RT Article
T1 Examining Law Enforcement Agencies’ Responses to the Addition of Animal Cruelty to NIBRS
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 49
IS 4
SP 576
OP 589
A1 Randour, Mary Lou
A2 Kearley, Anabel
A2 Wireman, Mikaila
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1902130987
AB In 2014, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey approved the addition of animal cruelty to Group A of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which is categorized into Group A and Group B offenses (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2016). In 2016, participating NIBRS states began collecting animal cruelty data. The rationale for the addition of animal cruelty crimes to NIBRS was the large body of empirical evidence that demonstrates a close association between animal cruelty and other crimes, interpersonal violence in particular. This paper analyzes how states and local law enforcement agencies have responded to the addition of animal cruelty crime incidents to NIBRS, noting patterns of adoption in reporting animal cruelty crimes, gaps, and any other factor that provides clarity on the state of the implementation of animal cruelty crime statistics in NIBRS. The method of analysis was to first evaluate the animal cruelty incident rates by population groups established by the FBI and then to calculate the animal cruelty crime rate for Delaware and compare it to the U.S, as Delaware is the only state with an Office of Animal Welfare. With this analysis, we can determine which areas have sufficient data to inform law enforcement’s decisions about the allocation of resources and begin to craft prevention programs for animal cruelty and other forms of interpersonal violence.
K1 FBI
K1 Animal Cruelty
K1 Cruelty against Animals
K1 Adaptation
K1 Record Management System
K1 Law Enforcement Agencies
K1 National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
DO 10.1007/s12103-023-09740-w