NCJ Number
214357
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 140-152
Date Published
May 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study assessed the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data in terms of its utility for studying murder clearance rates.
Abstract
Overall, the results supported the validity of NIBRS data for examining murder clearance rates. Specifically, the NIBRS data indicate that factors related to evidence play a critical role in predicting clearance, which is consistent with findings of previous research. Researchers also investigated the validity of proxy clearance measures previously used with the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) and found that the proxy measures overestimated the percentage of clearances when compared to the actual clearance measure. Limitations associated with the NIBRS data include the fact that it only collects data about the crime incident. Data included 2001 NIBRS data on 1,958 murder victims. The analysis involved the use of logistic regression models to explore clearance measures and clearance predictors. Future research on clearance data should investigate how to link NIBRS data with law enforcement agency information like the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey. Tables, appendix, notes, references