Data Reporting
Crime Data Explorer
Definition: The FBI's public web tool and API for accessing detailed crime statistics from the UCR program, available at crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov.
In Detail
The Crime Data Explorer (CDE) is the FBI's interactive, public-facing platform for accessing Uniform Crime Reporting data. Launched to improve transparency and public access to crime statistics, the CDE provides downloadable datasets, interactive charts, and an API for programmatic access. It replaces the older method of publishing static PDF reports with a dynamic, queryable system. The CDE offers data at national, state, and agency (local police department) levels for various crime types, covering multiple years of historical data. Users can explore trends over time, compare jurisdictions, and download raw datasets for their own analysis. CrimeContext sources its data from the CDE API, processing the raw agency-level data into city-level per-capita rates, trend calculations, and Safety Context Scores. The CDE API provides endpoints for offense data, arrest data, police employee data, and other statistics by agency, state, or national level. While the CDE is a powerful tool, it requires some expertise to use effectively, the data comes in raw form without the contextual framing that CrimeContext adds (per-capita normalization, national average comparisons, trend analysis, and safety grading). The CDE is maintained by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division, the same entity responsible for the overall UCR program. It represents a significant step toward making government crime data more accessible to the general public, researchers, journalists, and policymakers. Users should be aware that CDE data typically has a 1-2 year lag from the current date, as the FBI must collect, validate, and process submissions from thousands of agencies before publishing.
Related Terms
The FBI program that collects and publishes crime data from law enforcement agencies across the United States, serving as the primary national crime database.
The modernized FBI crime reporting system that captures detailed data on each criminal incident, replacing the older Summary Reporting System.
The standardized system of crime data definitions and collection procedures used by law enforcement agencies to report crime statistics to the FBI.
The number of crimes per 100,000 residents in a given area, allowing fair comparison between communities of different sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "Crime Data Explorer" mean in crime statistics?
The FBI's public web tool and API for accessing detailed crime statistics from the UCR program, available at crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov.
Why is crime data explorer important for understanding crime data?
The Crime Data Explorer (CDE) is the FBI's interactive, public-facing platform for accessing Uniform Crime Reporting data. Launched to improve transparency and public access to crime statistics, the CDE provides downloadable datasets, interactive charts, and an API for programmatic access. It replaces the older method of publishing static PDF reports with a dynamic, queryable system.
this entity is one of the U.S. city and county crime rates concepts that recurs across this site. The definition above is the technical answer; the paragraphs below add the practical context for how the concept connects to the the FBI UCR/NIBRS dataset data behind every per-entity page on the site.
In the the FBI UCR/NIBRS dataset data, this concept shapes one or more of the fields that drive the per-entity grades and rankings on this site. The methodology page describes which fields feed into which output; this glossary entry documents the underlying term.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, 2026.