A decrease in the number of criminal cases city prosecutors are pursuing suggests that the crime spike recently reported by the NYPD could be a ruse to incite fear over criminal justice reforms, a coalition of public defenders said Tuesday.

“Since the NYPD controls how, when, and where they arrest people and what they charge an arrested person with, it is easy for them to generate and then use statistics to promote a self-interested agenda,” a joint statement from five city defense attorney groups reads.

While there has been a reported spike in major crimes since the year began, 20 percent fewer complaints are being docketed to court calendars, according to the bloc of defenders, which includes The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services and The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.

“The court case numbers are a more objective measure because each docket represents an instance in which a person has actually been accused of a crime and charged in court,” the statement said. “Charged cases often face some degree of scrutiny from prosecutors and judges, and thus weed out entirely unfounded charges associated with initial arrests.”

The department quickly issued a scathing rebuke of the allegations — saying the claim “that the NYPD is somehow manipulating the numbers to inflate crime rates is absurd.”

“In the first month of the year, there was an increase in ‘DP’s’ or decisions to decline to prosecute. Looking solely at prosecution data has no bearing on whether or not a victim’s car was stolen,” Sgt. Jessica McRorie said in a statement.

“The integrity of the reporting system is a staple of the NYPD and there are numerous levels of checks and balances, audits, and robust oversight to ensure the proper classification of crime reports.”

The department saw a nearly 17 percent decrease in arrests overall over the first two months of 2020.

The charge that city cops may be cooking the books comes a day after The Post reported a nearly 20 percent spike in serious crime, including robberies, stolen cars and burglaries, according to NYPD statistics released Monday.

Murder and rape were two of the only seven major crimes that were down this year compared to the same time last year, about 17 percent and 13 percent, respectively. However, shootings were up 19 percent in January and February.

Top brass at the NYPD tried to pin January’s uptick in crime on the controversial new bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies — but haven’t provided data to back up the claim.

Two city councilmen accused cops of creating a “false narrative” by blaming bail reform without evidence.