PITTSBURG — The president of the Pittsburg police officers’ union called allegations that his department manipulated crime statistics “outrageous” and “simply not true,” in a statement released Tuesday evening.

Officer Joe Terry said the rank-and-file officers support a “full, open and transparent investigation” into the claim that the department for decades had categorized crimes as “suspicious circumstances” to artificially lower its crime rate.

“We want to reaffirm that members of the Pittsburg Police Department, including our Chief Brian Addington and our command staff, have worked hard to improve residents’ safety and to claim that this achievement was completed by manipulating statistics is outrageous and simply not true,” Terry said in a one-page statement released late Tuesday. “As members of the Pittsburg Police Officers’ Association, we are the officers who respond to initial calls for service, and determine if a crime has occurred.”

Meanwhile, City Councilman Sal Evola called for a transparent investigation, possibly a probe outside of the one launched this week by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office looking at the 2015 suspicious circumstance reports filed by the department.

Evola called for “transparency” and said he asked the city manager to place a discussion item on Monday’s agenda so residents can hear in open session a response to the crime reporting fraud alleged by a former high-ranking officer. Evola said the council discussed former Lt. Wade Derby’s claim in closed session at the last council meeting, but he wanted to talk publicly Monday.

District Attorney Mark Peterson said Tuesday his office has started the audit and will “render an opinion as to whether they were properly classified.”

Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.