Exclusive Videos Show How One Texas County Fakes Crime Statistics to Make the Border Look Safe

Every year, the federal government doles out roughly a billion taxpayer dollars to local law enforcement agencies in the form of grants.{snip}

{snip} But is there a dark side to federalizing local law enforcement funding? PJ Media has obtained exclusive hidden camera video that shows federal grant money creates an incentive for local law enforcement to falsify their crime statistics. The fake stats tell a story that ends up benefiting the local agencies that clamor for the grants, while helping Washington sell its story that the border is safer than it really is.

Case in point: Hidalgo County, Texas. This border county is home to McAllen, one of the fastest-growing cities in the entire United States. Hidalgo County boasts the most border crossings of any county along the Texas-Mexico border. Property values are rising here despite the stagnant U.S. economy. The county is home both to gang-infested barrios and to a posh neighborhood that boasts fountains, manicured lawns, beautiful new custom homes, and many cars bearing Mexican license plates.

Hidalgo County sits across the border from Reynosa, Mexico, one of the most violent and troubled cities in the Mexican drug wars. But according to some local officials, Mexico’s drug war has not spilled over into their bustling Texas community. They say this even though U.S. forces engaged drug cartel members in a firefight at Chimney Park in Hidalgo County in 2011.

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The federal government has granted Hidalgo County about $6 million to fight crime since 2004. That money has gone to the county’s anti-narcotics efforts and has funded the purchase of sophisticated video surveillance towers that are supposed to be used to monitor the border and watch over troubled neighborhoods. {snip}

The federal money is granted for the purpose of fighting crime, and the government monitors crime statistics via the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Local law enforcement agencies report trends in crime in their communities through the NIBRS, and the NIBRS stats find their way into speeches and comments made by politicians to show that the money is being spent well and that crime is being defeated. {snip}

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In May of 2011, President Obama went to the border at El Paso, Texas, and in his “alligators and moats” speech claimed the border is safe and mocked calls for more border security.

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In March of 2011, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, “There is a perception that the border is worse now than it ever has been. That is wrong. The border is better now than it ever has been.” Napolitano went on to say that violence from Mexico’s drug war has not spilled over into the U.S., citing statistics that show crime along the border has either stayed flat or even gone down. {snip}

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But how accurate are the statistics that the local law enforcement agencies send their states and ultimately to the federal government? PJM/PJTV has obtained exclusive hidden camera video from inside the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. In this video, a crime analyst — the person responsible for entering official data into the Uniform Crime Reporting system from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office — admits that the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office manipulates its crime statistics systematically.

Deputy: Hey what’s up? (unintelligible question)

Analyst: No, I can do it for you.

Deputy: Cool. (unintelligible, but he asks about changing a code)

Analyst: Huh?

Deputy: (unintelligible)

Analyst: I guess. Cause he’s the one changing everything.

Deputy: Changing the stats?

Analyst: (nods) He’s the one…

Deputy: Well how is he changing them?

Analyst: He reads the reports and fiddles with you if it’s not linking. Like, with a robbery, he redrizzles it down to a simple, like an, if it’s like uh, aggravated assault (looks away to see if anyone can hear), he orders a downgrade to assault. Or if…

Deputy: It’s real simple to do because most people are gonna, think you’re gonna have more.

(Analyst tilts head skeptically)

Deputy: You can justify it both ways.

Analyst:  Yeah, but some of them, no. (crosstalk) Like, as far as the standards go, from the UCR, yeah.

Deputy: So. You can get in trouble.

Analyst: Hm?

Deputy: You can get in trouble?

Analyst: Not us, but…yeah the sheriff.

Deputy: Him (points in the direction of the sheriff’s office).

Analyst: Yeah. Not me.

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The federal crime reporting system relies on local law enforcement to accurately report the crimes taking place in their communities. But as we see on hidden camera video from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, the federal crime statistics system is being manipulated in at least one strategic county that sits directly across the Rio Grande from Mexico’s drug war.

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