End to Manipulating Stats Could Tarnish de Blasio

A noted criminologist has pointed out a trap that has been neatly set for incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio: Supporters of his Republican opponent, Joseph J. Lhota, have warned that if crime statistics rise, the increase can be blamed on his lack of support for NYPD tactics such as stop-and-frisk.

But for years, some Police Department critics have questioned the accuracy of crime statistics, charging that officers refuse to take reports on some offenses, downgrade others from felonies to misdemeanors, and make it extraordinarily difficult for victims to report some crimes, such as auto theft. One cop, Adrian Schoolcraft, has filed a $50-million lawsuit claiming he was a victim of orchestrated retaliation after he complained internally that his superiors at Brooklyn’s 81st Precinct repeatedly engaged in such practices.