‘Culture of fear’ helped influence D.C. police leaders to fudge crime numbers, internal report says
by Matt Delaney · The Washington TimesThe full report on Metropolitan Police’s crime data manipulation scheme showed the department’s higher-ups reclassified hundreds of crimes as lesser offenses, as multiple police leaders pointed to a “culture of fear” created by former Chief Pamela A. Smith which motivated some officials to fix the numbers.
The 554-page internal report said crimes such as theft, burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon were recategorized at times throughout the city’s seven police precincts, with some officials altering the reports for dozens of crimes while others did so on hundreds of occasions.
Federal prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges over the altered statistics, but 13 members of the Metropolitan Police brass face potential termination after they were implicated in the report.
That includes former Assistant Chief LaShay Makal and former 2nd District Cmdr. Tatjana Savoy. A total of 19 officers were linked to the crime data misconduct at the department.
The investigation found that former 3rd District Cmdr. Michael Pulliam, whose suspension a year ago kick-started the internal probe and inspired President Trump’s federal law enforcement surge, reclassified 157 offenses during his time.
Mr. Pulliam said he changed the classifications for accuracy purposes, according to the report. But Capt. George Donigian admitted to investigators that he improperly labeled crimes as less severe because of the “extreme pressure and maltreatment from command staff” at crime briefings.
The probe said Capt. Donigian downgraded 360 reports of theft to “taking property without right” — a lower offense not listed on the publicly viewable daily crime report.
Several police officials mentioned how Ms. Smith’s tendency to dress down subordinates at briefings, and make snap decisions about demoting officers, likely contributed to the willingness to fudge numbers.
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While the report did not accuse her of directing officials to lower the numbers to protect the department’s image, police leaders said her abrasive leadership style often intimidated officers into telling her what she wanted to hear.
Capt. Paul Hrebenak told investigators he attended crime briefings under past Chiefs Peter Newsham and Robert Contee and found both to be constructive and solution-oriented. The captain said Ms. Smith possessed a “desire to punish people if something upset her.”
“There has been a visible shift in how crime statistics are viewed under Smith. Under Smith, heavy emphasis is placed on numbers,” the report said, according to an interview with Capt. Hrebenak. “Hrebenak feels this creates a coercive culture of fear for the patrol officials who are held personally responsible for crime. Hrebenak feels being a patrol district Commander is not worth the money.”
Ms. Smith did not participate in the investigation.
The report said the 2nd District, which encompasses areas such as the White House, Dupont Circle and Embassy Row in Northwest, classified a disproportionate number of reports as taking property with right compared with other precincts.
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Close behind the 2nd District for reclassified theft offenses was the 5th District, which includes neighborhoods such as Trinidad, Ivy City and Brentwood.
Investigators said the 7th District, east of the Anacostia River in one of the city’s more historically crime-ridden parts of town, frequently misclassified serious crimes such as burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Ms. Makal, who was put on leave, ran the 7th District before she was promoted to assistant chief.
Lt. Matthew Mahl told investigators it was an “absolute nightmare” to work under Assistant Chief Makal in the precinct because she questioned officers about how they recorded major crimes.
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“Everyone knew that 7D was ’cooking the books’ by knocking Part One Daily Crime Report offenses down to non-Part One offenses,” the report said, according to an interview with Lt. Mahl. “7D’s crime reduction was due to 7D downgrading offenses under Makal.”
Lt. Mahl described former Ms. Makal as a favorite of Ms. Smith.
The report gives credence to Mr. Trump’s suspicion last summer that Metropolitan Police had not been transparent about its sharp decline in crime after the city was besieged by a generational crime wave of killings, carjackings and robberies in 2023.
He regularly mentioned former Mr. Pulliam’s suspension over allegations of crime data manipulation to justify a National Guard deployment and order federal agents to join MPD on patrols throughout the nation’s capital.
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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city leaders acknowledged that the federal crackdown did produce a drop in crime, but it only accelerated a downward trend set in motion by local efforts.
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill put forward several bills to override D.C. laws regarding bail policy, punishment for juveniles and restrictions on police procedures, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee opened its own investigation into the source of the altered crime reports.
The report, released in December, blamed Ms. Smith for bullying police brass and threatening to demote them as to why officers would consider fabricating crime statistics.
Ms. Smith lashed out at federal lawmakers in her farewell speech late last year, saying, “Never will I ever compromise my integrity for a few crime numbers.”
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The Office of the D.C. Inspector General is expected to release its own report into the Metropolitan Police Department’s fixed crime numbers.
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Matt Delaney
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