Methodology

Cases are sourced from publicly available records including law enforcement press releases, court filings, local and regional news reporting, and official government announcements. Who We Trust does not rely on anonymous tips as the sole basis for inclusion.

Each case requires at least one verifiable public source — a named law enforcement agency, a court record, or a news outlet with an identified reporter and publication. Social media posts, unverified claims, and rumor are not accepted as primary sources.

When a source is later corrected or retracted, the corresponding record is reviewed and updated or removed accordingly. Source corrections are noted in the case record where possible.

A case qualifies for inclusion when an individual holding a position of public trust — including law enforcement, education, clergy, healthcare, military, or elected and appointed government office — has been arrested or formally charged with a criminal offense.

The position of trust must be current or recent at the time of the arrest or charge. Individuals who held a qualifying position in the distant past but have no current connection to that role are generally not included.

Charges must be criminal in nature. Civil matters, administrative actions, licensing disputes, and internal disciplinary proceedings do not qualify for inclusion on their own, though they may be noted as context in a case record.

Cases involving minors as defendants are not included regardless of the position held.

Each weekly reporting period documents qualifying arrests and new criminal charges that became publicly known during that week. The verified weekly total reflects only those events — it is not a raw database count.

Later-stage case developments — sentencings, convictions, guilty pleas, arraignments, and other dispositions — are tracked separately under Case Developments and do not count toward the weekly arrest and new-charge total. A case that was arrested in Week 1 and sentenced in Week 4 contributes one count to Week 1 only.

Database record counts may differ from verified weekly totals. A date field alone does not determine whether a record qualifies for a given week's count — editorial review is required. Unverified periods display database record counts as reference only and are clearly labeled as pending review.

Verified totals are set editorially and are not automatically recalculated when new records are imported. If a verified total changes due to a correction, the change is noted in the relevant weekly report section.

WWT Number: A unique sequential identifier assigned by Who We Trust to each documented case. Numbers are assigned in the order cases are added to the database and do not reflect the severity or chronological order of the underlying offense.

Site Import ID: A stable internal identifier used to track each record across database imports and updates. Site Import IDs are never reassigned or reused.

Arrest Date: The date of the documented arrest as reported by the primary source. If no arrest date is available but a formal charge date is, the charge date is used.

New Legal Action Date: The date of a subsequent criminal charge, indictment, or other new legal action following the initial arrest. This field is used to track case developments that represent new criminal exposure beyond the original charge.

Calculated Reporting Week: The weekly reporting period to which a record has been assigned based on editorial review. This may differ from the raw arrest date if the case became publicly known in a different week.

Profession Category: A standardized classification assigned to each case based on the individual's stated profession. Categories are: Law Enforcement, Education, Clergy, Healthcare, Military, Government / Officials, and Other.

PENDING records: Cases that have been identified and are being prepared for publication but have not yet been assigned an official WWT number. These records appear in the database with a PENDING Site Import ID and a null WWT number.

All individuals documented in the Who We Trust database are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. An arrest or criminal charge is an allegation — it is not a finding of guilt.

Who We Trust documents the existence of arrests and charges as matters of public record. The presence of a case in this database does not constitute an endorsement of the allegations, a judgment of guilt, or an assertion that the underlying conduct occurred.

Case status is updated as developments become publicly known. Acquittals, dismissals, and not-guilty verdicts are noted in the case record. If a case is dismissed or charges are dropped, the record is updated to reflect that outcome and may be removed from active counts.

If you believe a record contains an error — including an incorrect name, date, charge description, or case status — contact us using the information on the About page. Correction requests are reviewed and addressed as promptly as possible.

The Who We Trust database is updated on a rolling basis as new cases are documented and existing cases develop. Weekly reports are published after editorial review of qualifying cases for that period.

When a correction is made to a published record, the record is updated in place. Significant corrections — such as a change to a verified weekly total or the removal of a case — are noted in the relevant weekly report.

Historical data may be revised as additional sourcing becomes available or as errors are identified. The database reflects the most current verified information at the time of viewing.