PA Williams on challenges in accurate crime reporting and data revisions
Williams discusses difficulties in accurately reporting crime statistics, noting how crime classifications change over time, the 2024 expansion of rape definitions, and concerns that reported declines may be revised after audits.
At the same time, this has not captured a full picture of crime in the city.
It is often difficult to accurately report crime statistics because how crimes are described and how people report them change frequently.
An assault or shooting could, for example, become a homicide days or weeks later if the victim dies.
A reported burglary could turn out to be a misunderstanding.
In 2024, New York State expanded its definition of rape, which likely contributed to a rise in reported rapes.
Certain crimes like rape are chronically underreported, so statistics do not present a full picture.
It is important to remember that the announcements are falling.
Crime rates capture the numbers in that moment, and the decline may decrease or even reverse once the department audits them in the months that follows.
More concerningly, we understand that those reports may not be updated with the new numbers.
If they are, I'd like to hear that they are.