Matthews Police inflated how successful they were at clearing crimes, town says
The Matthews Police Department intentionally misrepresented the town’s crime statistics from 2018-2022, according to an eight-month investigation requested by the town manager.
The investigation was conducted by US ISS Agency, LLC from May to December under the direction of Town Manager Becky Hawke, according to a Matthews news release on Friday.
The investigation found the department listed cases “closed by other means” in a way that did not align with state and federal reporting standards and broke department policy. This caused the department to inappropriately list a clearance rate of 75% or more for its Criminal Investigations Division, town officials said.
This is significantly higher than other clearance rates in the Southeast, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Data. For example, most other states in the region reported an average clearance rate of 42.8% for violent crimes. Property crimes averaged 17.8%, for a combined total of 18.3% across all crime categories.
Variations in crime statistics, too
The department also inconsistently applied FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System Standards, resulting in “minor” variations in crime statistics, the town’s news release said.
The town said annual reports given by the police department did not accurately represent crime rates, including not disclosing changes in how some retailers reported criminal activity and the classification of thefts from motor vehicles. Police inaccurately highlighted positive data points and case closures, too, the release said.
“ISS’s investigation attributes these issues to command directives that created pervasive pressure for improved statistics and results, rather than focusing on proper policy application, consistent practices, and transparent explanations for any changes in data,” Hawke said in a statement following the investigation.
The department’s police chief Clark Pennington announced his resignation in August. At the time, officials said this was so he could retire.
Matthews working to correct inflated numbers
It’s not clear how the inflated numbers will compare to corrected data.
The department is working to correct crime statistics and providing additional training and standards for officers to classify records correctly in the future. It’s also removing “closed by other means” as a standard case disposition option and reopening some cases that were classified under that category, Matthews said in its news release.
“Presenting information in a more favorable light than reality serves no one, and the directives given within the Matthews Police Department were not in alignment with community or organizational expectations,” Hawke said. “The community can be assured those deemed responsible for these reporting issues have either been held appropriately accountable or are no longer with the department.”
Corrected case closure rates and crime statistics will be published once completed, town officials said.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 5:35 PM.
