Lies, more lies, and the Baltimore Mayor's damned statistics - Day 4
An ongoing compilation of the coverage of O'Malley's use of false/misleading crime statistics.
"On a scale of one to 10 -- . . . 10 being the best -- how would you characterize the accuracy of the city's crime reporting since 2000? "Mayor Martin O'Malley replies: "I would say we're somewhere north of a 9.8."
February 14, 2006
The most notable -- and shocking -- report yet. Again, Jayne Miller of WBAL TV files a report noting that the State Medical Examiner's Officer counted 275 homicides in Baltimore for 2005 (not including justifiable homicides and inmates murdered while in detention). No big deal, we had 274 in 2004. The shocking part - O'Malley's police department reported that Baltimore had 269 homicides for 2004. What gives?
[A City Paper reader was suspicious back in 2003 of 'fixing' the homicide numbers. Read Jack Stout, Jr.'s letter to the paper about an increase in the number of "suspicious deaths" that corresponded to a decrease in homicides under O'Malley's watch. He cites an example of "one situation [where] the State Fire Marshal's Office considered a death to be a homicide, but the city police department listed it as suspicious" and did not include it in the homicide totals.]
Miller reports that "Police commanders said three of those cases involve the timing of homicide rulings by medical examiners. They continue to check the medical examiners numbers for an explanation of the remaining difference."
The WBAL report also says that O'Malley will not ask for an independent audit and that he had not seen the WBAL report on underreporting crimes. They then provided him with a transcript.
Also, WBAL reports that "police officers in different parts of the city have described to the 11 News I-Team pressure from commanders to underreport incidents or make no record at all. These officers did not want to be identified because of the positions they hold."
More reports of politicians questioning O'Malley's crime statistics. This article in the Sun focuses on the political catfight between Duncan and O'Malley and rehashes the previous stories on the subject. Not much substance here. (Article by Andrew A. Green and Jennifer Skalka). The Washington Post has a similar article with more quotes by Duncan, such as: "I am accusing him of misrepresenting the facts," and "Asking people to believe the numbers while they see the problems with their own eyes is not leadership." The article then references the audit O'Malley did when he first entered office that raised crime statistics. (Reported by John Wagner and Tim Craig).
"On a scale of one to 10 -- . . . 10 being the best -- how would you characterize the accuracy of the city's crime reporting since 2000? "Mayor Martin O'Malley replies: "I would say we're somewhere north of a 9.8."
February 14, 2006
The most notable -- and shocking -- report yet. Again, Jayne Miller of WBAL TV files a report noting that the State Medical Examiner's Officer counted 275 homicides in Baltimore for 2005 (not including justifiable homicides and inmates murdered while in detention). No big deal, we had 274 in 2004. The shocking part - O'Malley's police department reported that Baltimore had 269 homicides for 2004. What gives?
[A City Paper reader was suspicious back in 2003 of 'fixing' the homicide numbers. Read Jack Stout, Jr.'s letter to the paper about an increase in the number of "suspicious deaths" that corresponded to a decrease in homicides under O'Malley's watch. He cites an example of "one situation [where] the State Fire Marshal's Office considered a death to be a homicide, but the city police department listed it as suspicious" and did not include it in the homicide totals.]
Miller reports that "Police commanders said three of those cases involve the timing of homicide rulings by medical examiners. They continue to check the medical examiners numbers for an explanation of the remaining difference."
The WBAL report also says that O'Malley will not ask for an independent audit and that he had not seen the WBAL report on underreporting crimes. They then provided him with a transcript.
Also, WBAL reports that "police officers in different parts of the city have described to the 11 News I-Team pressure from commanders to underreport incidents or make no record at all. These officers did not want to be identified because of the positions they hold."
More reports of politicians questioning O'Malley's crime statistics. This article in the Sun focuses on the political catfight between Duncan and O'Malley and rehashes the previous stories on the subject. Not much substance here. (Article by Andrew A. Green and Jennifer Skalka). The Washington Post has a similar article with more quotes by Duncan, such as: "I am accusing him of misrepresenting the facts," and "Asking people to believe the numbers while they see the problems with their own eyes is not leadership." The article then references the audit O'Malley did when he first entered office that raised crime statistics. (Reported by John Wagner and Tim Craig).
posted by InsiderOut at 3:37 PM
1 Comments:
9.8, that's hilarious!
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