IBR Reference Materials
Last Updated: March 2024
Please review the current summary of changes
Listed below are several NYSIBR reference materials intended for both law enforcement agencies interested in and participating in the IBR program as well as vendors who design and support Records Management System (RMS) software. These documents expand upon and replace the NYSIBR Desktop Reference Manual and include information on becoming an IBR Agency, utilizing the NYS Integrated Justice Portal (IJPortal) for IBR file submission, reviewing the IBR transaction report and correcting IBR data errors. They also include technical documentation for vendors on generating an IBR compliant file.
If you have questions regarding IBR, please contact Crime Reporting Unit staff at infonysibr@dcjs.ny.gov or by calling DCJS at 518-485-7111.
Reference Materials
General References
- Becoming a NIBRS Compliant New York State Incident-Based Reporting Agency – This document provides law enforcement agencies in New York State with instructions on switching to the NIBRS Compliant NYS Incident-Based Crime Reporting Program.
- Incident–Based Reporting File Submission Instructions – This document provides law enforcement agencies participating in the IBR program on how to submit their monthly IBR files to DCJS through the New York State Integrated Justice Portal (IJPortal).
- Reading the NYSIBR Submission Transaction Report – This document provides information for law enforcement agencies participating in the IBR program on how to read the Submission Transaction Report which is transmitted to agencies after each successful monthly IBR file submission.
- NYS NIBRS Error Messages & Explanations – This document provides a detailed listing of all errors that could occur within a monthly IBR file upon submission to the DCJS IBR Database. This listing includes each error number, the corresponding error message and a detailed explanation of the error. This document is intended primarily as a reference for law enforcement agencies that receive errors on their NYSIBR Submission Transaction Report and need further assistance in correcting them.
- Crime Reporting Data Submission Timeline – This calendar provides an overview of the data quality activities DCJS conducts organized by when they occur. Each month is an outline of what agencies can expect to receive from DCJS if follow-up is needed, and tools that agencies can access to help correct any issues that are identified.
- Criminal Activity/Gang Information & IBR Code Chart – This chart is a cheat sheet that indicates which Criminal Activity/Gang Information Codes cans be submitted with the related IBR offense code.
Vendor-Specific References
- NYS NIBRS Data Elements and File Structure Specifications – This document provides a detailed record layout for each of the seventy-three capture data elements collected for a criminal incident as well as the nine transmission data elements that are used to describe and structure the data transmission between law enforcement agencies and DCJS. It is intended for both law enforcement agencies and vendors of Records Management System (RMS) software.
- NYS NIBRS Data Transmission Specifications – This document provides technical instructions for generating and transmitting monthly IBR files to DCJS and is intended primarily for vendors who design and support Records Management System (RMS) software used to store and report incident data submitted through IBR. It is also helpful for law enforcement agencies in understanding the contents and structure of an IBR submission file.
- NYS NIBRS Edits – This document provides a complete listing of the system edits implemented by DCJS that monthly IBR submission files must pass before they are posted to the DCJS IBR Database. Each edit number, corresponding error message, as well as a technical explanation is provided. This document is intended primarily for vendors who design and support the Records Management System (RMS) software used to store and report data on criminal incidents.
- NYSIBR Legacy Reference Documents – This reference contains the pre-NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Reference Documents: NYSIBR Error Messages and Explanations, NYSIBR Data Capture Elements, NYSIBR Data Transmission Specifications, and NYSIBR Edits. These documents are provided here as an historical reference and will not be updated.
- NYSIBR Improvement Project – Notice of Change – This document outlines the New York State Crime Reporting Program’s efforts to align the collection of NYSIBR data variables with those data variables collected by the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
- NYSIBR Improvement Project – Addition of NIBRS Data Elements – This document provides the data capture elements and specifications for the five NIBRS data elements that will be required as part of the new NYSIBR submission file being developed for compliance with National Incident-Based Reporting Standards.
- CTV Location Code Listing – This document provides the 4 digit city, town, or village codes used for IBR data element #9 LOCATION CODE.
- NIBRS Sample File – This is a .txt file that contains a sample of NIBRS incidents. This document provides a visual representation of the file structure layout outlined in the NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Data Transmission Specifications document.
- NYS NIBRS Vendors - This document provides a list of NYS NIBRS agencies and their current vendor as resource for agencies developing their NIBRS transition plan. Note: DCJS does not endorse any vendor and/or product that appears on this list.
Current Summary of Changes –
03/2024
*Updated NYS NIBRS Date Elements and File Structure Specifications
*Updated NYS NIBRS Edits
*Updated NYS NIBRS Error Messages and Explanations
01/2024
*Added NYS NIBRS Vendors
12/2023
*Updated Crime Reporting Data Submission Timeline
02/2024
*Updated NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Data Elements and File Structure Specifications
07/2022
*Added Criminal Activity/Gang Information & IBR Offense Code Chart
09/2021
*Added NIBRS Sample File
*Updated NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Data Transmission Specifications
08/2021
*Updated NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Error Messages and Explanations
10/2020
*Replaced NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Edits with revised NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Edits.
08/ 2020
*Added CTV Location Code Listing
10/2019
*Updated Becoming a New York State Incident-Based Reporting Agency
*Replaced NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Data Elements and File Sturcture Specifications with revised NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Data Element and File Structure Specifications
*Replaced NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Edits with revised NIBRS Compliant NYS IBR Edits
01/2018
*Replaced NYSIBR Data Capture Elements and Specifications with NIBRS Compliant Data Elements and File Structure Specifications
*Replaced NYSIBR Data Transmission Specifications with NIBRS Compliant Data Transmission Specifications
*Replaced NYSIBR Edits with NIBRS Compliant IBR Edits
*Added NYSIBR Legacy Reference Documents
*Updated Becoming a New York State Incident-Based Reporting Agency