case, if the check had not yet been endorsed, it is a non-negotiable
instrument. The value would be zero.
Question: We have an incident where a trailer was stolen with model airplanes in it. What
is the property description for the model airplanes?
Answer: For model or toy airplanes, please use the property description of Other
(77). On page 94 of the FBI NIBRS User Manual, there is a ‘Note’ under the property
description of Aircraft that states: “This data value does not include toy planes; LEAs
should classify these as 19 = Merchandise or 77 = Other, as appropriate.”
Question: What is the appropriate Property Description for “Gift Cards”? I know they
have zero value regardless of the value assigned by the victim.
Answer: Gift Cards go under the category of “Other” (UCR Code 77).
Question: Are tires an actual part of the automobile or parts and accessories?
Answer: Tires are vehicle parts and accessories when stolen. The exception is
when they are damaged, then they should be counted as damage to the automobile.
Question: Is a stolen Apple Watch a watch (jewelry), computer hardware/software, or
some other property description?
Answer: The appropriate property description category for a “Smart Watch” is
“Portable Electronic Communications” (UCR Code 75).
Question: A Burglary of a marijuana retail shop occurred and paraphernalia was
stolen. The submission is generating an error that I can only report drug paraphernalia as
“seized”. Any suggestions?
Answer: You should be able to show that 11 – Drug equipment (this would include
the paraphernalia) as stolen. This appears to be an issue with your records
management system (RMS); please contact your RMS vendor to correct the problem.
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Question: Someone broke into the storage area of a department store and stole 17
propane tanks that belonged to the business (not merchandise). What Property
Description should be used for the propane tanks? (We don’t know if the tanks were full or
not).
Answer: Since propane is liquefied petroleum gas commonly used as fuel for
engines, lighting, or heating, it would classified as “Fuel” (UCR Code 64). However, if
the business is unable to confirm whether or not the tanks contained any propane,
you are safe with coding the stolen property as “Other” (Code 77).
Question: For property entries of “None”, does NIBRS require a description? Our system
gives an error when this description is omitted; I know that in the state NIBRS repository, I
don’t receive an error if in this instance.
Answer: For a Type Property Loss/Etc. of None and Unknown, you do not need a
Property Description. In the FBI’s NIBRS Technical Specifications, on page 46, under
Data Element 15 – Property Description it states that it is a conditional element.
This means that it is mandatory for some, but not all Type Property Loss/Etc.
The specification states: “This data element is Mandatory when Data Element 14
(Type Property Loss/Etc.) is 2 = Burned, 3 = Counterfeited/Forged, 4 = Destroyed/
Damaged/Vandalized, 5 = Recovered, 6 = Seized, or 7 = Stolen/Etc.” You should
discuss this with your records management system (RMS) vendor if you are
entering “None” with no property description and the RMS is generating an error.
Question: A number of blank checks were stolen from a business. What would we classify
the Property Description and Value as if they are blank checks?
Answer: They would considered a Non-Negotiable Instruments (22) because they
are documents requiring further action to become negotiable; the Value is $0. If the
checks were signed, they would be considered Negotiable Instruments (21).
Question: What is the Property Description code for a Bluetooth speaker? Is there a
“lookup” table anywhere that would allow us to search by a common description?
Answer: Unfortunately at this time, there isn’t a look-up table for property. The
best fit for Bluetooth speakers is 26=Radio/TVs/VCRs/DVD Players as they are part
of stereo equipment.
Question: If there is a theft of services like parking at the airport and then not paying the
bill and just leaving, what property description is used?
Answer: In this instance, the Property Description should be Other (77).
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Question: If an offender uses a smart phone to hack someone’s account and change
passwords, it would be Hacking/Computer Invasion (26G); however, what would the
property type be?
Answer: If the offender fraudulently obtained something after they changed the
password on the account, the items falsely obtained would be reported property in
addition to a property type of “Identity-Intangible” with a zero value (changing the
person login information).
Value of Property (Data Element 16)
Question: We have a business that lost over 3 million dollars in a fraud case. We’re
receiving an error that the loss amount exceeds the threshold amount. How should we
process this one?
Answer: What you are receiving is actually just a warning. Since it is unusual to
have such a large dollar amount, the system is asking you to verify the amount. You
can ignore this warning message if the dollar amount is correct.
Question: We are receiving a NIBRS error for not having a property entry for a Criminal
Impersonation. The incident involves a female verbally giving the officer someone else's
name and date of birth. We’ve entered “Identity-Intangible” but the system is requiring a
value.
Answer: You are correct in listing the Property Description as Identity-Intangible;
for the value, enter zero (0). The property descriptions that require a mandatory
zero in value include:
09 = Credit/Debit Cards
22 = Nonnegotiable Instruments
48 = Documents-Personal or Business
65 = Identity Documents
66 = Identity-Intangible
Question: I have been looking through all of your helpful hints because there is some
question if $1 dollar or $2 dollars should be the amount listed on drug paraphernalia.
Answer: When a dollar amount of $1 is used, the FBI assumes that the actual value
of the item is being determined. The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 106) states “if the
value of a property is unknown, the agency should enter the value one dollar ($1),
which means unknown”.
Question: Do we need to enter a property value dollar amount for a stolen social security
card?
Answer: A social security card is considered an Identity Document and for NIBRS,
Identity Documents have a mandatory zero value. Here are the properties that have
a mandatory zero value:
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09 Credit/Debit Cards
22 Non-Negotiable Instruments
48 Documents – Personal or Business
65 Identity Documents
66 Identity – Intangible
Question: Can you please give me some guidance on how “pills” should be reported? For
example, the officer indicated in his report:
Drug Code: SEIZED/NONE
Drug Type: DRUGS/NARCOTICS
Value: “0” when illegal
Qty: 3 for example
Measurement: Pills
Style: Other Drugs
Answer: According to the FBI training materials, the street value of drugs/narcotics
seized is difficult to determine and therefore, no data value is entered in Data
Element 16 - Value of Property. The type of drug/narcotic should be reported in
Data Element 20 - Suspected Drug Type as well as the quantity in Data Element 21 -
Estimated Drug Quantity and the type of measurement (kilograms, liquid ounces
etc.) in Data Element 22 - Type Drug Measurement.
Offense = Drug/Narcotics Violation (35A)
Type of Property Loss = Seized
Property Description = Drugs/Narcotics
Value of Property = Zero (0)
Suspected Drug Type = If unknown, enter U
Estimated Drug Quantity = 3 (whole units)
Type of Measurement = Dosage Units/Items (DU)
Question: Does WASPC have recommended values for vehicles based on the Year of the
Vehicle?
Answer: WASPC doesn’t have a set value for vehicles; the FBI NIBRS User Manual
(pp. 106-108) provides guidelines for property valuation:
Guidelines for Property Valuation
1. Round values to the nearest whole dollar.
2. Use the fair market value for articles subject to depreciation because of wear and
tear, age, or other factors causing the value to decrease with use.
3. Use the victim’s valuation (in most instances) of items such as jewelry, watches, and
other similar goods that decrease in value slightly or not at all with use or age.
4. Use replacement cost or actual cash cost to victim for new or almost new clothes,
auto accessories, bicycles, etc.
5. Use the current market price at the time of the theft, seizure, etc. for negotiable
instruments such as bonds payable to the bearer, etc.
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6. Score the theft of nonnegotiable instruments such as traveler’s checks, personal
checks, money orders, stocks, bonds, food stamps, etc., but do not record a value.
7. Use the cost to the merchant (wholesale cost) of goods recovered, seized, stolen, etc.,
from retail establishments, warehouses, etc. In other words, use the dollar value
representing the actual cash loss to the victim without any markup or profit added.
8. When the victim obviously exaggerates the value of stolen/destroyed/damaged
property for insurance or other purposes, LEAs should use common sense and good
judgment to determine the value reported for the stolen items.
9. Often the condition of the property is different at recovery than it was when stolen.
LEAs should use the market value at the time of recovery even though it is less than
the value reported at the time of the theft. If the value has increased by the time law
enforcement recovers the property, the recovery value should not exceed its initial
stolen value. Hair-splitting refinements are unnecessary.
Note: LEAs can use any type of resource to determine the value of property
including the Internet, Craigslist, eBay, Kelley Blue Book, etc.
Question: We’ve received an error that the value of property is greater than $1 million. In
this particular case the return states: “Warning: Value of property exceeds FBI threshold.
Please check if this is an error or intentional.” Our response would be “it is
intentional.” The victim had three or four tool chests emptied out along with welders and
other tools; we listed the items separately in case they are recovered.
Answer: On any dollar amount over one million, you will get a warning message; it
is intended to warn that you should verify the dollar amount. A warning is not an
error; it is only a request for confirmation. If the dollar amount is true, then you
may ignore this message. Please verify the dollar amount and make any changes if
necessary.
Question: In an incident with Theft from Motor Vehicle, the officer entered stolen property
(spare change from ashtray) with a value of $0.75. NIBRS is returning Error 351 (value
cannot be 0 for item category). The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 107) states that property
loss values should be entered in whole dollars, but for accurate reporting (public records),
we need to show actual values.
Answer: It appears your RMS vendor will need to make a programmatic change so
when you enter an exact value (for public disclosure purposes), it maintains that
value in the RMS but for the NIBRS submission, the RMS will round up or down a
fraction into whole dollars.
Question: Someone used stolen credit cards to make purchases at various stores at the
mall, totaling $6,165. Each business was listed as a victim as well as the owner of the credit
cards (an individual). Under the stolen property, the report writer included each individual
purchase with the dollar amount, connecting each value to the appropriate store (victim)
and then also made an entry for the full amount, connecting that to the victim. Wouldn’t
this be double reporting the amount stolen?
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Answer: Yes, that would be double reporting. There are two offenses in this
incident: Theft of the credit card from the individual should have a $0 (zero)
property value. The Credit Card/ATM Fraud should list the businesses as victims
and the property descriptions should describe the goods received to show total
value of $6,165.
Date Recovered (Data Element 17)
Question: A moped was stolen in our jurisdiction and the owner later found it posted for
sale on an on-line sales site. The officer responded to the call for service and confirmed the
moped listed on the site was the one reported stolen. Do we submit a property recovery
for the original stolen report and enter a second case report for the Possession of Stolen
Property?
Answer: Correct, you should report the recovery under the original incident and
create a new NIBRS submission report for the Stolen Property Offense.
Question: When we recovered another agency’s stolen vehicle, the registered owner told
our deputy that certain items were missing from the vehicle. Does our agency report those
items as stolen or do we leave it for the agency that handled the reporting of the stolen
vehicle to process?
Answer: This should all be handled in the jurisdiction in which the vehicle was
stolen.
Suspected Drug Type (Data Element 20)
Question: Can you advise what the most appropriate “Drug Type” code would be for
Fentanyl? We are seeing an increase in this drug and would like to put it in appropriate
code for tracking as well as being able to pull the most accurate statistical information from
our RMS.
Answer: Fentanyl is a synthetic narcotic so it would fall under H = Other Narcotics
drug type.
Estimated Drug Quantity (Data Element 21)
Question: What is the best practice when entering unknown quantities for drugs on an
incident? Our officers are unsure how to enter the estimated quantity in their field reports
because it hasn’t been weighed and can fluctuate depending on packaging/liquid form, etc.
We understand that they are able to report drugs as “SEIZED” or “NONE” with “Not
Reported” as a quantity; however, according to the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 111), we as
an agency are supposed to go in later and update that information with the weighed or
actual quantity.
The officers drop drugs off at Property and Property staff then weighs these and puts the
information into an Evidence Management System that is separate from our Records
Management System. If we leave all the quantities as “Not Reported” on our submissions
due to our departments work flow, will that reflect negatively on our agency?
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Answer: Leaving the drug quantity as “None” will not necessarily reflect negatively
on your agency; however, it is important to be as specific as possible when entering
crime statistic information so trends can be determined. If temporary a
“placeholder” is used frequently, you may receive data quality questions from the
FBI or it may flag your agency for audits. It is recommended you develop a
procedure for updating any and all temporary placeholder data elements.
Question: Does NIBRS reporting need to have Marijuana weight?
Answer: There should be a weight reported for all Drug/Narcotics that are
seized. If the drug/narcotic was stolen, then you do not report a weight. For trace
amounts, you can enter .001.
Victim Segment
Victim Connected to UCR Offense Code (Data Element 24)
Question: A teen was charged with a sex offense against a child. In addition, the child’s
mother was charged with Tampering with a Witness (Intimidation in NIBRS). The child is
the victim in both the Sex Offense and the Intimidation. NIBRS has Intimidation listed as a
lesser included offense with the Sex Offense so it cannot be entered separately; this means
the mother would need to be included as an offender in the Sex Offense, which isn’t
accurate. How should this be handled?
Answer: In this case, in order to report both offenses, you will need to report as a
separate incident with a separate incident number.
Type of Victim (Data Element 25)
Question: We have a case where the offender has admitted to sex offense crimes but only
the first name of the victim has been revealed. Should I create a name page with only the
information we know?
Answer: We don’t know what your local records management system (RMS)
requires to create the incident – you’ll need to check with someone who has the
same RMS. However, you can submit an unknown victim with the incident … just
complete what is known such as Victim Type = Individual and whatever the offender
shared such as sex, approximate age, etc.
Question: Deputies responded to a report of juveniles spray painting old buildings and a
car in the parking area. The car owner was the reporting party. No report came from the
building owner. Do we enter both the vehicle and building as damaged property? Or just
the vehicle since we only heard from the vehicle owner.
Answer: NIBRS doesn’t track who reported a crime. In this situation, you should
report the damage done to the building despite the building owner’s lack of
involvement.
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Question: Two men were engaging in a fight and when the officers arrived on scene, they
couldn’t determine who was the primary aggressor because both people were engaging in
mutual combat. The officer indicated Assault on the report and listed the two men as
involved persons; for NIBRS, how do we submit if we can’t determine who the primary
aggressor is? Can we put both people as both a suspect and a victim?
Answer: For this situation, you would report the Assault offense and list each
individual as the offender and the victim. For relationship type, enter VO = Victim
was Offender.
Question: What is the Victim Type for “Civil Air Patrol”: government or other?
Answer: It would be listed under O = Other. Civil Air Patrols are not administered
by any governmental agency, so it would not fit the government definition.
Question: We have an incident where a suspect abused his dog. Who is the victim for this
offense?
Answer: Animal Cruelty is a Crime Against Society and should have the victim listed
as society.
Question: If someone banged on the door of a house and yelled, “This is the police”, who is
submitted as the victim of this impersonation?
Answer: The victim(s) would be the people inside the house.
Question: We had an incident where an offender robbed a coffee stand at knifepoint; who
is the victim: the barista or the coffee stand? Also, if we don’t have information for race or
ethnicity, is it allowable to put “U” for both?
Answer: Both the barista and the coffee stand should be listed as victims of the
Robbery. Because this is a Robbery, an individual must be listed as a
victim. Regarding the race and ethnicity question: Yes, you can use the code “U”
(Unknown) if you did not receive this information.
Question: We investigated a reported Theft but no victim has come forward. Can I report a
Theft with no victim?
Answer: You will need to enter “Unknown” for the victim data values; for example,
the age of the victim would be 00 = Unknown.
Question: How would you report the victim of the crime of Arson to a residence if the
suspect who set the fire is the owner of the home as well?
Answer: The financial institution that holds a mortgage on the home would be the
victim of the Arson. If the offender was attempting to collect insurance, there may
be an additional offense of Fraud with the insurance company listed as the victim.
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LEOKA (Data Elements 25A-C)
Question: We have a case with an Assault 2nd, Assault 3rd, and Assault 4th - one defendant
and 3 victims. How do I submit all of these via NIBRS?
Answer: First, you’ll need to determine what the Assault 2nd and 3rd degree offenses
translate to as NIBRS offenses (either Aggravated Assault or Simple Assault) – the
key is whether or not there was serious injury or a weapon involved. The Assault
4th is typically a Simple Assault – no weapon and minor or no injury.
If both the Assault 2nd and 3rd offenses are Aggravated Assault, then you enter only
one Aggravated Assault with two victims. The degree of the offense doesn’t matter
for NIBRS: Based on the elements of the crime, you have to translate those degrees
into NIBRS offenses.
Question: How are Assault offenses against an officer submitted for NIBRS? I thought they
were always considered Aggravated Assaults but I get an error when the injury is only
minor.
Answer: When classifying an assault, whether for an individual or an LEO, you should
consider these three questions:
1. Was a type of weapon employed or an object used as a weapon?
2. What was the seriousness of the injury?
3. Was there intent and capability of the assailant to cause serious injury?
There can be an Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, or Intimidation against an officer -
which offense depends on the answers to the three questions above.
Question: One of our sergeants is asking how to submit NIBRS data for Law Enforcement
Officer Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) information regarding a line-of-duty death of a police
officer responding to a domestic violence call or other specific types of calls?
Answer: The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 115) provides information on Data
Element 25A (Type of Officer Activity/Circumstance) which “describes the type of
activity that the officer was engaged at the time he/she was assaulted or killed in the
line of duty.”
The valid data values for this element are:
01 = Responding to Disturbance Call (family quarrels, person with firearm, etc.)
02 = Burglaries in Progress or Pursuing Burglary Suspects
03 = Robberies in Progress or Pursuing Robbery Suspects
04 = Attempting Other Arrests
05 = Civil Disorder (riot, mass disobedience)
06 = Handling, Transporting, Custody of Prisoners
07 = Investigating Suspicious Persons or Circumstances
08 = Ambush, No Warning
09 = Handling Persons with Mental Illness
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10 = Traffic Pursuits and Stops
11 = All Other
There is no specific data value for a domestic violation situation so you would
indicate this as “Responding to Disturbance Call”.
Question: Our agency received a call regarding a disorderly subject but the neighboring
agency was closer so we asked for assistance. Before we arrived, the subject assaulted that
agency’s officer. Do we report the LEOKA or does the other agency?
Answer: When an incident occurs in your jurisdiction, you submit the LEOKA under
your ORI; however, there is a data field for “Officer-ORI Other Jurisdiction” where
you should enter the officer’s agency ORI.
Question: If there is a case with a 13C – Harassment/Intimidation against an officer, would
the data elements for Law Enforcement Officer Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) apply?
Answer: Yes, LEOKA applies to Homicide and all Assault offenses. According to the
FBI, when the Type of Victim is L = Law Enforcement Officer, the offense should be
one of the following:
09A = Murder & Non-negligent Manslaughter
13A = Aggravated Assault
13B = Simple Assault
13C = Intimidation
Question: In the last NIBRS training with the FBI trainer, I thought he instructed us to
report every obstruction of a law enforcement officer as an Assault with LEOKA stats. We
have a case in which the officer struggled with a subject on the ground to get him into
custody after a foot chase; the officer listed the offense as obstruction. Our RMS is not
configured to allow the input of LEOKA stats with the obstruction statute; it will allow
LEOKA data to be entered only with an assault statute. Do we need to reconfigure our
RMS?
Answer: The FBI trainer was describing an incident where an offender assaults an
officer while resisting arrest or obstructing. In these types of incidents, if the
offender makes physical contact with the officer and/or assaults the officer, the
offense should be classified as an Assault offense.
In the types of incidents where the offender does not assault the officer and the
offense is simply “Resisting Arrest” or “Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer”, the
offense is reportable only if an arrest occurs and as the Group B offense “All Other
Offenses” (90Z).
The LEOKA (Law Enforcement Officer Killed or Assaulted) information can be
submitted only with the Group A incident offenses of Murder, Non-Negligent
Manslaughter, Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, or Intimidation.
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The only adjustment you need to make to your RMS is to map the offenses
appropriately: Resisting or Obstructing an Officer with assault on the officer = an
Assault offense; Resisting or Obstructing an Officer without an assault = All Other
Offenses (reportable only if there is an arrest).
Question: Our jail frequently has Assault 3 or Custodial Assault reports when corrections
officers are attacked and/or injured. Does the FBI want these cases to be treated as
assaults on law enforcement and include a LEOKA form?
Answer: The LEOKA report is for commissioned/sworn law enforcement officers
who have full arrest powers. If the corrections officers are commissioned (and have
arrest powers), then you would report a LEOKA. If the correction officers are not
fully commissioned, then an assault on the correction officer would be considered
an Assault of an individual. The LEOKA data are elements included in the NIBRS
method of submission; there are no separate forms or paperwork to complete.
Although it may be a Custodial Assault in state statute (RCW 9A.36.100), for NIBRS
purposes, it can be only one of three types of Assault: Aggravated Assault (13A),
Simple Assault (13B), or Intimidation (13C).
Question: Do we report crimes that we investigate at the State Correctional
Facility? Should we be reporting assaults on correctional officers as LEOKA?
Answer: Yes, you would report the offenses that are under your jurisdiction to
investigate. Only report LEOKA if the correctional officers are sworn law
enforcement officers with full arrest powers and their salaries are paid from law
enforcement funds. It does not appear that assaults on State Corrections Officers
would be reported as LEOKA.
Race of Victim (Data Element 28)
Question: According to our officers, we have individuals who insist that their “race” is
Hispanic. I realize that for NIBRS reporting, we would designate “Hispanic” as their
ethnicity but what race should be entered?
Answer: The person’s race should be listed as white or the race they most closely
represent. If the officer is unable to determine the race, “U” for Unknown can be
entered. Ethnicity is a separate and optional data element that can be entered:
H = Hispanic or Latino
N = Non-Hispanic or Latino
U = Unknown
Resident Status of Victim (Data Element 30)
Question: Would a homeless person living on the streets be considered a “Resident”? They
have no permanent address but they do live in the city.
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Answer: A transient person living within your city should be listed as a
resident. According to the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 137), “Resident Status does
not refer to the immigration or national citizenship status of the individual. Instead,
it identifies whether individuals are residents or nonresidents of the jurisdiction in
which the incident occurred. It also enables agencies having a high transient
population to show their population at risk is actually higher than their official
resident population”.
Aggravated Assault/Homicide Circumstances (Data Element 31)
Question: We had a case that was a drug deal gone wrong. The offenses in the incident are
Murder 2, Robbery 1, and Possession of Controlled Substance (marijuana). Can we enter
the Murder and Robbery in the same case? The Murder and Robbery charges are against
two different people.
Answer: You can enter all the offenses that you have listed: Murder, Robbery, and
Drug/Narcotics Violation. For the Murder, you can enter up to two “Aggravated
Assault/Homicide Circumstances” per victim: Drug Dealing (UCR Code 03) and
Other Felony Involved (UCR Code 08).
Type of Injury (Data Element 33)
Question: Our officers responded to a domestic violence call in which the intoxicated
husband had punched his wife in the face several times; the wife, in what has been
determined to be an acceptable use of self-defense, pepper-sprayed her husband, then
called 911. Because the husband is well-known to our department and has assaulted our
officers in the past, we asked for assistance from another department. Although the
suspect was handcuffed, he attempted to escape by jumping through a closed window; this
caused a laceration to his head. During the attempt to escort the suspect to the ambulance
for treatment, the suspect continued to resist and had to be carried by his arms, shoulders,
and feet to the ambulance. As they neared the ambulance and brought him to his feet, the
suspect head butted one of the officers before he could be loaded and transported to the
hospital. The officer sustained a fairly severe concussion, missed several days of work, and
continues to have headaches. For NIBRS purposes, my two questions are 1) does the self-
defense pepper spraying get reported and 2) how is the officer’s concussion described in
the Type of Injury field?
Answer: 1) No, the self-defense pepper spraying would not be reportable to NIBRS.
2) The injury to the officer would be reported as “Other Major Injury”.
Relationship of Victim to Offender (Data Element 35)
Question: We have a case with Assault 4-DV between boyfriends, but we’re receiving an
error because they are the same sex. How do we fix this error?
Answer: If the case was prior to January 2019, the error is because the Victim to
Offender Relationship should have been HR=Homosexual Relationship. After
January 2019, the BG=Boyfriend/Girlfriend relationship code is acceptable for same
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sex relationships. The HR relationship code was retired as of January 2019. Please
contact your records management system (RMS) vendor to ensure the changes have
been made to your system.
Question: We have a domestic violence (DV) assault between a married couple who are
both women. NIBRS rejected it because the listed genders don’t match the relationship
code of Spouse. We changed the relationship to “Other Family Member” but I’m not sure
that is the best solution. How should we handle this?
Answer: The Victim to Offender Relationship through 2018 should be HR =
Homosexual Relationship. As of January 1, 2019, the same gender is allowed for the
Victim to Offender Relationship of SE = Victim Was Spouse.
Question: In a case in which the tenant assaulted the landlord but there are no familial ties,
is the landlord entered as an acquaintance or otherwise known?
Answer: Acquaintance would be the most accurate relationship category to classify
that situation.
Question: If a patient assaults a caretaker, what would the relationship be?
Answer: If the caretaker is employed by the patient, then the victim’s relationship
to the offender is Employee. If the caretaker is employed by someone else, the
relationship is Otherwise Known.
Question: We have a case where four people were assaulted by four other people. NIBRS
is warning that all four suspects listed must have a relationship code for all four
victims. Not all offenders were involved with all victims.
Answer: When there is Crime Against Persons offense, all offenders will need to be
related to each victim. You will need to enter a relationship, even if it is “Unknown”,
between each victim and each offender.
Offender Segment
Age of Offender (Data Element 37)
Question: When entering an incident into the state NIBRS repository, I receive an error
when certain descriptors for a known suspect were not entered, such as age. In our new
local records management system (RMS), I don’t receive those same errors; I’m wondering
if that’s an error that just isn’t built into our RMS. Are there certain standards/offenses
that require the suspect age or age range be entered?
Answer: For the victim or the offender, you can enter either the exact age, an age
range, or “00” indicating unknown. When using an age range, we prefer these be
within a ten year range (the FBI and we will average the age ranges at the end of the
year for publication).
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If the offender is known, enter as much information as possible for NIBRS
submission. In the FBI User Manual (p. 130), it displays the correct values for
offender ages; in the FBI NIBRS Technical Specification Manual (pp. 92-93), the
errors are displayed related to the offender age data element. Please discuss this
data element with your RMS vendor to determine why you are not receiving errors
in the RMS.
Sex of Offender (Data Element 38)
Question: In January 2018, Washington State adopted a rule that allows people to list
gender as either Male, Female, or X. Our records management system (RMS) vendor is
making a change to add X to the drop down list for gender. Will this change be
incorporated into NIBRS submission?
Answer: We will incorporate only changes mandated by the FBI CJIS-UCR
Program. At this time, the FBI has not indicated any plan to include different gender
codes in the submission of NIBRS.
Any local RMS gender codes will need to be “interpreted” to the FBI guidelines for
NIBRS submission. For example, if your RMS indicates an individual’s gender as “X”,
the submission for NIBRS will need to be changed to “U” for Unknown. The state
repository is being updated to allow “U” for Arrestees.
Arrestee Segment
Type of Arrest (Data Element 43)
Question: How do we report a warrant arrest when the jail refuses to book the
offender? We’ve taken the person into custody and transported them but the jail
sometimes refuses to book them in.
Answer: Even if your jail does not book an individual for the warrant arrest, you
should still report it as an arrest for NIBRS purposes. Based on NIBRS criteria, a
person taken into custody based on a warrant or previously submitted incident is
still counted as an arrest regardless of whether or not the jail takes subsequent
custody of the individual.
Question: In the FBI NIBRS training this week, it was stated that if someone was read their
rights, advised they were under arrest, but only given a citation to appear in court (and not
taken to jail), the Arrest Type was classified as Summoned/Cited. The officers do this
because they know the jail is too full. Is this considered a Summoned/Cited Type of Arrest
rather than an On-View Arrest because the offender was not taken into custody?
Answer: Yes, unless the officer is going to take the person to the jail, it should be
submitted as a Summoned/Cited arrest.
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Multiple Arrestee Segments Indicator (Data Element 44)
Question: The FBI NIBRS manuals clearly explain exceptional clearances but not the single
vs multiple cases clearances. When would we use single vs multiple cases clearance for
those cases that are cleared exceptionally?
Answer: If an incident was not cleared by either an arrest or exceptional means by
the time an initial Group A Incident Report is submitted regarding it, then N = Not
Applicable should be entered.
If, after a Group A Incident Report was submitted, an offender is arrested, the
previously submitted report should be updated with an Arrestee Segment.
Submitting an Arrestee Segment will automatically clear the incident.
In a multiple-offense incident, the exceptional clearance of one offense clears the
entire incident. An incident cannot be cleared exceptionally if it was previously or
concurrently cleared by an arrest, i.e., if an Arrestee Segment is submitted.
Multiple Arrestee Segments Indicator is used to ensure that an arrestee is counted
only once when the arrestee’s apprehension causes the reporting agency to submit
two or more Arrestee Segments concerning separate Group A Incident Reports.
When the arrestee was involved in more than one crime and is arrested, enter C =
Count Arrestee in one of the Arrestee Segments and enter M = Multiple in all of the
remaining Arrestee Segments. When the arrest does not cause the reporting agency
to submit multiple Arrestee Segments for the same arrestee, N = Not Applicable
should be entered.
Note: If the offender was submitted as “Unknown” in a previous case, please update
the information with the person arrested for the "Multiple Arrest" incidents.
Question: We have two cases of a home invasion robbery. The robberies happened the
same day at two separate addresses because the offenders went to the wrong address on
the first one. All three offenders were arrested. Do the arrests need to be entered on both
incidents?
Answer: Yes, this would be a Multiple Arrestee Clearance type of situation. Enter
the arrest in one of the incidents and link or relate the second incident number to
the arrest; this will clear the case but not show the arrest. Your records
management system (RMS) should have a method to accommodate entering one
arrest and linking multiple incidents to it.
Arrestee Was Armed With (Data Element 46)
Question: We need to add a Taser as a weapon under the arrest tab. What is the
appropriate entry for the data element “Arrestee Was Armed With” to describe a Taser?
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Answer: The FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 134) indicates that only commonly known
weapons should be entered for an arrest such as firearms or knives; therefore, a
Taser would not be entered. The entry should be 01 = Unarmed.
Age of Arrestee (Data Element 47)
Question: We have a case where a juvenile was arrested for a crime but the court
determined he turned 18 so they charged him as an adult. Our records management
system doesn’t deal easily with this change; should we leave the person as a juvenile or
change them to an adult now?
Answer: You would leave him as a juvenile; for the purposes of NIBRS, it should be
the age of the person when arrested.
Sex of Arrestee (Data Element 48)
Question: In the Department of Licensing’s announcement of the new “X” gender option,
they indicated that the WSP ACCESS system will not accept sex/gender = “X” and to submit
“U =Unknown” instead. Is WASPC’s guidance for NIBRS similar: submit “U” instead of “X”?
Answer: Yes, a gender indicated as “X” should be submitted as “U”.
The FBI UCR program has not changed their gender codes. For now, the FBI advises
that the “X = Non-Binary Gender” gender code must be converted to “U = Unknown”
for FBI submissions (including NIBRS). This will not be a problem for submitting
incident data but there is a problem with submitting arrest data. At the moment, the
only acceptable gender codes on an arrest are Male or Female. Listing “Unknown”
for a gender on an arrest will case an error.
The state system will accept the error; however, the FBI will reject the entire
incident if there is an error so it won’t be accepted or counted at the federal level.
As of the end of 2019, the State UCR Program is working with their state-level NIBRS
repository vendor to remove the edit and allow the “U” gender for arrestees. The
FBI is working on the possibility of relaxing their edit as well. We will send out a
listserv message to let everyone know when those changes are in place.
Resident Status of Arrestee (Data Element 51)
Question: We have not been indicating on case reports whether a suspect/victim was a
resident or non-resident of our jurisdiction. Is it something that is a requirement?
Answer: This is an optional data element and will not indicate an error if it is not
completed.
Disposition of Arrestee Under Age 18 (Data Element 52)
Question: If a juvenile is released to parents but the charges are forwarded to juvenile
court, is that considered referred to other authorities or is that only if they are booked into
juvenile detention?
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Answer: When a juvenile is released to his/her parents then the entry should be H =
Handled within Department; what occurs subsequently with the courts is not
relevant. When a juvenile is arrested and physically turned over to the courts,
juvenile detention, probation department, child welfare department, or other police,
it should be coded as R = Referred to Other Authorities.
Miscellaneous
Citizenship
Question: Is citizenship included in the NIBRS data that is collected and/or
published? Our RMS has a field for the information; however, it is not consistently used by
our department.
Answer: No, citizenship is not a data element for NIBRS. The only thing close is
“Resident” and that only denotes if the person is a resident of your jurisdiction, not
of the country.
Clearance by Arrest
Question: We have a 2016 case for which a defendant was just arrested. We were able to
enter only one charge in the NIBRS repository; however, there are three reportable
charges. How do we add multiple arrest charges?
Answer: You would add just one arrest offense for which that the person was
arrested. Even though there may be multiple charges, the arrest will clear the entire
incident. According to the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 66), agencies “clear incidents
rather than individual offenses. This means a clearance by arrest … of one offense in
a multiple-offense incident clears the entire incident. Therefore, the first Arrestee
Segment reported in connection with an incident automatically clears the incident.”
Question: We have a DUI arrest that is associated with Malicious Mischief; the offender
was charged on both counts. NIBRS will not allow the entry of the Destruction/ Damage/
Vandalism offense. The error states that Group A and Group B reports cannot have the
same incident number. Do I just enter the DUI arrest and not enter the destruction
incident?
Answer: First enter the Group A Destruction/Damage/Vandalism offense and then
enter the arrest for DUI. The arrest will clear both offenses.
Question: We have cases which are referred to a jail diversion program: offenders may be
eligible if they have committed a lower grade crime, such as Theft 3rd or Trespassing, and
have some sort of drug/alcohol addiction abuse issues or mental issues. In lieu of charges,
the offender agrees to enter the crisis center for rehabilitation. Do we submit NIBRS on
these cases or are the cases closed due to the diversion? The offenders are arrested but
there is no jail booking if they agree to the diversion treatment.
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Answer: Yes, the incidents should be submitted for NIBRS purposes and cleared by
the arrest. The jail diversion program reflects the disposition of offenses after
arrest; it is the law enforcement perspective that is submitted for NIBRS rather than
the resulting disposition through diversion, prosecution, or other court proceedings.
Conspiracy to Commit
Question: Two offenses were submitted by an officer: “Conspiracy to Kidnap” and
“Conspiracy for Assault 1st”. My RMS doesn’t differentiate between conspiracy to commit
and actual commit so I submitted it for NIBRS as if it occurred. Is this correct or is there a
better way to report this?
Answer: You submitted it correctly. As long as there is a substantive offense
associated with “conspiracy-type” incidents, you should submit it under the
corresponding Group A offense for NIBRS. If there was an arrest only for
“conspiracy”, “accessory”, or “aiding/abetting” without an underlying substantive
offense, it would be submitted as “All Other Offenses” (90Z). Please see the FBI
NIBRS FBI User Manual (p. 45).
Counting Offenses
Question: We had a Robbery incident with two offenders who stole items from a store and
then fought with the store security guard; one of the offenders attempted to pull out a
knife. The officer counted a Robbery offense per person and also listed an offense of 23C
for the Shoplifting. I removed the Theft as it is implied in the Robbery. Can you clarify how
we report multiple counts of offenses in one case for NIBRS?
Answer: In NIBRS reporting, you may report an offense only once in an incident but
there can be multiple victims and/or offenders. You may report up to ten different
offenses in one incident; however, they must be separate distinct offenses.
Direct Entry to State NIBRS Repository
Question: When manually entering an arrest report in NIBRS, I entered the wrong arrest
number. Is there a place or way in the arrest report module to correct the number or
delete the arrest report and start over?
Answer: Unfortunately, there is not a way to edit the case number for incidents or
arrests. You must delete the arrest with the incorrect number and re-enter the
arrest with the correct arrest number.
File Submission
Question: Due a personnel shortage, we fell behind on submitting our NIBRS files and now
we have multiple files to submit. Can we upload all the months together in one batch file or
do we have to break them down and submit each month separately?
Answer: All the months’ data can be submitted in one batch file upload; once our
system runs the file, it will place everything in the correct order for submission to
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the FBI. If you choose to submit the files separately (by month), please remember to
submit them sequentially in case there is an update to an earlier submission.
Question: I am going on vacation after the 4th of the month for 12 days. Is it okay if I
submit my batch file before I go?
Answer: Yes, you can upload your agency’s report anytime during the month. If you
submit between the 1st and the 15th of the month, it will be included in that month’s
file submission to the FBI; if you submit after the 15th of the month, it will be
included in the following month’s file submission to the FBI.
Group B Arrest-Only Offenses
Disorderly Conduct (90C)
Question: How do we classify Aggressive Panhandling?
Answer: Aggressive Panhandling should be Disorderly Conduct (90C), which is a
Group B arrest-only offense. If there was an element of intimidation, it could be
classified as Harassment; an offense of Harassment in your records management
system would equate to the FBI Group A offense of Intimidation.
Question: How is Indecent Exposure or Lewd Conduct submitted if there is no suspect yet?
Answer: As you know, Indecent Exposure or Lewd Conduct would be classified as
the Group B Arrest-Only offense of Disorderly Conduct (90C). Since you have no
suspect yet and therefore no arrest, it is not reportable at this time.
Question: Our agency has a case with the offense of Indecent Exposure: The suspect
flashed the victim in front of the victim’s house. Our RMS is indicating a NIBRS error
regarding the victim entry.
Answer: This is a Group B Arrest-Only offense and should be submitted as
“Disorderly Conduct” (90C). For Group B offenses, only arrestee information (no
victim information) is necessary for NIBRS.
Question: Is “urinating in public” a NIBRS reportable crime?
Answer: Yes, it is reportable. The offense would be reported as the arrest-only
offense of Disorderly Conduct (90C).
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) (90D)
Question: If someone is arrested for DUI with suspicion of drug use, do we still enter this
in NIBRS as a DUI even though the toxicology report has not come back?
Answer: Yes; if the person is cited or arrested for the DUI, you should show the
arrest even if the toxicology report has not yet been returned.
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Liquor Law Violations (90G)
Question: Do we report Minor in Possession (MIP) citations as non-custody bookings?
Answer: Yes, you will report the MIP citation as an arrest for Liquor Law Violation
(90G). The Type of Arrest should be Summoned/Cited (not taken into custody). If
the minor is a juvenile, it should have the juvenile disposition of Handled within
Department (released to parents, released with warning, etc.).
Question: Would voyeurism be considered pornography?
Answer: Voyeurism is an Arrest-Only Group B offense. It is reported as Peeping
Tom (90H).
All Other Offenses (90Z)
Question: We have a case involving a 10-year-old boy who was playing X-box Live and was
solicited for sex by another player. The child did not understand what was happening at
first and the person became more graphic in their solicitation. The victim reported the
solicitation to his parent who stopped the game and reported the player. Since the victim is
a child, there was potential for exploitation as well as an attempt at other sexual
offenses. What should the NIBRS offense be?
Answer: The situation you described would fall under Communication with a Minor
for Immoral Purposes which is a Group B-Arrest Only “All Other Offenses” (90Z). In
this instance, the offender is “soliciting to commit” as described in the FBI NIBRS
User Manual (p. 45); however, the 90Z would be reported only if there was an actual
arrest.
Question: A grandmother found her grandson’s journal and he had written threats to shoot
students at the school so she called 911 to report her grandson’s activity. He was arrested
before he could follow through with anything. Would this be Attempted Murder for the
alleged plot or Intimidation with no specific victim?
Answer: We contacted the FBI Training Unit and the trainers indicated this would
be the Group B Arrest-Only “All Other Offenses - 90Z”. The offender was conspiring
to commit the crime but he had not done anything yet.
Question: What offense do we classify a threat of property damage if there is no fear of
injury or bodily harm to the victim?
Answer: It would be reported as a Group B-Arrest Only “All Other Offenses” (90Z).
Question: How is Solicitation of a Minor (soliciting, enticing, or otherwise communicating
with a child under the age of 18 years for immoral purposes) classified for NIBRS
purposes?
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Answer: Solicitation of a Minor or Communication with a Minor for Immoral
Purposes are classified and submitted as the Group B Arrest-Only “All Other
Offenses (90Z)”.
Question: What is the correct crime code classification for violations of the Tax on Tobacco
Products statutes (chapter 82.26 RCW)?
Answer: These violations would be reported as the Group B Arrest-Only “All Other
Offenses (90Z)”.
Question: We have a case where parents were found doing drugs in a car with their 7 year-
old son in the vehicle. The officer wrote this as a Reckless Endangerment with the juvenile
boy as the victim; however, we’re receiving an error on the NIBRS check.
Answer: Reckless Endangerment is a Group B Arrest-Only offense: 90Z - All Other
Offenses. The Group A offense in this incident would be a Drugs/Narcotics Violation
with Society as the victim.
Question: The officer arrested an individual, chose state statute RCW 9.47A.030 (Inhale
fumes, possess toxic glue for sniffing), and placed two aerosol cans into property. Is this
reportable?
Answer: As it isn’t illegal to be in possession of the aerosol cans (only to be
ingesting the toxic fumes), this should be submitted as arrest-only Group B offense
of All Other Offenses.
Question: When a person violates a non-domestic violence court order, who is the
victim? We have an “Order to Surrender Weapons” which people are starting to
violate. When we attempt to classify the offense as “Violation of a Court Order”, a victim is
required.
Answer: This is reportable as an arrest only under the Group B Arrest Only offense
of “All Other Offenses” (90Z).
Question: An individual threw trashcans from an overpass onto the freeway below; he was
charged with Reckless Endangerment (RCW 9A.36.050). Our records management system
is giving an error stating that the victim must be an “Individual” (I) or “Law Enforcement
Officer” (L). Currently, we have the State of Washington listed as the victim because there
were no individual victims in the case. How should this be entered?
Answer: This offense should be mapped to an arrest-only “All Other Offenses”
(90Z).
Question: How would we classify a person attempting to grab an officer’s gun from his/her
duty belt?
Answer: Disarming a Law Enforcement/Correction Officer is a Group B Arrest-Only
offense: All Other Offenses (90Z).
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Question: If someone is calling multiple times but never making a threat to do harm (it's
just irritating) and the agency makes an arrest based on that, would it be reported as an
Intimidation (13C), All Other Offenses (90Z), or is it non-reportable?
Answer: It isn’t Intimidation because there was no fear of bodily harm through the
use of threatening words and/or other conduct (displaying a weapon or physical
attack). If there is an arrest, it would fall under All Other Offenses (90Z).
Question: Is our local ordinance for Solicitation a reportable Group B offense? The
ordinance states a person is guilty of Solicitation if, in a public place, the person
aggressively solicits or solicits without a business license. Also, the ordinance indicates the
person would be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine or by imprisonment, or
by both fine and imprisonment.
Answer: As long as it’s a criminal offense and there was an arrest, it should be
reported as a Group B arrest-only offense of “All Other Offenses” (90Z). The
ordinance you cited does state “Solicitation” is a misdemeanor with criminal
penalties, so it should be reported.
Jurisdiction
Question: With the implementation of our new regional records management system
(RMS), we want to ensure we are reporting incidents properly. With agencies’ geographic
boundaries overlapping or one agency within another agency’s borders (for example, a city
within a county), how do we decide who should report which incident in the RMS?
Answer: The definition for jurisdiction is defined in the FBI NIBRS User Manual
(pp. 9-10) (https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/nibrs-user-manual):
Excerpt from that definition: “To ensure LEAs with overlapping jurisdictions are not
reporting duplicate data (offense or arrest), the FBI UCR Program developed the
following guidelines:
1. Local, county, state, tribal, and federal LEAs should report offenses that occur
within their jurisdictions.
2. When two or more local, county, state, tribal, or federal LEAs are involved in the
investigation of the same offense, the agency with investigative jurisdiction
based on local, county, state, tribal, and federal law and/or applicable
interagency agreements or memorandums of understanding should report the
offense. If there is uncertainty as to the lead or primary agency, the agencies
must agree on which agency should report the offense.
3. LEAs will report only those arrests made for offenses committed within their
own jurisdictions.
4. The recovery of property should be reported only by the LEA who first reported
it missing and/or stolen regardless of which agency recovered it.”
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Regarding your questions on agencies that are nested within each other’s
jurisdiction and which agency reports: For the most part, it will depend on whether
or not a municipal (or other) agency contracts with the county agency or another
agency to submit their data. There are a variety of arrangements in our state (and
across the country).
Question: If a vehicle prowl occurs within my jurisdiction and a credit card is stolen from
the vehicle but fraudulently used in another jurisdiction, who reports the Credit Card Fraud
(26B)?
Answer: Your agency should report the Theft from Motor Vehicle (23F) with the
Property Description of Credit/Debit Card (09). The jurisdiction where the card
was used fraudulently would report the fraud offense.
In some circumstances, the agency where the victim of Fraud lives will be the one to
report an offense of fraud, even though it occurs in another jurisdiction (typically
another state or country). For example: a person’s credit card number was obtained
and used in Nigeria; the victim reports the Fraud to the jurisdiction of residency and
that agency submits the NIBRS incident even though the Fraud occurred elsewhere.
Question: We have several cases where a victim’s identity has been stolen and used to
open consumer accounts, such as a cable company, in other states. It is unknown exactly
how or where the victim’s identity was compromised, but it is know where the identity was
used. Should we report the Identity Theft (26F) from our agency or should we refer the
entire report to the jurisdiction where the accounts were opened?
Answer: When the victim of Identity Theft files a complaint with your agency, your
agency submits the NIBRS data on the Identity Theft. The jurisdictions or states
where the theft of services or accounts occurred should report the actual thefts.
Question: An outside agency contacted our department and requested we arrest a suspect
on their probable cause for Assault 4th Degree; there was no warrant. We transported the
suspect to the outside agency and they took her into custody. Does our agency report this?
Answer: In a case like this, you would not report anything. The other agency should
report the arrest.
Mutually Exclusive
Question: There was a case at one of our hotels where a victim was robbed of his cell
phone and some money. When the suspects ran away, the victim ran after them; the
suspects began to shoot a gun in the victim’s general direction and bullets hit random cars
and two hotel rooms. The officer entered the offenses of Drive-By Shooting (13A), Robbery
(120), and Malicious Mischief (290); no arrests were made. NIBRS is giving us an error
regarding the Drive-By Shooting and Robbery but our department will want to track both
of these offenses.
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Answer: While you can list all three offenses in your local records management
system (RMS) and forward them in the case file to the prosecutor’s office, for the
purpose of NIBRS submission, the FBI considers Assault to be inherent element in a
Robbery and therefore, they are mutually exclusive offenses. In this incident, you
can report only the Robbery (120) and the Malicious Mischief (290) for NIBRS. The
victims of the Malicious Mischief offense would include the registered owners of the
vehicles and the hotel.
Non-Reportable Incidents
Question: We have a case where four people ran away together so we have one case
number issued with the four separate people listed. Is this acceptable for NIBRS or should
there have been four separate case numbers issued?
Answer: A “runaway” incident is not reportable to NIBRS.
Question: We have local ordinances (related to marijuana) in our records management
system that are non-traffic infractions. I’m not sure how to interpret these into the NIBRS
offense codes.
Answer: Because these are civil infractions rather than criminal offenses, they are
not reportable to NIBRS.
Question: We have a Neighbor Dispute incident where a chicken was killed but the officer
cannot determine if the neighbor killed it or it was killed by an animal. If the neighbor did
kill the chicken, would be Vandalism or Animal Cruelty? There have been no arrests or
follow-up reports so we don’t have enough information to support an occurrence of
crime. Is this reportable to NIBRS?
Answer: Until you get can more definitive information from the officer on this
incident or an arrest is made, this would not be reportable for NIBRS. If the officer
does find that the neighbor killed the chicken, it should be classified as Animal
Cruelty. Damage/Destruction/Vandalism would be reportable only for significant
damage or if a Hate Crime was involved.
Question: We have a NIBRS question about holding an individual for another agency. If
someone has a warrant for another county and we arrest them in our county, do we submit
a NIBRS incident for this?
Answer: You do not submit the arrest for the other agency’s warrant … that
originating agency should submit it. Jurisdiction is described in the FBI NIBRS User
Manual on pages 9 and 10.
Question: How would we classify a case for NIBRS when a family returned home to find a
bullet hole in their house and the bullet lodged in their kitchen wall? There are no leads
and we don’t know if it was an accidental or purposeful incident. No one was home at the
time.
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Answer: Because there is not enough known, no one was in the house, and there
was no significant damage, this would not be reportable.
Question: A wallet was found and there were drugs inside it. Due to this being listed as a
found property, is it reportable to NIBRS?
Answer: No, this would not be something that you would submit for NIBRS. It
would be entered as “recovered” only if it had been stolen from your jurisdiction.
Question: How do we submit a NIBRS incident for an unauthorized absence or escape
from a mental health facility to which a subject has been committed/ordered?
Answer: For the purposes of reporting any type of “Escape” to UCR/NIBRS, it is
reportable only if it is a criminal incident and, according to the FBI guidelines, only if
there is an arrest and as a Group B offense of “All Other Offenses – 90Z”. For
example, if an offender escapes prison pursuant to chapter 9A.76 RCW (Sexually
Violent Predator) or if an individual assists the escape of a patient pursuant to RCW
72.23.170. For a person who has been involuntarily committed for a non-criminal
purpose, an “escape” is not a criminal offense.
Question: Is a physician-assisted suicide reportable in NIBRS? The person was not
coerced, deceived, or threatened into the suicide.
Answer: If no criminal act was involved in this incident, it is not reportable to
NIBRS; if an act is allowed under state law, it is not reportable to NIBRS. Under the
Washington Death with Dignity Act, chapter 70.245 RCW, physician-assisted suicide
is regulated by the State Department of Health. The criminal offenses under this Act
are:
RCW 70.245.200(1): A person who without authorization of the patient willfully
alters or forges a request for medication or conceals or destroys a rescission of that
request with the intent or effect of causing the patient's death is guilty of a class A
felony.
(2) A person who coerces or exerts undue influence on a patient to request
medication to end the patient's life, or to destroy a rescission of a request, is guilty
of a class A felony.
When applicable for NIBRS purposes, RCW 70.245.200(1) would equate to
Counterfeiting-Forgery (250) and RCW 70.245.200(2) would equate to Coercion =
Intimidation (13C). For the incident you described, there is no reportable NIBRS
submission.
Question: We have an “agency assist” report for another county; it was turned over to us
because of a conflict of interest. The originating county completed an incident report and
included the stolen property in their report; the case is being handled by our prosecutor
and court. Do we submit the NIBRS data for this incident?
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Answer: Your department will not report this to NIBRS as it did not occur in your
reporting jurisdiction.
Question: A complainant contacted us after finding a large Ziplock bag of marijuana at her
home after a visitor left due to a medical emergency. Prior to the visitor leaving for the
medical emergency, he disclosed that he had stolen the marijuana but not from whom or
where it was stolen. Is this a Group A Incident with an unknown victim?
Answer: This is not reportable for NIBRS purposes.
Question: We have a case of voyeurism and they did not arrest the suspect. Am I correct in
assuming that this would not be NIBRS reportable since they did not arrest him, as
Voyeurism is a Group B Arrest-Only offense only?
Answer: Yes, you are correct … a Group B offense is reportable only if an arrest is
made. However, remember that there are three types of arrest:
On View: Subject taken into custody on scene.
Summoned or Cited: Subject not taken into custody, but issued a
summons/citation to appear in court.
Taken Into Custody: Used for warrant arrests or when the subject is
arrested after the crime was reported to police.
If the subject was given a citation (but not taken into custody), that is considered an
arrest.
Question: Our records management system categorizes Attempt to Elude (RCW 46.61.024)
as a NIBRS Arrest-Only offense of “All Other Offense” (90Z). Is this correct or should it be a
noted as non-reportable?
Answer: This would be non-reportable because it is a traffic offense.
Question: We have a case where an officer pulled over a vehicle and discovered the driver
was Driving with License Suspended (DWLS). The passenger in the vehicle was her
boyfriend and there was a current, valid protection order in place. The officer arrested the
female for the DWLS charge and the passenger for the order violation. I'm receiving a
NIBRS error when I enter two arrests and only one victim.
Answer: The DWLS is not a reportable arrest in NIBRS because it is a traffic
violation. Enter only the Violation of No Contact/Protection Order (500) incident
and arrest.
Question: An officer was dispatched to a scene for a found property report and contacted
the owner of the business, Acme Products. She reported that the postal worker returned a
package to her with the return address for Acme Products. The package had been sent to
an address in Texas but it was returned undeliverable. The business owner opened the
package and discovered someone had used her business address as the sender of a package
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of marijuana (67.2 grams). The owner called the police to take the marijuana and provided
a statement that someone is using her business address to send marijuana through the
mail. Is this a Fraud offense or some other offense?
Answer: It should just be entered as found property for your agency and not be
reported in NIBRS. Even though the business address was used, it isn’t considered
an offense of Fraud.
Question: We had an incident of Criminal Trespass where the suspects were juveniles and
the victim decided they didn’t want charges filed. Since Criminal Trespass only gets
reported if there is an arrest, we didn’t submit it via NIBRS.
Answer: You are correct, it shouldn’t be reported. You would have submitted only
if the juveniles had been arrested.
Question: We have an offense listed as Motor Vehicle - Possess Fictitious/Altered license
(Chapter 46.20 RCW). This is triggering the requirement of property. The officer listed the
copied trip permits as evidence. How should they be listed?
Answer: This is a traffic-related offense and therefore, is not reported to NIBRS.
Race Codes
Question: Recently, we received an e-mail advising that the Administrative Office of the
Courts (AOC) is adding two race codes for SECTOR ticket purposes: M = Multiracial and R =
Refused. Are these valid race codes that must be added for NIBRS submissions?
Answer: No, the AOC or SECTOR updates do not affect NIBRS. According the FBI
Technical Specifications, the valid race codes for NIBRS are:
W = White
B = Black or African American
I = American Indian or Alaska Native
A = Asian
P = Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
U = Unknown
Neither the State nor the FBI UCR Programs have plans to update or change the
NIBRS race codes. We suggest you map your records management system to ingest
returned SECTOR data with an “M” or “R” to be “U” (for Unknown) for NIBRS
purposes.
Same Time and Place
Question: When submitting incidents of vehicle prowl, should they be entered as separate
incidents or all under one incident? For example, the same neighborhood was hit through-
out the evening at separate homes. We usually enter these all under one case number.
Answer: You appear to be doing this correctly. This has to do with the concept of
“same time and place.” Here is an excerpt from the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 11):
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Normally, the offenses must have occurred during an unbroken time period and at
the same or adjoining locations. However, incidents can also be comprised of
offenses which, by their nature, involve continuing criminal activity by the same
offenders at different times and places, as long as LE deems the activity to constitute
a single criminal transaction.
Question: A suspect broke into a building on campus overnight and burglarized different
offices inside the building. The officer wrote up the Burglary as four separate incidents
with separate case numbers. Given the time and place concept, should these all be on one
case number? The FBI NIBRS User Manual states that “Time and Space” is based on the
premise that if more than one crime was committed by the same person and the time and
space intervals separating them were insignificant, all of the crimes make up a single
incident.
Answer: Yes, this should all be under one case number.
Question: We have an issue where several people became angry at a local store’s policy; 14
people called and made threats against the store - only one person took the calls. For this
offense of Intimidation (13C), do we have one case with one victim and 14
offenders? Thirteen of the suspects are named and but one suspect is unknown.
Answer: Each call should be treated as a separate incident rather than just one
incident. This has to do with the FBI guidelines regarding the separation of time and
place.
Question: We have a Burglary incident but later found out that the victim reporting the
Burglary lied about his real name. He completed a statement using another name because
he had an outstanding felony warrant. We are going to charge him for making a false
statement at this point. Should it be a new case report or an addition to the existing
Burglary?
Answer: For a NIBRS submission, you will need to report two separate
incidents. Per the FBI NIBRS User Manual (pp. 10-11), an incident is “one or more
offenses committed by the same offender, or group of offenders acting in concert, at
the same time and place”. Since the Burglary was committed by one offender and
the False Statement was committed by another offender, at a different time and
place, then two separate incidents occurred.
Question: The FBI NIBRS User Manual gives the example of a laptop and a car stereo being
stolen from a vehicle and states it would be two separate offense types: “Theft from a
Motor Vehicle” (23F) and “Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories” (23G). What if
there are thefts of stereos from three separate vehicles at a car dealership? Is this just one
incident of 23G with three counts or are these reported as three separate incidents? All
happened at the same location/same time.
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Answer: For NIBRS, you can only have one offense referring to all three counts in
this instance.
Question: We had a case where a woman’s identification and credit cards were stolen from
a business, then later used at various businesses to purchase things. The following year,
the victim found out her identity was used at a hospital nearby because she got a call to
pick up her prescription. The officer added it as a follow up to the original case from the
prior year. I am questioning this because of the separation of time and place. Would you
suggest a new report or leave it as a supplemental to the original case?
Answer: Due to the separation of time and place, this should be reported as a new
incident.
Question: We have a question regarding the rule for Time and Place of an Incident and
if/when incidents would need to be reported separately. In a case of Fondling that
occurred in multiple locations by the same offender to the same victim but in different
locations (which crossed jurisdictional boundaries), would there need to be two incidents
reported or would the city report both? For example, the victim was assaulted at the
offender’s home in one of our contract cities but also in the offender’s car while in the
unincorporated county at a park.
Answer: For this type of incident, only one offense of Fondling would be reported.
Because this is a continuing crime against one victim, it should be listed as just one
offense. For the location of the crime, the FBI NIBRS User Manual (p. 79) states:
“The FBI UCR Program recognizes that for many incidents, there is more than one
possible choice for reporting a location. Therefore, LE personnel should use their
best judgment in reporting the most specific location type after investigating the
crime and considering the circumstances surrounding the location and the
offender’s intent during the commission of the crime.”
Although the offense may have occurred in more than one jurisdiction, the
primary/lead jurisdiction doing the investigation should report the crime. If more
than one jurisdiction reports the same crime, it would result in dual reporting of the
incident.
Question: If there is a series of Thefts from Vehicles in a neighborhood and there is more
than one report written by deputies, is there a reporting problem with leaving them
separate?
Answer: There isn’t a problem with leaving them separate but just note that it may
cause an inflated number in the Larceny-Theft category due to “same time and
place” concept.
Unfounded
Question: How is the status of “unfounded” sent for an incident that was reported via
NIBRS?
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Answer: For now, to “unfound” an incident that has been reported in NIBRS, you
would send an update deleting that incident. The FBI is considering new clearance
codes for agencies to submit “unfounded” and “administratively closed”; however,
these changes are still in the development stage and will not occur until after
January 2021 at the earliest.
Question: A Vehicle Prowl was reported; however, a supplemental came in after the
person stated they put their belongings in the wrong car, thus there was no vehicle
prowling. What is the best practice to unfound the incident or should let it stand?
Answer: In an incident like this, if it is found that a theft did not occur, send a
“Delete” action for NIBRS purposes. The Delete function is the equivalent of making
the case unfounded.
Question: A crime was reported as occurring in our jurisdiction; however, we investigated
and found it did not occur in our jurisdiction; we referred that case to the appropriate
agency. Do we submit NIBRS data for the incident or not?
Answer: You should report only incidents that occur within your jurisdiction. If you
had reported the incident via NIBRS and then found it belonged to another
jurisdiction, it is considered “unfounded”. You should flag that incident in your RMS
to delete from NIBRS; your batch upload will submit the deletion with your next file
submission.
Question: Our officer took a report on the theft of a cell phone and it was entered into
NIBRS. After the officer did a follow up with the victim, it was determined the phone was
never stolen: She left it in the bathroom and someone turned it into lost and found. The
phone was returned to her; she just never bothered to let us know. Would I delete this
incident from NIBRS?
Answer: Yes, you should delete this incident because it was unfounded.
Question: We have a case listing the offense of Child Molestation; however, the
investigating detective does not believe that this offense occurred but is referring it to the
prosecutor for them to decline. Should this incident be reported via NIBRS?
Answer: This should be reported until it is determined to be unfounded.
Vendors and Consultants
Question: We were contacted by a contractor offering help with our NIBRS submission
errors. Have you heard of these types of groups? Is this one part of WASPC?
Answer: This is a private consulting company. It is not part of WASPC and it is not
endorsed by WASPC. Errors from the State and FBI UCR Programs are pretty
straight-forward - only certain data elements are caught and flagged as “errors” or
“warnings” for the agency to correct or verify. We encourage you to contact the
WASPC staff if you ever have a question about an error or warning.
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Question: A records management system (RMS) vendor is providing us a demo on their
system and they are telling us that they “NIBRS-certified”. Does the State UCR Program
certify vendors for reporting NIBRS?
Answer: No, the State UCR Program does not certify vendors – we certify the agency
only. If your agency acquires a new or replacement RMS, you should choose a
system that is NIBRS compliant. The procedure for certifying or re-certifying your
agency includes attending mandatory training provided by WASPC or FBI staff,
submission of test files with a sustained error rate of less than 4%, and dual
reporting during the test period for the purpose of statistical comparison.
Question: One of our neighboring agencies is hosting NIBRS training that’s being provided
by a private company. Is this training worth attending since it isn’t being given by WASPC
or the FBI? Does it count toward my mandatory training to be certified?
Answer: If you choose to attend a NIBRS training that is not provided by the WASPC
or FBI staff, please be aware that it may be based on that trainer’s or company’s
interpretation of the federal or state NIBRS guidelines. It will not count toward the
mandatory training for certification and it may lack information from the state’s
additional technical specifications. If you need Washington State-based NIBRS
training in your area and would like to host a session, please contact the State UCR
Program at cjis@waspc.org.
Warrants
Question: In reference to warrants, do we submit misdemeanor warrants or felony
warrant arrests for NIBRS?
Answer: For NIBRS purposes, the reportable offense is not dependent on whether
it is a felony, misdemeanor, or a non-compliance (Fail to Appear, Fail to Pay, or Fail
to Comply with Court Order) warrant. An arrest must have a unique incident/arrest
number or an existing Group A Incident needs to be updated with the arrest data.
The submitting agency must review the circumstance of the warrant arrest to
determine if it will be submitted as an update to an existing Group A Incident or
reportable as a new incident and/or arrest.
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Source: NIBRS great questions reference.docx