Possible Hearings On Police Report Manipulation

from lempkin's flickr

A day after a Brooklyn cop accused police officers in Bedford Stuyvesant's 81st Precinct of under-reporting crimes and turning away victims in an effort to improve crime statistics, a Queens politician says he's heard the same allegations from other officers—but they won't testify for fear of retribution.

"Crime numbers should never be manipulated," said Councilman and Public Safety Committee chair Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens), who is best known for his vocal stances against graffiti, roll gates, and stunts. "If there were credible allegations made by police officers who would testify, it would be something we would seriously consider holding hearings on."

Embattled Officer Adrian Schoolcraft has accused cops of downgrading felonies to misdemeanors and refusing to file crime reports to lower the precinct's crime rate. But so far, an NYPD Quality Assurance Division probe of 1,200 crime complaints filed in 81st Precinct hasn't revealed anything alarming, according to a police spokesman. The Daily News reports that the review has actually determined that the stationhouse improperly classifies a "significantly lower" percentage of crimes than the citywide average of 1.5 percent. That said, the investigation won't take into account instances in which cops turned away victims who wanted to file police reports.

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By Ben Muessig in News on February 3, 2010 2:30 PM

Comments [rss]

hunter.blatherer

Yes, but how does the real estate industry feel about doing a hearing like this one?

ANGRYGOD11

If we had a real democracy in this city, then the City Council would be forcing cops to testify under oath. They would have the right to remain silent, but that would also rattle some cages.

the3rdbridge

FINALLY

Guest

Wait till they find out that cops arrest homeless people and charge them with whatever crime the precint is low on for the month to make COMPSTAT Numbers look good. The whole system is shit. This whole Vallone inquiry is bullshit. He is part of the reason why this thing occurs. The city has bullshit laws, the politicians pressure the Police Commissioner to enforce them. He then turns to the Precinct Commanding Officers to enforce these laws. They then turn to the Lieutenants and Sargents to Pressure cops into making arrests and writing summonses or else they get "punished". Shit rolls downhill. So glad i left all that bullshit

jaycjay

The way to lower crime stats: legalize drugs. It worked for Bunny Colvin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4j_oSeWZyU

(audio NSFW)

Doctor Memory

Hah, that episode was my first thought as well.

Major Colvin: "You can reclassify an agg assault and you can unfound a robbery. But how do you make a body disappear?"

Deputy of Ops Burrell: "Anyone who can't bring the numbers we need will be replaced by someone who can."