The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) - While state police reported last month that serious crime dropped more than 6 percent last year, they omitted the fact that 127 fewer police departments supplied data to make that assessment than in the previous year.
When comparing only those departments that reported information to the state police for the annual Uniform Crime Report in 2001 and 2002, serious crime dropped 1.8 percent, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported in Tuesday’s edition.
“I find it strange, technically incorrect and inappropriate to calculate it that way,” said Alfred Blumstein, a Carnegie Mellon University professor and nationally recognized expert on crime statistics.
State Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, called the report deceptive.
“We need an account of where crime is increasing so we can send the proper resources there,” said Orie, a former prosecutor.
Although state police installed an Internet reporting system in 2001 to make reporting more accurate, the number of police departments reporting has declined, with some departments saying they don’t have appropriate systems.
“The state refused to accept our reports by mail,” West Mifflin police Chief Frank Diener said. “We’re trying to get the proper Internet connection to get our reports there again, but that gets costly. It’s another unfunded mandate from the state.”
But state police Lt. Wes Thurston of the Bureau of Research and Development said police don’t need to have Internet access in their department. The information can be submitted from home or a library, he said.
“Some departments just choose not to participate,” Thurston said. “And now we have agencies that just don’t want to enter some numbers on a screen and press ‘Submit.”’
Thurston said the number of departments participating varies slightly from year to year, so he doesn’t see a problem with the analysis.
Blumstein, however, said it was “utterly bizarre” that the state police would not accept crime figures by traditional means.
“The impression is that reporting is down across the country,” he said. “State agencies that collect for the FBI should be encouraging departments to participate in the (Uniform Crime Report), not imposing burdens.”
Thurston predicted that departments that have stopped sending will resume.
“Over the years, the statistics will equal out as all of the departments resume,” he said.
The state Commission on Crime and Delinquency distributes grants to law enforcement and has encouraged departments to file their crime figures, said Alison Delsite, spokeswoman for the commission.
“We need that data to identify trends in crime and delegate resources where they are needed,” she said.
While the commission said it would withhold grants from those departments that don’t sent the information, “if a department doesn’t have the capability to file, we won’t cut them off,” Delsite said.