"The police department has no credibility when it comes to crime numbers," Baumann said.
He demanded crime numbers from each precinct daily, not once every six months.
This is the other, murkier side of those encouraging crime numbers.
"Rooney's crime numbers are O.K., but he has phenomenal outreach," Mr. Kerik said.
He told me, "In the early nineteen-nineties, we were losing tourists because of the awful crime numbers we had".
Reducing crime numbers is simple if you disregard basic rights, ignore victims, mandate quotas and manipulate numbers.
"Rooney's crime numbers are O.K., but he has phenomenal outreach," Mr. Kerik said, adding, "The community leaders love him".
But the city's continued low crime numbers led him, more recently, to believe the jail complex could be closed.
As Lynch and other experts note, the crime numbers — while rising — do not reach the levels seen decades ago.
City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., the chairman of the Council's Public Safety Committee, has commended Mr. Kelly for inviting the outside scrutiny of the department's crime numbers.
