Is Chicago Covering Up Its' Murder Rate?

CBS TV Chicago reports:

A police watchdog group is calling Tuesday on the FBI to review whether the Chicago Police Department is hiding crimes to lower the murder rate and make the city seem safer.

CBS 2 Investigative Reporter Pam Zekman reported Monday on half a dozen questionable cases, and now there are more.

CBS 2's comparison of homicides reported by the police to a list provided by the medical examiner's office uncovered dozens of cases apparently missing from the official police crime count -- many carried as death investigations by the police.

"I think it's outrageous. It's dishonest it's deceiving the public," said Mary Powers of Citizens Alert.

Powers says she was shocked by CBS 2's disclosures that some cases are in limbo because of major disputes between the medical examiner's office and the police over how people died.

Take the case of Jeffrey Head found dead in his apartment in 2004.

"His hands was behind his back like this, and a plastic bag over his head," said the victim's brother, Earl Head.

Police officials say they believe Head killed himself attempting a form of sexual gratification.

But in this autopsy report the pathologist documents serious injuries including a fractured windpipe and hemorrhages on both sides of his head, injuries too severe to be self-inflicted.

The pathologist concluded Head died of strangulation and suffocation -- a homicide. It is a conclusion the police dispute.

"It's not right and they aren't doing their job as they should," said Earl Head.

Police officials deny it, saying Head's case and others were correctly classified by detectives as death investigations.

When asked if police carry cases as death investigations to keep the homicide count down, Michael Chasen, Deputy Chief of Detectives, said, "Absolutely not. They never hold a case to eliminate a homicide. We just don't do that."

That's what Citizens Alert wants the FBI and Superintendent Cline to find out.

The Cook County Medical Examiner declined to be interviewed on camera. But he said it is sad that the police department is giving out inaccurate information about the city's homicides.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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Well isn't having a monopoly on numbers great? You can just lie to make things look better than they really are.Is Chicago the Enron of murder statistics? Only time will tell.It's interesting that Chicago has such a high murder rate when honest citizens can't own a handgun.No word yet from former Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt on Chicago's bogus crime numbers.