Describe at least three limitations to NIBRS data.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

1) As with the UCR Program, NIBRS data only include crimes reported to law enforcement; unreported and unrecorded crimes are not included in NIBRS. 2) Since the NIBRS specifications were developed by a federal agency, participating local agencies may find it difficult to work with inflexible specifications and impose problems with reporting procedures. 3) Various organizations may have different goals and incentives. While the FBI and other national agencies are interested in a national monitoring system and national-level research applications, local and state agencies may have different organizational interests. For instance, local and state agencies may be more interested in local data collection requirements and analyses to support local operations such as the deployment of law enforcement areas in certain problem areas. 4) While NIBRS data include more detailed information than the UCR Program, this is also a drawback. With this detailed information, the NIBRS record structure is more complex; researchers and analysts may find collecting this detailed information quite a challenge. 5) Currently, little is known about the extent of the errors made when collecting NIBRS data. While some errors can be addressed, other types of errors will be noted only after the NIBRS data collection program is adopted on a more widespread basis.