Brooklyn's 81st Precinct probed by NYPD for fudging stats

Very disheartening, but maybe not that surprising.

A police officer in Bed-Stuy (a Brooklyn neighborhood not too far from ours) recently reported his OWN PRECINCT to internal affairs for fudging crime reports.

Seems like the police officers in the 81st precinct are not that interested in taking reports for serious crimes--including robbery, rape and felony assault.

According to the officer who reported to internal affairs, there has always been some amount of report mishandling in the precinct but it became markedly worse when a new commanding officer, Mauriello, took charge in 2008.

Looking at the numbers provided by the precinct, you do have to wonder about the marked decreases in reported crimes.

There is always the possibility that the area has simply become safer..but I somehow doubt that's the case when during the same period the city was forced to cut funding and the NYPD lost several thousand officers to retirement, low recruiting etc. It just doesn't seem that fewer officers+ less money should = less crime.

This allegation seems to have some anecdotal support (the newspaper found several sources), as well as a general feeling from city residents that police officers definitely try to avoid taking reports for certain types of crimes (including rape).

Although I find this beyond frustrating, it does tie in slightly to my thesis.
So at least I can feel annoyed/slightly productive at the same time.