Why do crime classifications change?
A. As additional facts about a case are learned, they can cause the crime classification initially assigned by the preliminary investigator to change. Cases can even be unfounded, which means that further investigation reveals that a crime did not occur at all. (For example, a citizen returns from vacation and finds her lawn mower missing, which she reports to the police. Later, she learns that her son borrowed the lawn mower, and that it was not stolen: no crime occurred.) Due to these changes, long-term comparisons of crime information obtained from this web site will not be reliable.
