The police can't charge. It is outside of their legal authority. All they can do is investigate and present evidence to the prosecutor. The police have discrection, in that they are not supposed to bother the prosecutor unless they have probable cause. In this case, the police were dumping off a hot potatoe (Hi Dan Quayle!). If they hadn;t forwarded the investigation, the press and Fields would have accused the police of plying politics with a crime. They may do that to the prosecutor, we'll see tomorrow or whenever the prosecutor announces his decision.
Yeah I think we’re talking the same thing. “Charge” is the convenient notion and it’s used repeatedly. So for example in Criminal Defence Lawyer published by NOLO:
“If the police arrest the accused person, the prosecutor will review the police report and determine whether the government can proceed on the charges. “
I think we mean the same thing. But good points.