Ferguson police say rape reports were coded to federal standards; chief promises records check after news article

Ferguson Township’s police chief told the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 3 that the department reports sexual-assault offenses to the federal Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system according to federal definitions, and pledged to produce records showing when internal coding changes were made.

Chief Matthew Wilson said the department follows a multi-disciplinary sexual-assault response model and that case charging is determined by evidence and consultation with the district attorney’s office. “The Ferguson Township Police Department is correctly reporting rapes to the Uniform Crime Reporting System based on the federal definition,” Wilson said during the board presentation.

Why it matters: A recent Spotlight PA article prompted questions about whether some offenses were coded in a way that reduced the number of recorded rapes in regional UCR data. Residents and board members asked whether past entries can be corrected and whether clearance statistics align with case outcomes. Those differences change public-facing crime counts and can influence research, victim expectations and policy debates.

What the chief said: Wilson described the department’s practice of assigning sexual‑assault offenses to detectives, working with victim‑service providers and forwarding evidence to the district attorney for charging decisions. He said some neighboring agencies transitioned their coding at different times, that Ferguson appears to have updated coding earlier than some borough departments, and that the state records system limits how far back entries can be retroactively edited. He asked the public to raise specific questions about any monthly board report entries and offered to provide clarifying follow-up.

Board questions and follow-up: Supervisors pressed for precise dates and documentation showing when Ferguson changed its coding practices. Supervisor Wright asked whether local clearance categories match the seven federal clearance reasons and whether monthly board reports could show arrest vs. exceptional clearance breakdowns. The chief said locally the department tracks arrests and exceptional clearances and that he will "look in [the] RMS system" to identify when changes were made and, if helpful, provide a written memo or data export.

Public reaction: Residents and advocates urged transparency and emphasized human consequences. Christa Sholly, a Ferguson Township resident, said the “crime data being presented inaccurately is very misleading to the public” and stressed that coding differences are not just statistics but affect victims’ lives.

Next steps: Chief Wilson said he would review records-management entries to identify the date coding changed and to provide the board with evidence; the manager and supervisors discussed using the board report and the UCR public site as places to surface questions. Wilson also noted that Pennsylvania’s planned transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) will change reporting formats in coming years.

The board did not take formal action on the issue at the meeting; supervisors asked staff to follow up and the chief committed to supplying documentation and to spot-check future coding.