Transition In Crime Reporting System Will Help Baltimore Police Efficacy, Officials Say
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on Wednesday announced a change in the way the Baltimore Police Department collects and reports crime data that they say will help the department.
The department is transitioning from the now-defunct Uniform Crime Reporting Program's Summary Reporting System to the National Incident-Based Reporting System. The move is in accordance with an FBI mandate that all law enforcement agencies across the nation make the transition.
The Mayor's Office said the new system allows more specificity in reporting offenses and helps give context to specific crime issues. The previous system, phased out in 2021, did not allow for the same kind of specificity in crime reporting.
"NIBRS will benefit the Baltimore Police Department, city partners and residents by increasing the quantity, quality and timeliness of crime data," Harrison said. "NIBRS will help give our department better context to specific crime issues and affords greater analytic flexibility of the crime data collected to ultimately reduce crime more effectively."
Under the new system, the Mayor's Office said, reported crime numbers will seem higher than they were in the past for certain categories. Those numbers will not mean
For more information the transition, visit the Baltimore Police Department's website.