XML Basics for NIBRS Training

The IJIS Institute is excited to announce an upcoming XML training, scheduled for January 30th, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (EST). The training—XML Basics for NIBRS—is designed to help law enforcement agencies, their technology service providers, and state Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programs improve the process for transmitting reported crime data.  

As you know, the FBI transitioned law enforcement crime data reporting to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), thereby establishing NIBRS as the crime reporting standard for the Nation.  The traditional format in which NIBRS data have been transmitted—from local law enforcement agencies to state UCR Programs, and from state UCR Programs to the FBI—has been the flat file. Given that the flat file existed at the onset of NIBRS, technology service providers, law enforcement agencies and UCR Program Managers are accustomed to reading and troubleshooting flat file issues that prohibit submission or result in errors due to file formatting. 

As the number of NIBRS-reporting agencies has increased rapidly over the past five years, the FBI and state UCR Programs have moved to XML submissions as the preferred format. While technically the XML file is easier to read and understand, there can be a steep learning curve for those who have not been trained in XML concepts.  

This training will familiarize participants with how to read and understand XML for the NIBRS data submissions. Tom Carlson of Tom Carlson Consulting is providing this XML Basics Training to help UCR Program Managers and others understand the FBI NIBRS XML structure, the layout of fields, and the differences between schema and field-level errors. There will be a live question-and-answer period at the conclusion of the recorded training presentation.  

This training is supported by funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) through cooperative agreement 2017-BJ-CX-K054, the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Technical Assistance and Implementation Support Project. For more information on NCS-X and the NIBRS transition, see the BJS NIBRS Program page.