New crime reporting system adds challenge for year-over-year comparison

As the year wraps up, it is a popular time to compare the year’s crime statistics to year’s past.
But in New Jersey, that is more challenging this year because of a switch to a different data input system.
The system used in 2024, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), requires departments to report multiple classes of crimes committed in a single incident, while the previous systems logged just one per incident, police said.
A local law enforcement source said it would likely take multiple years’ worth of NIBRS use to comfortably compare the data from year-to-year.
“NIBRS is adding so many layers that it makes one incident look like multiple incidents because they’re capturing every single element of the criminal act,” the source said. “The burglary to the house, the taking of the keys, the burglary to the vehicle outside in the driveway.”
Jersey City presented year-over-year homicide and shooting data comparisons at its annual crime review press conference but opted not to compare other classes of crime to previous years.
“I can’t compare the numbers because NIBRS counts it differently than the old CompStat numbers,” said Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea.