Statistics are a set of numbers. Like any other set of numbers, there are multiple ways of massaging them.
The baseline reality is that D.C. is a dangerous place to be. Everyone who works or lives there already knows it. And there’s plenty of reporting on the subject. Is that anecdotal? To a degree. Incidents are anecdotal. A general state of affairs is just reality. The media’s ‘fact checks’ or more accurately ‘narrative spins’ rely on the Metro police self-reported crime statistics. Every actual reporter knows how many ways those can be shaped and reshaped. And when it comes to D.C., that’s not arm waving conspiracy theories, it’s what the cops themselves are saying about their bosses.
The president questioned MPD crime statistics at the White House on Monday. Overnight, the head of the DC Police Union told why he also distrusts the statistics.
Last month, News4’s Paul Wagner broke the news that the commander of MPD’s 3rd District was suspended after MPD said he was changing crime statistics to minimize serious crimes. Trump brought up the allegations in his news conference, and the White House linked to News4’s reporting in a press release titled “Yes, D.C. crime is out of control,” accusing MPD of cooking the books to make crime statistics appear more favorable.
DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC News’ Garrett Haake that he doubts the drop in crime is as large as D.C. officials are touting.
“There’s a, potentially, a drop from where we were in 2023. I think that there’s a possibility that crime has come down. But the department is reporting that in 2024, crime went down 35% — violent crime – and another 25% through August of this year. That is preposterous to suggest that cumulatively we’ve seen 60-plus percent drops in violent crime from where we were in ’23, because we’re out on the street. We know the calls we’re responding to,” he said.
Is crime down from BLM era highs? Probably. But those were already highs. And the ‘fact checks’ that all quote Jeff Asher, the same guy brought in to prop up Biden’s false claims of the lowest crime rates ever discredit themselves.
It’s gonna take a while to undo the previous tampering with FBI crime statistics under Biden, but if departments try to undercharge crimes, fail to solve them and dismiss them, to poison the statistics, not much can be done about it.
But, as Biden found out, you can’t fool people about what they know. You can’t fake a good economy or public safety. And you certainly can’t fake a safe D.C.
