A controversial report reveals that high-ranking officers at the New York Police Department (NYPD) have consistently manipulated crime statistics in a bid to show the city as safe and secure.
According to two criminologists, who recently launched a probe into the department, the intense pressure to secure annual crime reductions prompted NYPD bosses to make “ethically inappropriate” changes to complaints of crimes.
Both New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, have used the manipulated data to portray New York as much safer than other cities in the US, reportedThe New York Times on Sunday.
In one particular case, precinct commanders or aides were dispatched to crime scenes to persuade victims not to file complaints or even to urge them to change their accounts in ways that could result in the downgrading of offenses to lesser crimes.
“Those people in the CompStat era felt enormous pressure to downgrade index crime, which determines the crime rate, and at the same time they felt less pressure to maintain the integrity of the crime statistics,” said John A. Eterno, a retired New York City police captain who helped carry out the probe.
The findings of the probe have drawn a sharp response from the Police Department, which has cast doubt on its methodology ever since the survey came to light.
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3 Responses
Thanx a lot Mr. Maya! This is how he will justify cutting the budget of the NYPD.
The way this mayor runs the city as his own personal territory, it does not surprise me that he would use manipulated and fake statistics to proclaim that the city has (in effect because of his liberal policies)an ever lowering crime rate.
The more statistics are hidden the more undemocratic America becomes. There are many other crime statistics that are being hiddedn by the justice dept also.