Can statistics be massaged to make things look better than they are? Yes. Do we know that New York City has a history of Catch & Release that lead to repeated crimes or new crimes? Yes. Do we know that at least one the five District Attornies for New York City has a history of downgrading Felony Charges to lesser charges that would then skew Crime Rates? Yes.
When liars are in charge of a city and things like Crime Statistics - you cannot trust figures that state things are safer than they actually are.
If I, as a District Attorney, were to take every case of a Break In of an Automobile (where theft was involved) & only report them as vandalism - My Crime Rate for Theft could easily drop tons of points while my Crime Rate for Vandalism goes up. For considering something safer or not safer - my city will look safer because the Theft Crime Rate dropped 20 points. I can then Bragg about that statistic to the residents of my city.
