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CMPD Fuzzy Math Crime Stats

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crime picA new community survey lends demonstrable evidence supporting what has to-date been a fairly nebulous, yet pervasive public sentiment: There exists a large disconnect between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police statistics that show a steady reduction in crime and what many citizens view as the reality of every-day life on the streets.

Police Chief Rodney Monroe, almost from the day he landed in Charlotte, has been trotting out monthly crime stats that have wooed city councilmembers and drawn headlines for the city’s purported reduction in violent and property crimes. CMPD was at it again this week, releasing statistics that showed overall crime down 15 percent year-to-date through March.

At the same time, results from a community survey reveal a decidedly different trend: 75 percent of the survey’s 500 respondents felt crime in Charlotte remained a serious or very serious problem; 42 percent said that Charlotte’s crime problem has gotten worse over the last two years; and 38 percent believed crime levels have not changed.

The results of the survey, which was conducted by the grassroots group Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte and polled people from all parts of the community, begs a question that has been floated before: Is CMPD cooking its crime stat books?

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2 Comments for “CMPD Fuzzy Math Crime Stats”

  1. Rumour has it, that crime reporting has changed under new leadership. Where previously 5 car breakins in an apartment complex would show as 5 breakins, now they are reported as one.

    It’s all in the management of statistics.

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  2. [...] or are the local numbers more attributable to his aggressive use of CompStat reporting and the controversy it invariably [...]

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