Doddville’s drop in crime could really just be a drop in ethics.

One current Doddville Police Department officer has told Gotcha! that Police Chief Charles Wilbur and his subordinates have pressured their officers to juke crime stats.

The officer, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said, “With all of these cities talking about their lower crime rates, these guys feel like they have to drop (the crime numbers) every year to keep their jobs.”

According to the officer, Wilbur and company have pushed Doddville officers to underreport crime for the past two years. To keep crime numbers low, officers will convince crime victims not to file charges. Other times, the officers will underreport the value of stolen goods to avoid larceny charges or downgrade serious felonies to misdemeanors.

The anonymous officer said this type of thing happens “every day” in Doddville.

The proof appears to be in the reporting. Violent crime officially dropped in Doddville five percent in YR-03 and three percent last year. At the time, Wilbur chalked up those drops to “increased police presence and smarter law enforcement strategies.”

On Friday, Wilbur maintained those drops in crime were legitimate and bristled at any suggestion to the contrary.

“We don’t juke numbers here in Doddville. We fight crime,” Wilbur told Gotcha!.

However, the Doddville officer who spoke to Gotcha! reiterated that Wilbur feels the pressure to lower crime each year to save his job, and if that means underreporting crime, then so be it.

Juking crime statistics to make it appear crime is low is nothing new to police departments across the country — notably the New York Police Department. Maybe Doddville is growing up, taking a big city approach to its small city problems, wallpapering over the cracks that won’t go away.

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