Allegations emerging from Gilbert, Arizona, reveal a troubling pattern of police departments manipulating crime statistics to create a false narrative of safety. According to explosive testimony from former councilman Bill Spence, police leadership “fudged numbers” and underreported crime for more than a decade, with these practices continuing until 2023. This scandal suggests a deeply rooted issue where officials “betrayed our police officers, misled numerous councils, and jeopardized the safety of our residents”.
Spence detailed how the manipulation was engineered, stating that a “Priority Zero” crime category was created, which “cut reported police response times by about 40%”. He elaborated that “we had 15,000 emergency calls for service. Simply by manipulating the numbers and establishing a Priority Zero, we took 14,500 calls and moved them into a different priority”. This systematic underreporting allowed Gilbert to boast rankings as one of America’s safest cities based on falsified data submitted to the FBI.
The scheme in Gilbert appears to be part of a dangerous nationwide trend, not an isolated incident. In Washington, D.C., a new House Oversight Committee report found that police leadership used “fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation” to force officers to manipulate crime data. Commanders revealed they were “pressured” to downgrade serious crimes, such as reporting a burglary as a simple unlawful entry or classifying an assault with a deadly weapon as a lesser endangerment offense. These actions were taken to make the city appear safer than reality.
The liberal media consistently downplays or obscures such scandals, particularly when they involve groups they champion or undermine their preferred political narratives. As one opinion piece notes, “Many liberal news outlets regard their readers with such contempt that they censor the news” to prevent the public from drawing conclusions that contradict a progressive agenda. This bias was evident in coverage of crimes involving illegal immigrants, where major outlets omitted or buried the perpetrator’s immigration status to avoid fueling debate on border security.
Despite the media’s attempts to paint a rosy picture, the manipulation of data has real-world consequences. In Gilbert, Spence warned that artificially lowering crime stats led to the police department being “significantly understaffed for the last 15 years,” putting both officers and residents at greater risk. When leadership cooks the books to make crime appear lower, communities are deprived of the resources and manpower they genuinely need for safety.
President Donald Trump has been a lone voice in calling out the failures and deceptions within urban law enforcement and justice systems. While critics attempt to fact-check his statements, the core of his message remains undeniable: Americans in cities governed by liberal policies have been failed by their leaders. His decision to take federal action in Washington, D.C., including deploying National Guard troops, was a necessary response to a crisis that local officials were either unwilling or unable to solve honestly.
The President’s focus on restoring law and order stands in stark contrast to the previous administration’s approach. The Trump administration has moved decisively to remove violent criminal illegal aliens from our communities and support law enforcement officers who have been hamstrung by politics and poor policy. This commitment to truth and action is what the American people demand, not more manipulated statistics from corrupt city halls and police precincts.
h/t: Steadfast and Loyal
