By: Richard L. Smith
Officer in Charge Isa Abbassi announced significant updates and improvements to the Paterson Police Department's data reporting and the weekly CompStat crime report.
These changes come in the wake of an internal review that uncovered a notable error in the department's recordkeeping system.
In October 2023, the Paterson Police Department (PPD) initiated the practice of posting weekly CompStat reports on its website, providing the public with access to the latest crime data within the city.
This move aimed to keep residents informed about ongoing efforts to reduce crime under Officer in Charge Abbassi's leadership. CompStat, a performance management system, has been pivotal in achieving various department goals, emphasizing information-sharing, responsibility, and accountability.
The PPD believes that sharing crime data with the public enhances government transparency and fosters trust in the department as it carries out its shared public safety mission.
However, during an internal review, it was revealed that certain complaints related to violations of the New Jersey theft statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3) were inaccurately classified in the records management system. These complaints were incorrectly recorded as non-theft crimes when generating summary reports, including those for CompStat.
This classification error, which impacted the counting of specific theft crimes in summary reports, had persisted since 2021 when a new records management system was introduced.
To rectify this issue, the Paterson Police Department promptly updated its recordkeeping system, ensuring the correct classification of theft complaints.
Consequently, the CompStat report has been adjusted to reflect that there were 2,523 theft complaints in 2022, not the previously reported 1,917. Moreover, the 2023 year-to-date figures have been corrected to show 2,202 theft complaints year-to-date, not 1,834.
Using the accurate data, it has been revealed that thefts in Paterson decreased by 6.7% for week 48 of the year, dropping from 2,359 in 2022 to 2,202 in 2023.
These corrected numbers are now reflected in the report released for the week ending December 3, 2023. This data enhancement will enable the department to more precisely track crime patterns and compare datasets with previous years.
Furthermore, beginning with the first CompStat report in 2024, the PPD plans to implement several enhancements to its CompStat report, including the reporting of arrest data with prior year comparisons, publication of shooting incident data by ward with prior year comparisons, and public reporting of simple assault and disorderly persons theft data as separate crime categories.
Officer in Charge Isa Abbassi noted that this data management system error did not impact violent crime data, including shootings, aggravated assaults, and robberies, and auto theft data remained unaffected.