DC police dispute FOX 5 report on phony crime stats

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - The D.C. police department is disputing a FOX 5 report calling attention to crime statistics generated by the department.

A former D.C. officer who talked to FOX 5 indicated that the department brass often massages its numbers to make it appear that some violent crimes are shrinking.

The department says that, through a Freedom of Information Act Request, FOX 5 was only provided with 72 reports for injured person to hospital.

FOX 5 was, however, provided with 247 pages - which total nearly 3,000 reports.

The DC police department says it has re-examined the numbers cited by FOX 5 and provided the following breakdown:

It is unclear if these were upgraded after FOX 5's request for supporting documents.

The department says the unidentified person made "very general, sweeping allegations without providing any details. The unsupported and uncorroborated allegation by one anonymous officer combined with the inaccurate information appears to be either a purposeful or neglectful story created by the reporter to mislead the public."

We can assure our FOX 5 viewers, FOX 5 has been investigating this matter for months.

As for the Metro Police Department, FOX 5 welcomes a sit down interview with the chief of police to discuss the numbers and the whistleblower's allegations.

Mayor Muriel Bowser offered the following comment Tuesday night:

"Any whistleblower, whatever agency they are MPD (Metro Police Department), any of the district's agencies always have an avenue to the Inspector General. Any employee can contact the inspector general anonymously, if they don't want to make their names known, so that we can find any instances of waste, fraud, and abuse."

FOX 5's Marina Marraco reached out to Councilmember Charles Allen's office multiple times on Tuesday, but she was unable to receive a response as to whether he will call for an investigation.