“Dear PoPville,

I know some police departments massage their data to keep crime stats low, but I cannot believe that my assault/robbery incident was downgraded to a “lost items” and “misplaced items” incident. Worse, I downloaded the “Crime Incidents in 2019” and saw that my attack was not listed in the data set.

I was attacked and robbed by two men while walking down 7th and N Streets NW in Shaw a few weeks ago. There was a passerby that kindly called 911 and two police officers showed up within a minute.

They were kind and courteous and took my statement about the assault and robbery. Then a DC MPD detective showed up, heard my statement and proceeded to question my account of the attack and robbery and said it sounded like my items were “misplaced”. I was seething, as I quickly surmised that he was trying to have one less assault/robbery case in Shaw. I explicitly told him that the police officers standing next to me have body cameras and he better take my statement as I said it. He was not pleased but acted like he would file the incident as an assault and robbery incident. I picked up the police report a couple of days later and that the report states that my “lost items” were misplaced. I am furious because I was punched and a theft occurred.

Does DC MPD often downgrade crimes and is there an organization I can speak to before filing a police complaint? Oh, and I remember years ago, after a car break-in, the responding police officer asked why I wanted to file a police report when I had insurance.”