Nassau County Police Inspector Thomas DePaola of the Manhasset-based 6th Precinct has been demoted to captain in the Office of Chief of Patrol for improperly classifying crimes over the past 18 months.
A police source confirmed published reports that DePaola was reduced in rank for allegedly classifying crimes as petit larcenies that should have been recorded as grand larcenies. Internal department allegations against DePaulo included not recording crimes in which victims did not request arrest of alleged perpetrators.
Approximately 170 crimes are expected to be reclassified after an audit of the statistics.
The 6th Precinct was recently merged with the 3rd Precinct as community policing center.
In a statement released on Wednesday by Inspector Kenneth Lack of the NCPD information office, it was revealed that discovery of the crime misclassifications grew out of a routine mid-July review of crime statistics for the period from June 12 to July 9, 2012. The 5th Precinct reported a considerable reduction in overall crime, with a significant decrease in grand larceny, according to Lack. This steep decrease in the number of reported crimes caused a review of grand larceny reports in the 5th Precinct.
That review prompted an investigation into the strategies used to reduce grand larceny crimes. Lack said the Office of Chief of Patrol, in conducting an investigation and review, uncovered inaccurate reporting, specifically cases reported that had been reclassified to other lesser offenses, or cases reported that had the crime report classification voided or categorized as “lost property”.
At the direction of Commissioner of Police Thomas Dale, the Office of Chief of Patrol conducted an extensive audit of all other precincts to determine if similar incidents were occurring, Lack said. The results of that investigation revealed that an acceptable statistical norm of less than 2 percent error existed in precincts other than the 6th Precinct, he said, and for a very short period of time in the 5th Precinct.
“It should also be noted that major crime reports were unaffected during this investigation and the crimes that were misclassified or not captured are being readjusted to reflect accurate crime data,” Lack said.
The new NCPD records management system “I-Leads,” which is now up and running in several precincts, does not allow for any error of non-classification, according to Lack.
“The integrity of our crime reporting is of great importance to this department,” Lack said. “It is essential not only for maintaining the confidence of the citizens we serve, but also maintaining reliable crime statistics is necessary for effective planning and evaluation of crime reduction strategies.”
Lack said Dale will not tolerate any manipulation of crime statistics.
He also said DePaula would have no comment on the situation.
