Bratton, Kelly at Odds Over Validity of NYPD Crime Stats

The defense comes a week after Kelly first suggested that the NYPD had changed the definition of a shooting to make New York City appear to be safer than it actually is.

The day before, NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said of Ray Kelly, the former commissioner: “Shame on him”.

Those numbers reflect what the department described as “the normal ebbs and flows of crime trends in what is a period of historically low numbers”.

Bratton had some harsh words when asked for comment on Tuesday.

In response, Kelly, who last week didn’t reply to requests for comment by some reporters, acknowledged Tuesday night that he had no firsthand information about fudged crime data, but said he had been told about it by people still in the NYPD.

But Dermot Shea, NYPD deputy commissioner for operations, said for at least the last four years, including during Kelly’s administration, the definition of shooting has not changed whatsoever. Everything he said yesterday in a statement we had refeuded and rebutted.

Kelly said he had been told wounds sustained by a victim who refuses to cooperate with a police investigation have been recorded as self-inflicted.

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Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for the city says Mayor Bill de Blasio, has “full faith in Commissioner Bratton’s integrity and record”. “To claim in some fashion that we’re playing with the numbers?” Mr. Kelly is selling a book.

There are many issues Kelly could credibly raise to criticize the NYPD and inspire reform-on onerous quotas, on costly use of force, on its lack of female and black police officers, and yes, even on stat manipulation. Year-end crime reports certified by both commissioners Kelly and Bratton define shooting incidents in the identical way, saying “classification as a shooting incident is based upon a bullet striking the victim”.

In a statement this week, Bratton’s department noted a 22% increase in homicides by gun this year, and a 40% decrease in homicides by knife.