Through 2020 Florida law enforcement agencies reported crime data to the State using the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) summary guidelines which were reported semi-annually and annually. UCR was the first standardized nationwide summary reporting program created to collect and track crime statistics, and data was submitted by agencies on a voluntary basis. Florida agencies submitted to the State (Florida Department of Law Enforcement or FDLE), which publishes data for the State in a centralized location and further submits the data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
One of the key assessments for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department is measuring the Part I crime rate. Part I crime offenses are an indicator over time of variations in crime trends. Part I crimes are: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson. It should be noted that the population used in the crime rate calculation does not include tourists, visitors, or commuters.
Effective January 2021, the FBI retired the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program and all Florida law enforcement agencies transitioned to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) guidelines for data submission to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). NIBRS can provide more useful statistics to promote constructive discussion, measured planning, and informed policing as it has the ability to go deeper in providing circumstances and context for crimes like location, time of day, and whether the incident was cleared.
