patrick.net

Now, I realize many of you accept official blue-state crime statistics at face value, because you assume that government-produced data must be reliable, by definition. This will be a shock. Prepare yourselves. Yesterday, CNN ran a story headlined, “House Oversight Committee report alleges DC police chief manipulated crime data.”

When President Trump first announced his D.C. law-enforcement surge in August, he correctly described the Capital as a “cesspool of crime.” This provoked a minor riot from Democrats...

This summer, Democrat critics and far-left commentators repeatedly referenced official Metro DC data allegedly showing violent crime being at a 30‑year low. They argued hotly that Trump’s move was pure political theater...

After interviewing all the DC police commanders, the House concluded that Chief Smith is a very unprogressive bully. She “propagated an ecosystem of fear, retaliation, and toxicity,” and placed “intense pressure on district commanders to produce low crime statistics by any means necessary.” The report did not mince its words, or even grate or finely chop them:

The Committee's investigation, which began as an inquiry into allegations of
manipulation of crime statistics in the District, also uncovered concerning accounts about the
deterioration of MPD leadership through the toxic management culture created by Chief Smith.
The Committee's investigation heard consistent testimony about frustration and exhaustion
among MPD commanders and the manifestation of a culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and
retaliation by Chief Smith. Often, these manifestations were triggered whenever the Chief was
presented with what she considers "bad news," particularly when that news pertained to any rise
in public crime statistics.8 Chief Smith, according to testimonies, regularly took action against
her subordinates who failed to aid in the preservation of her public image.'

Presumably having received a heads-up about what the report would reveal, last week Chief Smith preemptively announced she was stepping down, to spend more time with her family and teach a community college class on creative report writing.

The House report is an eye-opener. To summarize, let’s say a DC resident got carjacked and pistol-whipped, requiring six days in the hospital and nine months of physical therapy. An overworked Chief Smith would snap at commanders, “just mark it down as reckless endangerment-jaywalking,” and then race off to a DNC event to receive another award for reducing crime in the Nation’s Capital...

There are fourteen DC precincts. The House report revealed that one of the highest-crime precinct commanders told House investigators that, in nearly three years since she was appointed, Chief Smith stopped by his precinct one time. It was unannounced, and she couldn’t even stay till he got back from a call.

Despite the damning report, which describes a totally dysfunctional department where senior commanders can be transferred to managing the evidence locker after a single crime report Chief Smith didn’t like, and despite Chief Smith’s anticipatory getting out of Dodge, CNN still hard-headedly clutched onto the “crime is down” narrative:

Despite Trump's claims this year that crime is "out of control," data
shows violent crime in Washington, DC, has been declining since its
2023 spike, with two years of sustained improvement.

The “data” in that paragraph was the same “data” that the House Oversight report stated in its title was inaccurate. Oh well. The House investigation continues … but Chief Smith doesn’t. Bye, Felicia!