Certain categories of crimes were downgraded, at the orders of another commissioner. And you can't have a serial rapist with only one or two rapes--it usually takes more than three to have a pattern. But downgrading categories of thefts is far different from dead bodies. A homicide is a homicide. Now, you can remove that thorn from your paw.

Timoney had the PPD change the way the crimes were recorded.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xCiKCxfYqE

"If we can't learn from our mistakes, what's the point of making them!" ...my friend Richard.

Also...I am not accounting for all instances described in this thread, but a lot of crimes were "downgraded" citywide-not because of upper brass, but because of a switch in the way the FBI categorizes crimes. Local municipalities often fall in line with their recommendations for the national crime statistics databases.

Also-when a call goes to a local precinct rather than 911, it doesn't show on crime statistics a lot of times.

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Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

When a report is finally written, it doesn't matter how it was initiallly received. Walk in, 911, flag down, district or detectives, it usually gets coded by the corporal.

Actually calling the district doesn't help any. Most times you will be told to call 911 or we will call 911 to send a car to your location.

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"Simply put it is possibe to have convenience if you want to tolerate insecurity, but if you want security, you must be prepared for inconvenience"
General Benjamin W. Chidlaw December 12, 1954

I was always told by the former LT's at the ministation to call the station for quick assistance, then call 911 to get the incident logged. I've always done it even though it seemed redundant, but its the difference between a cop showing up in 2 minutes from the ministation or as long as 3 hours through 911.

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Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Thanks for making my point. In case you don't remember or maybe you do remember but don't care since it doesn't support you case, there were MORE than three rapes. The police didn't identify the attacker as a serial rapist until he actually murdered someone. http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/...00dec03inq.asp


Your point is weak. You are trying to justify the fact that the city misclassified crimes other than murder. I want ALL the reports to be accurate. In the Shannon Scheiber case the rapes led to murder.

You don't even know if the stats are accurate. Each individual murder can be recorded but you don't know if the totals are accurate. The same people that recorded the inaccurate minor crimes are recording the murders. Did you go through the whole list of every person that is murdered in Phila each year to make sure the list is accurate?

In a given year if there are X number of murders and 400 people die and the following year there are same X number of murders and only 375 people die, is the city safer or
did the shooters not have good aim?

For responses that the South Street Mini-Station handle you are probably correct. (Except for shootings, in progress robberries, fires, etc. because the call takers have to notify other agencies and units and it is done quicker by them).

It is redundant, but since you technically have 2 calls in about a situation, you have a better chance of a timely response.

My main point is that even though the dispatch CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) starts the report off and enters the call, the INCT (Incident Reporting System) codes and tracks the final report. They are two separate and different systems.

__________________
"Simply put it is possibe to have convenience if you want to tolerate insecurity, but if you want security, you must be prepared for inconvenience"
General Benjamin W. Chidlaw December 12, 1954

Ahhh...gotcha. Never knew there were two different computer systems.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Maybe the trauma centers have gotten better and saved people who would have died years ago. Does that make the city safer?

Many deficiencies were corrected after the center city rapist case. It is a shame that someone had to die first. If we knew all of the facts then, that you know now, maybe it would have turned out different. Your hindsight is perfect, I wish we had your help back then.

And finally, on the accuracy of the reports. For the most part we put in what the complainants tell us. We have an issue now where we are getting a high number of missing cell phones. They can be reported as lost property or as minor theft. If they are reported as a theft, it makes our theft numbers skyrocket. As lost property that would not happen.

The problem is, we know some people are doing this just to get a new phone or get out of an agreement. So Zete, what is the answer to this false reporting by disgruntled cell phone owners?

__________________
"Simply put it is possibe to have convenience if you want to tolerate insecurity, but if you want security, you must be prepared for inconvenience"
General Benjamin W. Chidlaw December 12, 1954

Ahhhh, now you done did it. I didn't think it was possible for you to tick me off, oh lee! hehe

Respectfully, it is not an officer's job to judge a person when making a report. I understand your jaded view from work experience, but there's a lot of people who get screwed by such a stance.

An employee of mine and his girlfriend got their cell phones stolen at a bar. In order for their insurance to give them a new phone(the same exact model), they had to get a police report. Seems easy enough-wrong! They went down to the ministation. The guy flatly said he didn't believe them and refused to write the report. They left, found a bike cop, and asked to write a report. He said he'd do it after he answered a call. He never came back. Finally, they had no choice but to call 911 two days later just to get a report from a 3rd district officer who gave them a hard time until I intervened and asked what the problem was with giving out a stupid ****ing report. They finally got a report and DC#, but the lengths to get a simple thing was absolutely ridiculous.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Thats what they get for going to the Mini Station. (Only kidding). But seriously, if they simply called 911 from the start, the DPR unit would have probably taken the report over the phone and they would have had their DC# quickly.

It is unfortunate that some people are being inconvenienced by others who are committing fraud. Why do you think the auto insurance rates in Philadelphia are so high?

Also, I respectfully disagree. You are right, it is not our job to 'judge' a person, but we are there to investigate (some think we don't do enough) the crime and not just write down whatever is told to us.

You may say I am jaded, I say experienced. After many years sometimes you can tell when a story has a few holes. And if that is the case I will question more and try to find the truth.

Why should I take a robbery report from a male who stated he was robbed point of gun by a B/M & W/M, when after investigation it turned out he needed to get another prescription for his drugs that he sold?

Or a robbery report from a female who lost her $20 trying to buy drugs?

Or a theft report from a female who stated her laptop was taken from her car during a rainstorm, but the inside is not wet. Oh, the warranty ended and it was broke, but the insurance was still valid.

Better yet, how would you like to be the person getting stopped by the police with guns pointed at you, because you fit the (made up) description of the suspect?

Or have a neighborhood on edge because of a bogus sexual assault?

I understand the plight of your workers situation and that not everybody is bad, but I meet my share who would steal the last dollar from a starving, blind, senior citizen on a cold winter night outside a shelter. And then try to report that it was their dollar and not the seniors!

__________________
"Simply put it is possibe to have convenience if you want to tolerate insecurity, but if you want security, you must be prepared for inconvenience"
General Benjamin W. Chidlaw December 12, 1954