they decided/determined the threat was a hoax.

[jiamajia]

After three hours of thorough searching , the police decided that the threat was a hoax.

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When I heard the news item, I was thinking 'decided' should have been replaced with 'determined'. Please tell me whether 'decided' is as fine in the context as 'determined'. Thank you.

[emsr2d2]

After three hours of thorough searching , the police decided that the threat was a hoax.

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When I heard the news item, I was thinking 'decided' should have been replaced with 'determined'. Please tell me whether 'decided' is as fine in the context as 'determined'. Thank you.

It depends on what (if anything) they found.

If they searched for three hours and simply found nothing to show that the threat was real, then they probably just "decided" it was a hoax.

If, during their search, they found evidence that it was a hoax, then they would have "determined" that it was a hoax.

It seems to me that they "decided" it was a hoax due to a total lack of evidence of either a threat or a hoax.

[jiamajia]

It depends on what (if anything) they found.

If they searched for three hours and simply found nothing to show that the threat was real, then they probably just "decided" it was a hoax.

If, during their search, they found evidence that it was a hoax, then they would have "determined" that it was a hoax.

It seems to me that they "decided" it was a hoax due to a total lack of evidence of either a threat or a hoax.

The whole thing was about a Chinese man calling numerous car owners for money by claiming that explosive devices had been planted in their cars. Some owners dialed for SWAT teams to search their vehicles, which resulted in nothing found.