The FBI failed to release crime estimates for the fifth straight quarter because not enough agencies reported data, The Trace reports. The bureau produces quarterly national estimates only when at least 60 percent of law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit data to its reporting system. Last week, the FBI reported that only 56 percent of agencies (10,578 of 18,769) contributed information in the last quarter.
The failure to meet the threshold comes more than a year after the FBI required local agencies to use the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Criminologists say NIBRS eventually will provide more detailed crime estimates. The switchover has been sluggish and far fewer agencies are using it to report data than they used the old Uniform Crime Reporting system.