Frequently Asked Questions
The data found on Crime in Rhode Island Online represents crime reported to local and state law enforcement agencies and is not an exhaustive report of all crime that occurs. It is important to consider the various factors that lead to crime activity and crime reporting in a community before interpreting the data. Without these considerations the available data can be deceiving. Factors to consider include population size and density, economic conditions, employment rates, prosecutorial, judicial, and correctional policies, administrative and investigative emphases of law enforcement, citizens’ attitudes toward crime and policing, and the effective strength of the police force.
The Anomaly Reports go a step beyond the FBI’s validation rules and display incidents that may need additional attention to verify that the incident correctly reflects the details of the crime. These incidents may be correct as they are, but contain an unusual combination of data elements which may generate an FBI request for incident verification or correction.