San Jose Police Department releases new crime data dashboard

The San Jose Police Department has a new publicly accessible dashboard that aims to offer the public a more comprehensive look at crime data moving forward.

The dashboard, announced July 5, shows citywide crime data broken down by month from April 2023 to the present and is updated monthly. The “NIBRS Crime Statistics” program reflects a nationwide shift in how police departments report crime data.

Since the 1960s, police departments including the San Jose Police Department, used a summary report system to report crimes, but it generally counted only the most severe offenses when multiple crimes had taken place at an incident, and data was reported to the public as an aggregate monthly tally.

Police departments around the country have since adopted the new National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), preferred by the FBI. The system has more specificity, collects more detailed information and contextualizes specific crime problems, according to the FBI. It also adds categories such as animal cruelty, extortion and identity theft. Although the old system ended in 2021, it has taken police departments time to make the switch.

NIBRS offers a more comprehensive look at crime trends, but the transition comes with a couple of drawbacks: You can’t compare data between the two systems — it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison — and crime statistics may appear inflated or higher than normal, because more crimes are included, according to the department.

Access the dashboard here.