NYPD to Include Bias Crimes in Weekly CompStat Reports

New York – The NYPD will begin including statistics from hate crimes in its weekly roundup of crime trends that are released to the public, underscoring the urgency New York City officials feel amid a surge in anti-Semitic violence.

The announcement was made by Commissioner Dermot Shea at a press conference Monday afternoon at One Police Plaza. He said that the department will begin to track bias crimes in CompStat, its method of recording major index crimes such as murder, shootings and robbery. The move had been requested by Councilman Chaim Deutsch, who drafted legislation requiring the change.

“CompStat has proven to aid in reducing crime,” Deutsch said after the change was announced, “so I think it’s important that we include hate crimes in these metrics.”

The original CompStat was created in 1994. The data-driven approach has been credited as one of several factors in sharply reducing the city’s crime rate over the past 25 years by directing police to provide more patrols at high-risk areas.
CompStat currently releases data on seven categories of major crime. Bias crimes, which have until now been released every month, would add an eighth grouping to the weekly reports.