Compstat/Fakestat: A Reader Writes that Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy Brought the Compstat/Fakestat Plague from New York

 

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, in an undated photo, testilying to politicians, who speak the same language
 

Re: “Stix Vindicated! Academics, Magazine Confirm Big City Police Are ‘Disappearing’ Crime.”
 

Dear Mr. Stix,

Your article was most interesting, as always.

You didn't mention it, but I assume you know that CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy previously fudged crime statistics during his lengthy career in the NYPD, where he is credited with implementing the Compstat program. Due to his "success" there he was made police chief in Newark, and then called to Chicago by Rahm Emanuel in 2011.

From a May 2011 Chicago Magazine profile:

• He’s got a background in crime statistics. Before he moved to Newark, McCarthy oversaw NYC’s famed Compstat program.

• He put up good numbers in Newark. “During [Cory] Booker’s term, homicides have declined 28 percent, shootings are down 46 percent, and crime overall is down 21 percent. March [2010] was Newark’s first month without a murder since 1966. Booker has emulated the approach pioneered by New York City in the 1990s, bringing over a New York City police veteran, Garry McCarthy, to run the police department, and instituting New York’s CompStat computer system for tracking crime and holding precinct commanders accountable.”
 

N.S.: I’m embarrassed to admit that I never checked out McCarthy’s mala fides. I found his public statements at press conferences and in published interviews so laughable that it never occurred to me that his stupidity and transparent dishonesty might be of the finest pedigree. For almost 20 years, Compstat has been the policing equivalent of a Harvard degree when, if anything, it ought to be the mark of Cain.