Bloomberg: Crime Stat Manipulations are "Tiny"

Bloomberg photo by Oliver 66 on flickr.

Believe it or not, Mayor Bloomberg is insisting that the NYPD's crime statistics are accurate—well, most of the time. "There's always going to be some fudging of the numbers, but it is tiny," the mayor said. "I have an enormous amount of confidence in the data." He also suggested that a study by two criminologists, which showed police precincts routinely fudge their data, may have been biased. According to Bloomberg, it was "paid for by one of the unions, so you've got to start wondering whether it was an independent study."

Actually, although the survey was done in conjunction with the union for superior officers, it was funded by L.I.'s Molloy College, reports the Daily News. Still, for obvious reasons, Bloomberg prefers a 2006 NYU study that gave NYPD CompStat high grades for accuracy, thank you very much. Eli Silverman, who was in charge of the recent survey of over 1,000 retired police higher-ups, dismissed NYU's research: "It's a glorified press release masking as a study."

Of course, as the NY Times points out, Mayor Bloomberg loves statistics. He created 311 as a way to collect data for statistics, he's used statistics to justify school closings and quotes statistics just about every month. “I’m a great believer in the wisdom I learned in my first Wall Street job: In God we trust,” he said at a conference last May. “Everyone else, bring data.”

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Sabrina Jaszi in News on February 9, 2010 11:22 AM

Comments [rss]

Guest

(too afraid to comment...) *whisper* stop manipulating crime stats(!!!)

the3rdbridge

Greenpoint60 is Giuliani's Gothamist handle.

gawkthis

""There's always going to be some fudging of the numbers, but it is tiny,"

There's always going to be some political offices that are bought rather than elected in NYC, but it is tiny..

I guess Mr Bloomberg might be right: I can only think of one elected official in NYC that bought his office in 2009... and he is exceptionally tiny.

Greenpoint60

True, but nobody can buy Bloomberg like the Real Estate interests are buying Cuomo jr

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Don't agree with the Bloomberg but do with Cuomo Jr. Wall St, Real Estate, Trustee have Cuomo Jr in their pockets. This is Mr. HUD after all.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/how-andrew-cuomo-gave-birth-to-the-crisis-at-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/

jaja007

Wow, fake stats for a fake city.. how shocking.. lol NOT

Crime in NYC will always been there, no matter how many SPY cameras they install, now matter how many thousands of police patrol the street. Nyc is now much like a police state, you always have someone watching you and these goofballs (Bloomberg, Giuliani) took away more civil rights than any criminal could have.

Make up some more stats to justify SPYING on people with cameras and police state tactics in your city.. I will keep on laughing at you.

Greenpoint60

You were not here in 1992, I can tell by your remarks

LB

Well, As a Real New Yorker, I knew crime wasn't down . Hell with all these people being robbed left and right how can the NYPD claim crime is down to levels enjoyed in the sixties ! Please , All these people out of work struggling to survive with no end in sight !

Greenpoint60

The 60's were not great either. That is when Comrade John Lindsay began the Great Leap Forward in NYC

Greenpoint60

NY in 1992 was a lot different, you cannot compare it to today. Crime was far worse back then!!

LB

No, It wasn't ! The difference between the two era's is simple . Back around the early nineties we were just coming out of a recession, (If my memory serves me correctly, Smoked a lotta weed back then ! Lol) More importantly, The vast majority of people still had there jobs . All you had to deal with then were a select group of knuckleheads in certain neighborhoods, and the clique random acts of violence . Sad to say, Neighborhoods were "Segregated" unlike today where most neighborhoods are seeing an influx of many different people moving in . (i.e. Bed Stuy, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Greenpoint) Crime levels today haven't really changed from then , The difference is, You Type of person committing the crimes, Types of Crimes, (i.e. Pickpockets, Stick-ups, Home Invasions, Carjackings) . Back in the early nineties You had a wide array of crimes being committed with many having a set purpose . (i.e. Racial Indifference's, Wrong Place, Wrong time, Gang beefs, Robberies that ended in bloodshed, Things of that nature . Those Individuals for the most part are still locked up, Dead, Or are trying live peacefully now .

LB

This From a Little Man in Kolots and Penny lofers ! (Hope I spelled that correctly ) lol

LB

To Continue, It's not that fewer crimes are being committed . It's the level of said crimes being committed, As well as the lack of capable enforcement . Basically, You got a hell of a lotta people for whom don't want to work , & make there living preying on other's, In conjunction with those that lost there jobs, Haven't found new ones , Or make a lot less but with that criminal mindset looking for ways to make extra money . Why do you think so many people (i.e Young people) are trying there hand at Bank Robbing ? There Hungry,/ Starving and have resorted to top level robbery . Crime if anything has Sky-Rocketed out of control . The Powers that be have chosen not to report all the stats and paint that "Pretty Picture " for those looking for that proverbial bright-side .

Greenpoint60

For all the young doubting Thomas’s I suggest you pick ten days at random of the NY Post from 1992 and 2009. Make note of the crime in both years and you will see what I am talking about. 1992 was a year when drive by shootings were considered a normal part of life in NYC. Times Square was a cesspool dominated by porn shops and street hoodlums. Hustlers were waiting outside the bank ATM machine to accost people who withdrew money. The police had there hands tied by Dinkins and the ACLU, that was the problem. Giuliani ended this horror

Greenpoint60

Giuliani does not deserve all the credit for the reduction in NYC crime. He had allies in Washington and Albany.

1- Congress in Washington passed an act in 1993 signed by Clinton that gave local communities more resources to fight crime.

2-Albany under Pataki’s leadership funded more prisons to incarcerate violent drug dealers. When the criminals were off the streets, crime rates fell.

3-Giuliani and Bratten took advantage of these initiatives and instituted an aggressive policing policy of stop and frisk backed up by Compstat

newport27

Crime down? Isn't reality the most accurate reflection of reality? And the reality is that, I read reports of heinous crimes every day. Thank the internet for freeing us from the shackles of mass media.

Greenpoint60

Apparently you were not living in NYC under Dinkins to make such a comment

newport27

are you kidding me? you're not even making any sense. I'm not comparing bloomberg to dinkins. The bottom line is, bloomberg is a crook and a criminal on all possible fronts, he should be kicked out of the country, locked in a box forever, and all the money he stole from NY should be given back to the state under a more responsible, caring leader

Greenpoint60

Dinkins lost the Jewish vote and the election in 1993 because he refused to control the mobs in Crown Heights during Aug. 1991. Jews who had grandparents who fled the pogrom’s of Czarist Russia were outraged by the inactivity of the Police under Dinkins while mobs beat Jews.

handsomedevil

Yeah, so who cares if a lot of random people get dicked over by the current administration. What really matters is an event that happened 20 years ago.