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New Crime Reporting Methods And Buildings Coming To St. Louis County

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the police department has transitioned to the NIBRS reporting system.
File photo by Bill Greenblatt | UPI
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the police department has transitioned to the NIBRS reporting system.

The St. Louis County Police Department is changing the way it compiles information to include more specific data on reported crimes.

The department has switched from the Uniform Crime Reporting program to the National Incident-Based Reporting System to comply with a national standard, Police Chief Jon Belmar told the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday.

The FBI updated the standard to help officials gather better information on victims of alleged crimes and on the relationship between victims and offenders.

The county police department will be one of the first police departments in Missouri to adopt it, he said.

“This is an issue that police departments across the state are struggling with,” Belmar said.

The FBI has encouraged police departments across the U.S. to use the national system as it gathers detailed data on crime statistics and trends.

Belmar will release a report on gun violence in the county at the February meeting. 

The county police department also will spend $22 million on new offices for the North County and Affton Southwest precincts. Construction will begin in April. The new buildings will include public meeting spaces.

“I imagine it would take us about 12 months, weather dependent, to get these two precincts up and running,” Belmar said.

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Chad Davis is a 2016 graduate of Truman State University where he studied Public Communication and English. At Truman State, Chad served as the executive producer of the on-campus news station, TMN Television. In 2017, Chad joined the St. Louis Public Radio team as the fourth Race and Culture Diversity Fellow. Chad is a native of St. Louis and is a huge hip- hop, r&b, and pop music fan. He also enjoys graphic design, pop culture, film, and comedy.