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Descriptive statistics by Washington pursuit-law period

What were the unadjusted theft levels and Washington-to-U.S. rate ratios in each pursuit-law period?

Coverage: 2018-01-01 through 2025-12-01 (96 calendar months)

Node: dataset:washington-motor-vehicle-theft-analysis:1:analysis:policy-period-comparison

Contained in Washington Motor-Vehicle-Theft Trend Analyses, 2018–2025.

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What this dataset measures

The published source dataset preserves the curated tables and provenance. This derived publication adds immutable, chart-ready structured results so articles and reusable charts can cite exact calculations without treating descriptive timing as causal evidence.

Geography
Washington State, United States
Unit of observation
One calendar month for the principal Washington and United States series; one calendar year or one legal-policy period in derived tables.
Update cadence
Immutable research release; refreshes require a new version because FBI historical values may be revised.
Curator
FactHub Research Team

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

  • fbi-cde-wa-mvt-2018-2025.json Source · application/json · 19.2 KB (19,634 bytes)

    Immutable FBI Crime Data Explorer API response retained as the source snapshot for this release.

  • README.md Documentation · text/markdown · 8.4 KB (8,633 bytes)

    Dataset purpose, source selection, article use, file guide, build instructions, and acquisition priorities.

  • quality-report.md Quality report · text/markdown · 5.1 KB (5,177 bytes)

    Definitions, automated checks, reporting coverage, conflicting official values, limitations, and publication cautions.

  • source-audit.md Documentation · text/markdown · 7.9 KB (8,085 bytes)

    Audit of official public sources, their suitability, discrepancies, and the source hierarchy used for this release.

  • release-manifest.json Source manifest · application/json · 3 KB (3,046 bytes)

    Release metadata and SHA-256 digests for the original research artifacts.

  • build.ps1 Transformation manifest · text/x-powershell · 9.8 KB (10,008 bytes)

    Executable acquisition, transformation, validation, summary, and digest-generation recipe.

Saved analyses

Descriptive statistics by Washington pursuit-law period

Question: What were the unadjusted theft levels and Washington-to-U.S. rate ratios in each pursuit-law period?

Result: Four rows of unadjusted averages with transition months excluded and causal interpretation prohibited.

Operation: average-full-month-observations-by-legal-period

Scope: Full calendar months in four legal periods from January 2018 through December 2025.

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  • Periods differ in duration and coincide with major confounders.
  • Differences are not estimates of offenses caused or prevented by law.

Derived from

This dataset uses data from these FactHub dataset versions.

Sources

  1. Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer Principal source for monthly Washington and United States offenses, clearances, rates, population, and population-coverage values.

    Retrieved October 7, 2026. U.S. federal government data. Retained source response is redistributed for reproducibility with attribution to the FBI Crime Data Explorer.

  2. Washington State Legislature Official source for HB 1054 and its 2021 pursuit-law effective date.

    Retrieved October 7, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked as an official public record; source document bytes are not redistributed in this release.

  3. Washington State Legislature Official session law for SB 5352 and its immediate May 3, 2023 effective date.

    Retrieved October 7, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked as an official public record; source document bytes are not redistributed in this release.

  4. Washington State Legislature Official session law for Initiative 2113 and its June 6, 2024 effective date.

    Retrieved October 7, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked as an official public record; source document bytes are not redistributed in this release.

Limitations and reproducibility

Fully reproducible from the retained FBI API response with Windows PowerShell 5.1 or newer and no additional packages.: The public release includes the immutable source response, transformation and validation script, generated tables, release manifest with SHA-256 digests, source audit, quality report, and build instructions. Running scripts/build.ps1 without -Refresh rebuilds from the retained response; -Refresh intentionally acquires potentially revised source values and therefore requires a new release.

  • The principal series is a statewide aggregate and cannot identify which agencies or counties drove a change.
  • Reported offenses are not necessarily unique stolen vehicles, victims, suspects, arrests, recoveries, or pursuits.
  • The release contains no vehicle make or model and cannot directly measure the Kia and Hyundai theft wave.
  • The release does not measure attempted theft, failures to yield, or incidents in which officers did not initiate a pursuit.
  • The release does not contain police staffing, deployment, prosecution, detention, or task-force activity.
  • FBI source values can be revised after this immutable release.
  • Washington population coverage declines to approximately 95.7%–96.1% in the second half of 2025.
  • The United States series is a descriptive benchmark, not a causal counterfactual for Washington.
  • All three pursuit-law changes occurred during a month; the descriptive period table excludes those transition months.
  • FBI offense totals do not reconcile with separately published WACIC and WATPA stolen-vehicle figures; the measures must not be treated as interchangeable.
  • Policy-period averages are unadjusted, highly confounded descriptions and must not be described as causal effects.