Beginning January 1, 2020, the Nebraska Crime Commission’s Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) began collecting monthly reports on use of force incidents from law enforcement agencies across the state through the Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System (NCJIS). This information is then submitted to the FBI National Use-Of-Force Data Collection program. The statewide program replaces the requirement for all agencies to be responsible for their own reporting and shifts that responsibility to the Nebraska Crime Commission SAC.
The National Use-of-Force Data Collection is a component of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program that is used by law enforcement agencies to report a law enforcement use of force that results in a fatality, serious bodily injury to a person, or the discharge of a firearm at or in the direction of a person. The definition of serious bodily injury is based in part on 18 United States Code 2246 (4) and means “bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.”
In addition to collecting incident reports for any uses of force as described above, the SAC also collects Zero Reports from agencies who do not have any uses of force to report for the month. These Zero Reports help to ensure statewide compliance with reporting requirements and make up the vast majority of reports received.
