When the FBI released preliminary 2007 statistics Monday showing that violent crime has decreased across the country, one major city was absent from the totals: Washington, D.C.
D.C. police weren’t able to supply the FBI with crime numbers because the department was still installing a new automated record-keeping system, spokeswoman Traci Hughes said. Police Chief Cathy Lanier ordered the new system last year after 11,000 police reports were left out of the 2006 crime totals reported to the FBI. When the FBI included the new statistics, the city’s reported crime rate jumped from a 1 percent decrease to a 9 percent increase.
The department could have met the FBI’s deadline for the preliminary figures this year, but it wanted to make sure the numbers were correct, Hughes said. Their numbers will be in the FBI’s final report in the fall, she added.
“We were very pleased with the fruits of our efforts,” Hughes said. “For the first time in several years, the Uniform Crime Reporting data was consistent with that reported under D.C. Code statutes.”
Of the 50 most populated U.S. cities, D.C. was the only municipality that declined to submit crime totals.
Kristopher Baumann, chair of the D.C. police union, said inaccurate statistics contribute to the city’s crime problems.
“We’re running around throwing money and manpower in the wrong places at the wrong time,” Baumann said.
The FBI would like to have D.C.’s numbers, but the agency understands there are situations that prevent departments from participating, bureau spokesman William Carter said.
“It’s not unprecedented,” he added.
D.C.’s record-keeping woes stem from its use of two databases, police said. One contains information entered each morning to update commanders. The other database has information from reports sometimes written weeks and months after the crime.
