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Common problem Under no circumstances should a case be considered cleared if a prosecutor determines there is not enough evidence to support charges, an FBI representative said. Even if an arrest was made. "That's a common problem with a lot of law enforcement agencies," said Darrin Moore, a Uniform Crime Report training instructor with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services division. "They may be clearing them administratively within their department, but for UCR crime reporting, those should not be cleared or viewed as cleared offenses." In 2004, for example, records show that prosecutors turned down more than a dozen San Bernardino murder cases. Though the Police Department reported 30 clearances and 50 murders that year, charges were filed in less than 20 of the cases, according to San Bernardino County court records. Another case was cleared by the suspect's death. The disparity casts new light on the 58 percent clearance rate that San Bernardino police reported to the FBI from 2000 to 2006. In that same time, just under 50 percent of murders -- or dozens of fewer cases -- led to charges filed or met the standards for what is known as an "exceptional-means clearance." That is when enough evidence for charges exists but the suspect dies or another unforeseeable obstacle arises before prosecution can occur.