LAPD records reveal flaws in crime reporting

Burglary case downgraded to vandalism

In Feb­ru­ary 2013, sus­pects forced entry in­to a home and gar­age, steal­ing $1,400 worth of ap­pli­ances from the gar­age. Po­lice ini­tially re­por­ted the case as a burg­lary. Later, an LAPD de­tect­ive down­graded it to van­dal­ism, a minor crime that does not get coun­ted in the city’s ser­i­ous prop­erty crime stat­ist­ics. LAPD of­fi­cials de­clined to com­ment on this case.