Not long after taking office, Donald Trump expressed his interest in launching an anti-crime crackdown, and it was going to start in Washington, D.C.
There were some high-profile violent crimes taking place regularly, despite claims that the capital's crime rate was actually plummeting.
Take this for what it is worth, but word just got out that the D.C. police chief just resigned amid a probe into allegations that officials were juking the crime stats in the city.
City officials can make the numbers dance to say whatever they want simply by reclassifying certain types of crimes.
If you were a fan of The Wire, its characters set the playbook for moving the numbers around to make crime stats appear far better than they really were. Yes, it was fictional, but I can tell you from my days in the hotel industry, stats can be just about whatever you want them to be when you're controlling the books.
What matters most is perception, and D.C. residents did not have a very good impression of what was taking place in their city.
According to a Washington Post survey, “Black residents and lower-income residents [were] significantly more worried about crime than White residents and those with higher incomes. As they were last year, Black women are among the most concerned, with 65 percent saying crime is a very or extremely serious issue, compared with 82 percent who said the same last year.”
In August, it was announced that a probe would be launched to see if the posted crime statistics were accurate or if they had been tweaked to appear more favorable.
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) stated, “The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating disturbing allegations that D.C. crime data is inaccurate and intentionally manipulated, potentially at the direction of Metropolitan Police Department leadership.”
He continued, “MPD has a duty under federal and local law to accurately report crime to the public. However, in May, MPD placed Third District Commander Michael Pulliam on administrative leave following allegations that he altered crime reports. Unfortunately, this practice does not appear to be isolated, nor is it a recent development.”
Comer concluded, “MPD recently entered into a settlement agreement related to allegations that senior MPD officials were engaged in falsifying crime statistics to artificially lower reported crime rates. In light of these reports and a related whistleblower disclosure made to the Committee, the Committee requests documents and information, as well as transcribed interviews with the District Commanders of each of the seven patrol districts, including Commander Pulliam, to assist its investigation of this matter.”
D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith seems to think that the hammer is about to fall, stating, "There comes a time when you just know it's time.”
She continued, "I am deeply humbled, grateful, and deeply appreciative of my time with the District of Columbia. Serving as Chief of Police has been the greatest honor of my career, and I want to extend my sincere thanks to Mayor Muriel Bowser for appointing me to this position and to the D.C. Council for their steadfast support throughout my tenure.”
A hardline progressive is likely to win the next mayoral election, so why Smith would bolt is a mystery other than the obvious.
She claims that she would never alter the stats, but I will believe that after I see the congressional report on what the numbers should be. I can only say what I was seeing every day, reading the crime reports out of D.C., and from the outside looking in, it did not seem like crime was dropping as officials kept claiming. We will all find out soon enough.
