The Crime Numbers Game

In the mid-1990s, the NYPD created a performance management strategy known as Compstat. It consisted of computerized data, crime analysis, and advanced crime mapping coupled with accountability. While initially credited with a dramatic reduction in crime, questions quickly arose as to the reliability of the data. This volume brings together the work of two criminologists-one a former NYPD captain-who present the first in-depth empirical analysis of this management system-exposing the truth about crime statistics manipulation in the NYPD and the repercussions suffered by crime victims and those who blew the whistle on this corrupt practice.

John A. Eterno, Eli B. Silverman

Forewords by Sir Hugh Orde, OBE, QPM, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Commissioner Andrew Scipione, APM, New South Wales Police Force, Australia. The Unusual Suspects. The NYPD's Untold Story: Crime Report Manipulation. Performance Management: Pitfalls and Prospects. Police Performance Management: The View from Abroad. Big Bad Bully Bosses: Leadership 101. NYPD and the Media: Curbing Criticism. Compstat: Underpinnings and Implications. Silence Is Not An Option. Appendix. Index.