Lanier boasts transparency but doesn't deliver data
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
August 25, 2010
Shortly after D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier boasted that her agency was "the most transparent police department in the country," her spokeswoman said the report that purportedly supported the chief's claim of transparency was not available.
Speaking on TBD TV's "NewsTalk," Lanier said the Metropolitan Police Department offers more information and detailed statistics than any other police department in the United States. As proof, she cited an FBI audit earlier this month of the department's crime statistics that she said passed "with flying colors."
"If anybody has any questions," she said Tuesday, "I think the FBI can clear that up."
FBI spokesman Steve Fischer said he could not comment on the audit and said the release of the results were left up to the discretion of the police department. Auditors provided police a packet describing who they talked to and any areas of concern, and a formal report will be completed in a couple of months, Fischer said.
"But it's not really a pass-fail thing," Fischer said.
When asked to see the information that would back Lanier's claims, police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said Wednesday that it would be months before it was available.
D.C. Council member Mary Cheh credited Lanier for being readily available to meet with residents, but when it comes to releasing information, the police department has been less than forthcoming, Cheh said.
"If [MPD] is the most transparent, then police departments around the country need lots of work," Cheh said. "There's been a lot of foot dragging."
The department's history of withholding information and manipulating statistics to make crime numbers look better had been well documented:
¥ Last year, the FBI reported that violent crime in the District rose 2.3 percent in 2008 while Lanier was claiming that violence had fallen by more than 5 percent during the same period.
¥ Up until this year, D.C. had been the only major city in the country that did not provide preliminary crime statistics. When The Examiner asked for the preliminary numbers in 2009, Lanier vetoed their release.
¥ D.C. police have denied an FBI report that the police department had lost DNA evidence to more than 200 rape cases.
¥ The department has refused to provide credit card receipts and travel reimbursements for Mayor Adrian Fenty's protection unit.
¥ When thieves stole bikes from Fenty's home this summer, the incident was not initially logged into the police computer system.
smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Lanier-boasts-transparency-but-doesn_t-deliver-data-566809-101511479.html
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