NCJ Number
122714
Date Published
1986
Length
39 pages
Annotation
In order to fulfill its legislative mandate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has created a special arson data collection within its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. The information, consisting of incident-by-incident detail, will allow more varied and innovative analyses of incident characteristics and profiles.
Abstract
The instructions in this handbook will assist persons preparing and submitting Arson Incident Reports and aid administrators in analyzing the statistics resulting from the data base. The chapter on report submission includes information on reporting procedures, identifying data, and referrals to other investigating agencies. Offense data to be included in the report consists of a Fire Department Identification (FDID) or Originating Agency Identifier (ORI), incident number, date of incident, day of week, alarm time, actual or attempted arson, specific property use, estimate value of property damage, area of fire origin, mobile property type, previous classification as suspicious, number of exposure fires, accumulative estimated value of property damage due to exposure fires only, uninhabited or abandoned property, ignition devices, accelerants, and injuries or deaths. Data used to construct offender profiles include status of the arson investigation, arrestee(s), multiple clearance (by arrest) situations, disposition of arrestee(s), sentence, suspected motivation, investigative report/narrative statement, and reporting agency identification. The handbook was prepared in consultation with fire services, law enforcement agencies, and insurance communities.