Thread: TX - Weslaco police chief says crimes omitted from FBI crime data

Weslaco is a border town and the cops have been covering up the crime by not reporting it. It makes me wonder if they just don't include the crimes committed by illegals or their associates..
Weslaco police chief says crimes omitted from FBI crime data

Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2015 5:45 pm
MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ | STAFF WRITER

WESLACO — Less than a week into his new job, Weslaco’s new police chief said he’s learned of dozens of crimes omitted from the department’s crime statistics.

Police Chief Stephen Mayer said Thursday he learned of at least 30 family violence cases that went unreported in August 2013 on the department’s Unified Crime Report — data every U.S. police department must report to the FBI annually. Another marijuana bust went under-reported on the crime report.


In an interview Thursday, he said he’s chalking up the discrepancies to human error — not corrupt cops.

“Individuals have different goals and visions, and an administration that constantly has a different way of doing things could lead to some of these issues that have been uncovered because of a lack of direction and continuity in leadership,” Mayer said. “My job now, coming into the Weslaco Police Department, is to ensure our process is correct and in place.”

Since 2008, Weslaco police has had seven different permanent or interim chiefs, including a 14-month span without a permanent leader that ended in December 2012, when interim chief Michael Kelley was named chief.

Unlike past hires, Mayer came from a top administrative position — Harlingen’s assistant police chief — at a larger department, rather than an internal promotion or from a much smaller, local police force.

Mayer said he was unaware that the reports hadn’t been included in the department’s crime report when he was hired.
“What I believe this to be is a lack of communication,” Mayer said of what he perceives as miscommunication between police officers and the records division. “I’m not sure why because it’s still under investigation right now, but it is factual that it was an error of process, and it’s certainly something we’re addressing and correcting now.”

Further concerns include discrepancies with how the department reported a 5-pound marijuana seizure that somehow ended up being reported as half that on the FBI report.

“It was another case of us not communicating well with each other, because that was not being communicated to the records division,” Mayer said.

Such discrepancies can lead to a public perception that officers intentionally manipulated data to portray less crime in Weslaco.

But Mayer said Weslaco police lacked structure that allowed for clerical errors is more likely to blame.

“There’s absolutely no way that I can say that this is an intentional error or intentional wrongdoing by anyone who’s an administrator, but I will say that there’s been considerable turnover at the Weslaco Police Department over the years, and a police department thrives on structure, goals and a long-term vision,” Mayer said.

Also stressed was the need to continue reviewing the organizational structure of the department as well as providing adequate staffing to help offset mistakes.

“Again, it’s a broken process that is being remedied now,” Mayer said. “Anytime there’s a human element to anything, there’s a potential for mistakes. We’re all flawed human beings, and we tend to do well and tend to do right, but for a variety of reasons sometimes you err. Many times, a police department — in the interest of using taxpayer money wisely — is not staffed with enough members to be 100 percent thorough and accurate in everything we do. We try to do as much as we can with the minimal resources we have, but we’re also mindful of using the taxpayers’ money wisely. So I think sometimes there are errors and mistakes in paperwork, because sometimes the staff is spread pretty thin.”

For instance, Mayer said it’s not uncommon for police officers to rush through their paperwork to return to patrol.

“They want to get back out on the field to serve citizens and provide cover for their brothers and sisters out there working, and they’ll forget how important paperwork can be,” Mayer said. “They can get a little sloppy because of that. My job will be to make sure we slow down and are more thorough in filling out paperwork. Those errors in paperwork will still occur, but it will be minimal. It’s really a balancing act with the intention to be accurate and thorough.”

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local...f956fa1ef.html

Weslaco, a small town with big crime

POSTED 6:00 PM, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014,
BY BLUTMAN

HOUSTON, TX – Everything`s bigger in Texas and crime is no exception!!

Home Security Shield listed the top 20 most dangerous cities in the Lone Star State. Houston came in at number seven with under 10 violent crimes and just over 50 property crimes for every thousand residents.

The baddest of them all, is Weslaco, though many may not have even heard of it. So it turns out being infamous doesn`t necessarily make you famous.

With under 40,000 residents, Weslaco reported 11 violent crimes and 75.5 property crimes per thousand residents, per year.

Rounding out the top three were Texarkana and Lufkin.

The safest city on the list was Tyler which came in with the ranking of number 20.

http://cw39.com/2014/09/11/weslaco-a...ith-big-crime/