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Standardizing the Display of IBR Data:
Drug Offenses - Property Description

Data Collection

The Property Description is captured, appropriately enough, in the Property segment.   According to the FBI Data Collection Guidelines, this data element should be used to enter descriptions of the property that was burned, counterfeited, destroyed/damaged, etc., as a result of the incident.  Information should be entered when the incident involved one or more of the following offenses:

100 Kidnaping/Abduction 26A False Pretenses/Swindle
120 Robbery 26G Credit Card/ATM Fraud
200 Arson 26C Impersonation
210 Extortion/Blackmail 26D Welfare Fraud
220 Burglary/B&E 26E Wire Fraud
23A Pocket-Picking 270 Embezzlement
23B Purse-Snatching 280 Stolen Property Offenses
23C Shoplifting 290 Destruction/Damage/Vandalism
23D Theft From Building 35A Drug/Narcotic Violations
23E Theft From Coin Machine 35B Drug Equipment Violations
23F Theft From Motor Vehicle 39A Betting/Wagering
23G Theft of Vehicle Parts 39B Operating/Promoting Gambling
23H All Other Larceny 39C Gambling Equipment Violations
240 Motor Vehicle Theft 39D Sports Tampering
250 Counterfeiting/Forgery 510 Bribery

Up to 10 individual entries can be made per incident and there are 42 allowable entries.  These entries are:

01 Aircraft 22 Nonnegotiable Instruments
02 Alcohol 23 Office-type Equipment
03 Automobiles 24 Other Motor Vehicles
04 Bicycles 25 Purses/Handbags/Wallets
05 Buses 26 Radios/TVs/VCRs
06 Clothes/Furs 27 Recordings - Audio/Visual
07 Computer Hard/Software 28 Recreational Vehicles
08 Consumable Goods 29 Single Occupancy Dwellings
09 Credit/Debit Cards 30 Other Dwellings
10 Drugs/Narcotics 31 Structures - Commercial
11 Drug/Narcotic Equipment 32 Structures - Industrial
12 Farm Equipment 33 Structures - Public/Community
13 Firearms 34 Structures - Storage
14 Gambling Equipment 35 Structures - Other
15 Construction/Industrial Equipment 36 Tools
16 Household Goods 37 Trucks
17 Jewelry/Precious Metals 38 Vehicle Parts/Accessories
18 Livestock 39 Watercraft
19 Merchandise 77 Other
20 Money 88 Pending Inventory
21 Negotiable Instruments 99 FBI Designation

The Pending Inventory code should be used if it is impossible to determine the property loss when the incident is reported.  An updated Property Segment should be submitted when the results of the inventory are subsequently determined. 

Data Quality Issues

If a drug is listed in the Drug Type column and there is a property loss type other than 'None', then Drugs/Narcotics should be listed in the Property Description.  A crosstabulation of Drug Type and Property Description shows that for the most part this is true.  For 19,828 property entries (about .6% of property entries), however, a drug is listed in the Drug Type data element but no property description is provided.  If the Drug Type information is correct, then the Drugs/Narcotics property category is underreported.   

This crosstabulation is too large to view in this format.  If you would like to recreate this table using your data in SPSS, download the syntax file.  If you need assistance using this file, please contact JRSA.