Louisiana Legislative Auditor
Daryl G. Purpera, CPA, CFE

October 28, 2013

Crime Data of the City of New Orleans

The New Orleans Police Department may not have reported some serious crimes to state and federal officials in 2012, according to a report released Monday by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office.

The review, requested by Senate Resolution 121 of 2013 Regular Session, called on the Legislative Auditor to review certain crime data and statistics for the city of New Orleans.

To qualify for money for anti-crime programs, grants frequently require police agencies in Louisiana to report crime data to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement which in turn reports it to the FBI for compilation in its Uniform Crime Reports.

The federal crime report divides crimes into two categories: Part 1 offenses, like homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and burglary; and lesser Part 2 offenses, such as vandalism, drug abuse, prostitution and vagrancy.

The report said auditors reviewed 1,000 incident calls received by the NOPD’s computer dispatch system in 2012 and found 319 that should have been reported or, based on information available, appeared that they should have been reported to the state law enforcement commission, but were not.

The largest problem area was found from incidents classified as Part I UCR crimes where officers said a report would be filed after the initial investigations. Auditors found 186 of 250 reviewed “had documentation that suggested the incidents were Part 1 UCR reportable crimes.” Police said the largest share of the 186 was not reported because of a “computer programming error,” which has been corrected.

Auditors said they also reviewed 20 of 1,419 changes in the call signals made after the initial 24-hour period in the 2012 calendar year and found two were “improperly changed” from a Part I UCR crime to a non-Part 1 crime, or from a more serious offense to a less serious one. These type changes resulted in unreported Part I UCR crimes.

The audit said the NOPD should review more extensively the dispatch system data to identify unreported Part I major crimes and to improve documentation and training efforts.

NOPD Crime Data.pdf

For more information contact:

Legislative Auditor
225.339.3800



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