Less than 70% of Louisiana’s law enforcement agencies are reporting crime statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Center Square reports.
Law enforcement agencies in Louisiana collect crime data using a records management system and send the data to the Louisiana Incident-Based Reporting System at the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association’s data center. The data is vetted by LIBRS before it’s stored in a central database, converted to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System format and electronically submitted to the FBI.
The submitted information is important because it’s used to award federal justice funding through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant program, which sent $2.7 million to Louisiana in 2022.
The FBI transitioned to NIBRS in 2021, which came with a requirement to submit more comprehensive data and resulted in a decline in reporting nationwide.
“Unlike some other states, Louisiana did not require agencies to submit NIBRS crime data prior to the federal requirement,” auditors with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office wrote. “Approximately 256 (68.4%) of 374 local law enforcement agencies reported NIBRS crime data to the FBI in 2022. This includes agencies that report their crime data through another agency’s records management system. Most agencies that did not report are actively working toward LIBRS certification.”
Funding and resource constraints, the complexity of the NIBRS reporting process and upgrading to a records management system that is LIBRS compliant are identified as challenges that have limited the number of agencies reporting NIBRS crime data.
