Perhaps "lost property" is considered a less violent crime than larceny by the police. Alternately, they could have reported that criminals are getting more polite in the city. It's sort of like the glass half-full/half-empty polemic.

"if the complainant claims that an item was left at a specific location and upon return to the location within a reasonable time thereafter, it is discovered that the property is missing." It adds that "a complete and thorough interview should be done,"

sooooo....being a mindless idiot is considered a crime. that's a good thing, right?

/wtf does one expect

It would have been nice if the article had gone a step farther...

If police are recategorizing larcenies as lost-property, just combine the two categories for analysis. Has the number of the two combined been going up, down, or about the same?

It's all in the accounting...

Questioning authority is un-American.

Kind of like dropping the test scores that didnt pass so your highschool can meet some quota?

It's very easy to reduce the crime figures. Criminalize anything the ordinary folk might do, then catch them at it. Ownership of a TV without a license, say. Or maybe not telling anyone that you reduced the speed limit by 10mph the day before you install a speed camera.

it's time to pull out lefty and poncho and start some goddamned assaultin'

//chanelling jay pinkerton, and probably very poorly...

Larceny is not up in New York, we just have an epidemic of stuff falling off trucks.

The pentalty for lying to the public should be the same as the penalty for lying to the police.

saynomore: The pentalty for lying to the public should be the same as the penalty for lying to the police.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think it's illegal to lie to the police. But it is illegal to lie to federal agents.

Saynomore

The pentalty for lying to the public

A period in pound-me-in-the-ass pententiary?

;-)

They must have hired the old Arthur Andersen auditors.

selloco

Questioning authority is un-American.

Funny considering that the US was founded by people who questioned authority.

selloco: I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think it's illegal to lie to the police. But it is illegal to lie to federal agents.

But just to clairfy... if you do lie to the police and you are arrested and taken to court, they will try to use that lie against you. And, needless to say, it is illegal to lie in court.

selloco: Questioning authority is un-American.

Crosshair: Funny considering that the US was founded by people who questioned authority.

I guess I should have used some sarcasm tags...

I'd be interested to see the type of property. Is it a lot more cell phones and other portable electronics? I'd attribute the change mostly to people carrying around a lot more expensive and easy to lose stuff.

Hmmm, that explains why they filed the police report regarding the break in to my car as 'vandalism'.

Your tax dollars at work!

/suckers

saynomore
The pentalty for lying to the public should be the same as the penalty for lying to the police.

Disagree, the penalty for any public official lying to the public ought to be at best banishment from public office forever, but better yet something like exile or life imprisonment.

We *desperately* need to start watching the watchers.

It was the ad for the escort service that made the article really work for me.

Ah another article dealing with the wonders of compstat.

Yes crimes are being recorded lower than they should be. It makes the borough CO look good at compstat meetings.

What used to be burglary and larceny is now vandalism and lost property.

LGeezer: It's very easy to reduce the crime figures. Criminalize anything the ordinary folk might do, then catch them at it. Ownership of a TV without a license, say. Or maybe not telling anyone that you reduced the speed limit by 10mph the day before you install a speed camera.

Wouldn't that, you know, raise crime figures?

Gibberiberia: Wouldn't that, you know, raise crime figures?

That's exactly what I thought. You would decrease the crime stats by declaring once illegal things to be legal.

When the former New Orleans mayor (Marc Morial) was trying to get himself a third term a few years ago, the police coincidentally reported that crime was "down." As it turns out burglaries would be reported as "trespassing," felony thefts would be misdemeanor theft or misdemeanor "damage to property;" stabbings and shootings and sometimes sexual assaults would be recorded as "misdemeanor battery," and a couple of homicides were recorded as "aggravated battery" because the victim was shot on the street but died at the hospital.

Gee what a shame Morial didn't get his third term.

selloco

I guess I should have used some sarcasm tags...

No, I saw the sarcasm. Quite funny.

selloco: I guess I should have used some sarcasm tags...

Crosshair: No, I saw the sarcasm. Quite funny.

Don't tell that to the people who actually do believe that it's un-American to question authority. They usually are the Authority.

Well, congratulations Crosshair for non-chalantly lowering the level of conversation here at Fark. If you noticed the sarcasm, but still felt it was necessary to inject some 4th grade nationalism into the discussion, then you deserve a kick in the face.

Amen jasonvatch

As a former officer with the NYPD, this stuff does happen. I liked when a guy's death got ruled a homicide after he shot himself in the head. Twice.

hugechav

Um, OK. Whatever makes you happy.

Careful! That's a load-bearing poster.

/veneer is a structural component in propagandaland

As a former officer with the NYPD, this stuff does happen. I liked when a guy's death got ruled a homicide after he shot himself in the head. Twice.

That makes sense. You can't shoot yourself in the head twice. Someone else would need to do it. And if they were both in the head, someone was probably aiming, and therefore almost definately a homicide.

GRCAMPBELLAs a former officer with the NYPD, this stuff does happen. I liked when a guy's death got ruled a homicide after he shot himself in the head. Twice.

That makes sense. You can't shoot yourself in the head twice. Someone else would need to do it. And if they were both in the head, someone was probably aiming, and therefore almost definately a homicide.

You can double post yourself however, warpdragon.

This is a lot like retail.... store managers get flack about the percentage of adjusted sales. To reduce the number of sales adjusts (when you've got a 30 day price guarantee and something goes on sale) instead of adjusting the original sale, do a return, treat it like a cash return then resell the product at the sale price, customer pays with cash, keeps the difference. You get the same result, in theory, without getting the establishment a black mark.

O.K., it's a little more like politics but you get the point. Those bastards.

I suck.....I meant suicide. God, that seems much less funny as a homicide.

FARRK!!

/Only slashies can comfort me now

I think the thing is here that many fail to realize is that cops are people. They get scared, they freak out, and every thing else. They should be held to a higher standard, but that also means that they should be better trained as well. I believe there was a better way to handle the situation, but I could easily see the outcome occuring. I think there needs to be better mental training for anyone in such a thankless, high-stress job, especially when that involves a gun.

/really stupid how gun-owners don't need training, while car owners do

Uhhh ... yep, my mistake. That's the formula for improving crime clear-up rates...

/back to class

Am I wrong or are we seeing a trend of less and less protection and justice for the average citizen, and more and more new laws designed to favor corporations? It seems like the more publicized criminals (and those peing punished more severely) are the ones who have perpetrated crimes against commercial interests or property.

I say this as a person who had their car stolen and wrecked and watched a 17-year-old who was caught dead to rights avoid ANY charges. He was not caught until he turned 18 and had committed some minor offense so they chose to punish him for that - in Florida this apparently precludes any additional prosecution for a crime you commit BEFORE you become an adult. He walked with probation for the misdemeanor rap and was never charged for the three car thefts, a firearms violation, dealing drugs and vandalism because he was a minor then (by a matter of months).

But ya know, if a homeless guy pees on a tree behind Wal Mart every cop in town shows up to bust his ass and it makes the front page.

Lokeyslave so they 17-year-old kid was a corporation, or what...? I'm not sure I understand your point.

The cops don't make any money by dealing with robbery and burglary, so they don't give a shiat. They want to write speeding tickets, dui's, etc which brings in cash. The cops in Dallas won't even bother to show up if a burglary alarm goes off, so if you want any kind of protection from thieves, you have to hire your own guards.

Cops lie about crimes that have been reported. If this surprises you, you aren't paying attention.