Lies, more lies, and the Baltimore Mayor's Damned Statistics - Day 17
An ongoing compilation of the coverage of Mayor 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 27, 2006
Baltimore Sun's editor David Nitkin responds to reader questions on this issue. Nitkin blatantly states that "there is no evidence the mayor has lied about crime statistics in Baltimore." What about the false homicide numbers for 2005?! The discrepancy between the Mayor's numbers and the State Medical Examiner's numbers that the Sun refuses to report about. You can make a mistake about homicides...people can count dead bodies...the police have not even come up with an "explanation" for the discrepancy. The only reasonable conclusion is a lie to help Martin for Maryland become governor.
WBAL TV's Jayne Miller continues her intrepid reporting on this issue leading with a story about a man who states that he was carjacked and flagged down a police officer while on the phone with 911 as the carjacker was driving away with his truck. Miller reports that the injured 57 year old retired grocery store clerk was taken to one police station only to be taken to another once police found the crime occurred in a different district. A Sergeant at the new district who just met the man then started interrogating him accusing him of soliciting a prostitute. The Sergeant then threatened to charge him with false statement and told him to leave or they would lock him up. The man left, no crime reported, the truck is not listed as stolen.
The police report about the incident said the man went to the district to report the crime, but kept giving differing versions of the event.
Miller also uncovered a 2004 police directive stating "The mere refusal of the victim to cooperate in an investigation or prosecution cannot be the sole basis to unfound an incident."
Perhaps more significantly, Miller reports about a similar incident the credibility of which is buttressed by a recent jury award of $1 million against the City. Miller reports that "In December 2004, the 70-year-old reported the theft of his van from his southwest Baltimore home" and the responding police officer locked him up for false statement to a police officer because he thought the man was lying.
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 27, 2006
Baltimore Sun's editor David Nitkin responds to reader questions on this issue. Nitkin blatantly states that "there is no evidence the mayor has lied about crime statistics in Baltimore." What about the false homicide numbers for 2005?! The discrepancy between the Mayor's numbers and the State Medical Examiner's numbers that the Sun refuses to report about. You can make a mistake about homicides...people can count dead bodies...the police have not even come up with an "explanation" for the discrepancy. The only reasonable conclusion is a lie to help Martin for Maryland become governor.
WBAL TV's Jayne Miller continues her intrepid reporting on this issue leading with a story about a man who states that he was carjacked and flagged down a police officer while on the phone with 911 as the carjacker was driving away with his truck. Miller reports that the injured 57 year old retired grocery store clerk was taken to one police station only to be taken to another once police found the crime occurred in a different district. A Sergeant at the new district who just met the man then started interrogating him accusing him of soliciting a prostitute. The Sergeant then threatened to charge him with false statement and told him to leave or they would lock him up. The man left, no crime reported, the truck is not listed as stolen.
The police report about the incident said the man went to the district to report the crime, but kept giving differing versions of the event.
Miller also uncovered a 2004 police directive stating "The mere refusal of the victim to cooperate in an investigation or prosecution cannot be the sole basis to unfound an incident."
Perhaps more significantly, Miller reports about a similar incident the credibility of which is buttressed by a recent jury award of $1 million against the City. Miller reports that "In December 2004, the 70-year-old reported the theft of his van from his southwest Baltimore home" and the responding police officer locked him up for false statement to a police officer because he thought the man was lying.
posted by InsiderOut at 1:51 PM
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