COMPSTAT is Flawed and Broken

http://www.nycpba.org/publications/mag- ... pstat.html

By Robert Zink


It was a great idea that has been corrupted by human nature. The Compstat program that made NYPD commanders accountable for controlling crime has degenerated into a situation where the police leadership presses subordinates to keep numbers low by any means necessary. The department?s middle managers will do anything to avoid being dragged onto the carpet at the weekly Compstat meetings. They are, by nature, ambitious people who lust for promotions, and rising crime rates won?t help anybody?s career.

The Compstat program was started when crime was at an all-time high, with over 2,000 homicides a year and countless felonies. The program called for the immediate tracking of crime, swift deployment of police resources to problem areas and what Compstat?s creator Jack Maple called relentless follow-up. The only problem is, it didn?t anticipate the ?fudge factor.? That?s the characteristic that allows local commanders to make it look like crime has dropped when it has in fact increased.

In the early days, it was easy for a precinct commander to benefit from Compstat. He or she had crime-ridden neighborhoods where rudimentary policing techniques could bring crime down. Add the increased resources from the Safe Streets/Safe City program, and just paying attention to patterns and putting cops where crime was happening caused stats to fall dramatically. Then add to that the benefit of the gun control effort by the street-crime teams and we?ve made some real and honest impact on crime in New York City.

Of course, when you finally get a real handle on crime, you eventually hit a wall where you can?t push it down any more. Compstat does not recognize that wall so the commanders have to get ?creative? to keep their numbers going down. No mayor or police commissioner wants to be the one holding the bag when crime starts climbing, and no precinct commander wants to be the one to deliver the bad news that he or she doesn?t have enough cops to do the job.

So how do you fake a crime decrease? It?s pretty simple. Don?t file reports, misclassify crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, under-value the property lost to crime so it?s not a felony, and report a series of crimes as a single event.

A particularly insidious way to fudge the numbers is to make it difficult or impossible for people to report crimes ? in other words, make the victims feel like criminals so they walk away just to spare themselves further pain and suffering.

Some commanders even persecute the victims so they stop reporting crimes. In one case, it is alleged that a precinct commander shut down a fast food joint because the manager reported a grand larceny ? someone stole a pocketbook. The precinct commander shut the place down for ?an investigation? during lunch hour. Do you think the manager of that establishment, who relies on his lunchtime income, will ever report a crime again?

The truth is, there are over 5,000 fewer police officers on our streets than there were in 1999. And there is a lot more work to do because of the threat of terrorism. And all along, the bosses have been peddling phony numbers to make everybody feel safe. Our mayor likes to say that the NYPD has been doing more with less. Perception becomes reality. But when people are being put at risk and victimized due to ambitious managers, that?s unacceptable.

We?re asking every PBA member to share with their delegates the hard evidence of crimes being downgraded so we can save this department from itself.

[quote=Anonymous]http://www.nycpba.org/publications/mag-04-summer/compstat.html

It [COMPSTAT] was a great idea that has been corrupted by human nature. And whose fault is that? When the Chief of Police abdicates his/her responsibility for quality control, invariably unscroupulous underlings, eager to rise up the ranks will prostitute the process.

What prize command?

So how do you fake a crime decrease? It?s pretty simple. Don?t file reports, misclassify crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, under-value the property lost to crime so it?s not a felony, and report a series of crimes as a single event.

A particularly insidious way to fudge the numbers is to make it difficult or impossible for people to report crimes ? in other words, make the victims feel like criminals so they walk away just to spare themselves further pain and suffering.

Wow this sounds like the MPD COMPSTAT Crime Reduction process.

I heard we even go one step further by calling up the victims and asking them to recant and then 13-09ing the call.

Crime went down because it was a nationwide trend, and not because of COMPSTAT. It is now going up at the same nationwide trend. COMPSTAT does not work.

http://www.nycpba.org/publications/mag-04-summer/compstat.html

By Robert Zink


It was a great idea that has been corrupted by human nature. The Compstat program that made NYPD commanders accountable for controlling crime has degenerated into a situation where the police leadership presses subordinates to keep numbers low by any means necessary. The department?s middle managers will do anything to avoid being dragged onto the carpet at the weekly Compstat meetings. They are, by nature, ambitious people who lust for promotions, and rising crime rates won?t help anybody?s career.

The Compstat program was started when crime was at an all-time high, with over 2,000 homicides a year and countless felonies. The program called for the immediate tracking of crime, swift deployment of police resources to problem areas and what Compstat?s creator Jack Maple called relentless follow-up. The only problem is, it didn?t anticipate the ?fudge factor.? That?s the characteristic that allows local commanders to make it look like crime has dropped when it has in fact increased.

In the early days, it was easy for a precinct commander to benefit from Compstat. He or she had crime-ridden neighborhoods where rudimentary policing techniques could bring crime down. Add the increased resources from the Safe Streets/Safe City program, and just paying attention to patterns and putting cops where crime was happening caused stats to fall dramatically. Then add to that the benefit of the gun control effort by the street-crime teams and we?ve made some real and honest impact on crime in New York City.

Of course, when you finally get a real handle on crime, you eventually hit a wall where you can?t push it down any more. Compstat does not recognize that wall so the commanders have to get ?creative? to keep their numbers going down. No mayor or police commissioner wants to be the one holding the bag when crime starts climbing, and no precinct commander wants to be the one to deliver the bad news that he or she doesn?t have enough cops to do the job.

So how do you fake a crime decrease? It?s pretty simple. Don?t file reports, misclassify crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, under-value the property lost to crime so it?s not a felony, and report a series of crimes as a single event.

A particularly insidious way to fudge the numbers is to make it difficult or impossible for people to report crimes ? in other words, make the victims feel like criminals so they walk away just to spare themselves further pain and suffering.

Some commanders even persecute the victims so they stop reporting crimes. In one case, it is alleged that a precinct commander shut down a fast food joint because the manager reported a grand larceny ? someone stole a pocketbook. The precinct commander shut the place down for ?an investigation? during lunch hour. Do you think the manager of that establishment, who relies on his lunchtime income, will ever report a crime again?

The truth is, there are over 5,000 fewer police officers on our streets than there were in 1999. And there is a lot more work to do because of the threat of terrorism. And all along, the bosses have been peddling phony numbers to make everybody feel safe. Our mayor likes to say that the NYPD has been doing more with less. Perception becomes reality. But when people are being put at risk and victimized due to ambitious managers, that?s unacceptable.

We?re asking every PBA member to share with their delegates the hard evidence of crimes being downgraded so we can save this department from itself.

THEY ARE COOKING UP THE BOOKS!

Excellent point of view on compstat! I would like to see someone's opinion to the contrary.

Dudes , If this were BSO most Commander swould be arrested

Some Commanders here under the direction of BK make the BSO detectives look like childsplay. It's only a matter of time. Compstat is a good tool when used properly and for the right reasons. Here it's used for BK to stroke his Ego. The sad part is that grown men allow themselves to be humiliated in that manner.

http://officer.com/article/article.jsp? ... mpid=36318


Still, how do you manage what you can't measure?

How do we measure? More of the same,mikcrates,trespassers,D.I.P.S,Rods and tixs,thats how we stop violent crimes,l.o.l. Oh and then blame the F.B.I. Cause crime is going up all over the nation,l.o.l.
No real police work will occur! The P.S.T.'S,C.ST'S AND THE REST WILL CONTINUE THE SAME GAMES.
I AM ESPECIALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE RISE IN 29'S AND SHOOTINGS IN LITTLE HAVANA AND YET,THE P.S.T TEAM CONTINUES TO HAVE WEEKENDS OFF AND BANKERS HOURS,WHAT A SCAM,L.O.L.

This place is getting more and more hilarious as time goes on.

During the last compstat, one of the commanders (who will remain nameless)(I really dont know who it was) asked one of his staff what was he doing to stop or lower the amount of husband/wife disputes in his area.

The level of idiocy and mediocrity in this police department has risen to toxic levels. Some people here take inordinate pride in being Morons.