Data Collection

The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) collects existing data from four major sources:

• death certificates;
• coroner/medical examiner reports;
• police reports; and
• crime laboratories.

NVDRS collects detailed information on victims and offenders, including;

• demographics;
• substance use;
• relationship of victim to offender;
• circumstances leading to the injury;
• whether the event occurred at home or work;
• date and location of the incident; and
• weapon type.

An incident-based, relational database collects and stores the data and is available free of charge from NVDRS (see Public Use Datasets below). Unlike the existing national data systems, such as death certificates and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports, NVDRS can identify specific subtypes of violence, such as combination murder-suicides and assault weapon shootings, and can identify cases of intimate partner violence and child abuse deaths with more precision. Data are available to researchers, policymakers, and others so they can better understand and evaluate avenues to prevent interpersonal violence and suicide.

Data about the victim, mechanism of injury/death, incident circumstances, and potential suspects can be used to better understand the potentials and limits of education, mental health and social services, safety regulations, and criminal prosecution in reducing and preventing various violent injuries.

Public Use Datasets

A significant amount of NVDRS data is published by CDC or is released to the general public according to the terms of the general data use agreement. This Public Use Dataset (PUD) is available at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data * website. Users can search by study number or by title.

2003 National Violent Death Reporting System (study #4573)  *

2004 National Violent Death Reporting System (study #4574) *  

2005 National Violent Death Reporting System (study #4704) *  

Restricted Access Dataset

Restricted data contain confidential information that could lead to disclosure of the identity of suspects and victims. CDC protects these data by maintaining them on a secure, non-networked server. Individuals who apply for and complete a restricted access data agreement may obtain access to these data for legitimate research purposes. The application and agreement spell out the conditions of use pertaining to confidentiality and the measures required for keeping the restricted datasets physically safe when in the researcher's possession.

Applying for Restricted Data: Questions and Answers