Friday, May 29, 2009

NYPD's crime numbers real or phony?

From Gothamist:

Though there's been a surge in assaults in some downtown neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, the NYPD says New York's fifteen year decline in crime continues unabated, with an overall drop of 12% so far this year. But some New Yorkers, like Harlem's Kone Mahamadou, tell a different story: "If you walk these streets, especially at night, you know crime is definitely not down. It's not safe. I don't know where they get these statistics." Some say the NYPD's stats are skewed because officers have been known to discourage crime victims from filling out police reports...

9 comments:

M. Bloomturd said...

What? Me Lie?

Anonymous said...

OF COURSE THEY ARE PHONY. TRY PUTTING A REPORT IN AT THE 112. I TRIED TO GET A REPORT AFTER I WAS ASSULTED (SENIOR CITIZEN THROWN AGAINST WALL) AND WAS THREATENED WITH ARREST (I CALLED THE POLICE).

Anonymous said...

COMSTAT is a joke. Always has been. The brass always makes sure that beat cops 'tone down' crimes to improve stats. Battery crimes are down. Well, because the vic will live, make it a misdemeanor!!

Cops will always defend their own. Caps will always defend their precinct. Their survival depends on it. Crime stats are BS. Everyone in the NYPD knows it.

Lino in NYC said...

I have ridden the subways -at night- since the late '70s -the atmosphere changed dramatically in the first few years after Giuliani took over. After NYU I worked in the theater district during the 80s, it was awful during the crack era and I carried something out of necessity.

Several friends did too as the police were only a reaction force, after the fact so, in spite of the laws we did what we had to and hoped not to ever need to use it.

I should not have had to go armed for combat everytime I went to work or dinner afterward. One of the best ways to get weapons off the street is to make it unnecessary to carry one.

Showing that NYC was -not- an out of control "hip-hop" jungle..is the one thing I'll credit him with.


The numbers may be somewhat manipulated, but the city is a lot different in the last 15 years.

Anonymous said...

The rank and file in the NYPD has been shattered. It is cops vs brass, and the brass are not only winning, they are grinding the cops into the ground. Morale is no longer a problem, because there is no morale anymore. Everything from the brass is numbers, numbers, numbers. And above all, KEEP THE CO's CRIME STATS LOW!!!!
Get any cop alone, and they will tell you the same story. God help the cop who comes in with a report for a major crime that couldn't be played with and recatagorized into a lesser offense.
Most, if not all precincts are turning out MAYBE 3 cars per shift, not including a supervisor's car, to cover an entire precinct. Look at local precinct maps, do you think that few cars can adequately cover such large areas? The brass are pushing for more summonses and stop/frisk reports, to make it look like there is massive crimefighting going on. The city is painting traffic agents cars the same color as NYPD cars, to make it look like there are more cops on the street than there really are. Personnel numbers are being played with for the same reason. There is a big class from July 1989 that is hitting its 20 year anniversary. I doubt the miniscule number of recruits currently in the Police Academy be sufficient to replace the large amount of seasoned cops we are about to lose. Eventually, the city and the police brass will no longer to maintain their smoke and mirror illusion.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your post. I recently waited three hours for a cop car after a break-in in my apartment. I swore that my landlord, who I suspected in the break-in, was interfering with the police response.
You put a different face on it.

May God protect you and keep you well. It is always tough to be the "bad guy" and tell people they can't do what they want to do. I hope the city doesn't descend back into the well-remembered chaos of the seventies.

Anonymous said...

They are phony. I have many family memebers that serve high ranking positions in the NYPD and they admit all the time how they "cook the books" and downgrade crimes.
It is routine and has been so since the Guiliani administration.

Anonymous said...

phony, everytime i go to a town meeting and the police come in with their numbers, they start off saying numbers are down but then break in are up in the surrounding area. crime is crime and it's up, so stop b.s. everyone. watch the news, read some clips and how can they say it's down....

Taxpayer said...

What independent agency monitors and audits CompStat, the NYPD crime statistics system?

The long and short answer is NO agency.

How trustworthy are unverified (and unverifiable) statistics?

NOT trustworthy.

Why the pretense?

Because citizens buy these lies.

Thank you, skeptical media!