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Scott.Noll@wreg.com
(Memphis, 1/25/2012) Questions are being raised about the accuracy of claims that crime has dropped across Memphis in recent years.
This, after the city’s police director says thousands of crimes could have been misclassified.
The controversy surrounds police memos.
Unlike traditional police reports, memos are not counted in the city’s crime statistics.
The story was first reported by Commercial Appeal reporter Amos Maki.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong says a large number of the 79,000 memos written by officers between January, 2006 and last July could have been criminal reports or investigations.
That means thousands of crimes in the city could have been left out of Memphis’s crime statistics.
The admission only reinforced what some people believed all along.
“Based on what I was experiencing and what they were saying it wasn't adding up,” said Whitehaven resident Cedric Richardson.
“I don't think crime was down,” said Rodney McKnight who lives in Midtown. “Not at all to be honest with you.”
“Every time you walk around, they still had crime on the street,” said Midtown resident Bettye Dotson.
The Shelby County Crime Commission has claimed violent crime dropped 24% across the city since 2006. Today, Commission Chairman Ben Adams admitted he’s concerned by the revelations crimes may have been unreported.
“This does undermine the confidence a bit for right now which is concerning,” admitted Adams. “We need to get to the bottom of it.”
Adams doesn’t think there was an organized effort inside MPD to hide crimes. Instead, he believes that sometimes officers did not have enough information to determine whether or not a crime actually occurred.
“I'm very confident we've reduced crime significantly,” said Adams. “Whether we've reduced it as much as we thought we had, we'll have to wait and see.”
An MPD spokesperson said Director Toney Armstrong was in meetings all day and was not available to talk about the memos.
She has not responded to our request for a listing of crimes covered in the memos.
- Memphis Police use of memos questioned
- Unlike police reports, memos taken by officers are not counted as crimes
- Police director believes large number of cases could have been investigated
Scott.Noll@wreg.com
(Memphis, 1/25/2012) Questions are being raised about the accuracy of claims that crime has dropped across Memphis in recent years.
This, after the city’s police director says thousands of crimes could have been misclassified.
The controversy surrounds police memos.
Unlike traditional police reports, memos are not counted in the city’s crime statistics.
The story was first reported by Commercial Appeal reporter Amos Maki.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong says a large number of the 79,000 memos written by officers between January, 2006 and last July could have been criminal reports or investigations.
That means thousands of crimes in the city could have been left out of Memphis’s crime statistics.
The admission only reinforced what some people believed all along.
“Based on what I was experiencing and what they were saying it wasn't adding up,” said Whitehaven resident Cedric Richardson.
“I don't think crime was down,” said Rodney McKnight who lives in Midtown. “Not at all to be honest with you.”
“Every time you walk around, they still had crime on the street,” said Midtown resident Bettye Dotson.
The Shelby County Crime Commission has claimed violent crime dropped 24% across the city since 2006. Today, Commission Chairman Ben Adams admitted he’s concerned by the revelations crimes may have been unreported.
“This does undermine the confidence a bit for right now which is concerning,” admitted Adams. “We need to get to the bottom of it.”
Adams doesn’t think there was an organized effort inside MPD to hide crimes. Instead, he believes that sometimes officers did not have enough information to determine whether or not a crime actually occurred.
“I'm very confident we've reduced crime significantly,” said Adams. “Whether we've reduced it as much as we thought we had, we'll have to wait and see.”
An MPD spokesperson said Director Toney Armstrong was in meetings all day and was not available to talk about the memos.
She has not responded to our request for a listing of crimes covered in the memos.
