Using national incident-based reporting system data for strategic crime analysis

The utility of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for strategic crime analysis has yet to be explored. The NIBRS represents an advancement over existing reporting systems and possesses considerable utility to frontline law enforcement with respect to strategic crime analysis. This paper discusses the utility of the NIBRS for identifying local and regional trends in narcotics related offenses. As an example, we selected four localities from the 1997 Virginia NIBRS data to examine trends in the sale/distribution and possession of narcotics. Our analysis shows that the NIBRS provides significantly more incident-related detail than has heretofore been available for strategic:rime analysis at the regional or state level. Moreover, the NIBRS provides neighboring communities the opportunity to compare information on emerging crime patterns and criminal enterprises which extend beyond local boundaries. Finally, enhancing local reporting compliance by highlighting the strategic utility of the data to local law enforcement will ultimately ensure the quality of the data set, which can then be employed by larger entities as well as criminal justice researchers for policy development and planning.