LAPD records reveal flaws in crime reporting

Scalding case classified as minor crime

While he slept, James Simpson’s girl­friend al­legedly poured boil­ing wa­ter on him, badly burn­ing his face and back. The case should have been clas­si­fied as an ag­grav­ated as­sault, ac­cord­ing to FBI re­port­ing rules and crime-cod­ing ex­perts. However, the LAPD grouped it in a catch-all cat­egory of “oth­er mis­cel­laneous crime,” which is not in­cluded in the city’s ser­i­ous vi­ol­ent crime stat­ist­ics. LAPD of­fi­cials de­clined to com­ment on this case. Simpson agreed to be in­ter­viewed by The Times.