Mark Greenblatt's 11 News report | The story behind the story

Is the Houston Police Department telling you the truth about crime in our city?

A six-month 11 News investigation reveals that the answer is no.

And some experts are now saying the problems 11 News Investigates uncovered at the department are as bad as the Houston Crime Lab.

They’re simple questions: Is crime going up? Do we need more police? And if so, where do we need them?

The Houston Police Department says it knows the answers — answers it needs to protect you.

“I’m shocked, but I’m also furious,” City Councilman Michael Berry said.

But what if they’re really flunking out?

“These errors are so substantial and significant that they call into question everything we’re doing at HPD,” Berry said.

Ike Ismail knows.

He thought he’d discovered the American dream.

“Moving to United States means a better life,” he said.

Starting a jewelry store Greenspoint Mall.

“It is a better future for my children,” Ismail said.

But one morning his dream nearly died.

“When we opened the safe, the safe was empty,” he said.

More than $30,000 worth of jewelry — all stolen.

“We had diamond jewelry, we had yellow gold jewelry, we had white gold jewelry,” he said.

But Houston police finally arrested store employee Mohammed Ashraf Aziz, who had some of that missing jewelry. 

The police coded it embezzlement — stealing from an employer.

II: “I was very angry.”

11 News: “You trusted him?”

II: “Exactly.”

But we had more bad news for the businessman, because 11 News discovered in the crime report HPD makes every year, they claimed one embezzlement arrest for all of Houston that entire year.

And that arrest wasn’t Mohamed Aziz.

Ismail’s reaction?

II: “They are 101 percent wrong,”

11 News: “So it really happened.”

II: “Definitely it happened.”

But some years HPD actually reported an incredible “zero” embezzlement arrests for all of Houston.

The problem? Over that same time period, HPD records show they made more than 1,000 arrests for the same crime.

So what’s going on?

Well police everywhere compile and keep statistics to help them fight crime.

What arrests are up and which are down and where to help them keep you safe. But 11 News has discovered the Houston Police Department has gotten things so mixed up for so long that they may actually be putting you in danger.

“It looks worse than the Houston Crime Lab,” said renowned criminologist Dr. James Fox.

11 News shared what we found with him, and he’s worried.

“You can’t trust the accuracy,” he said.

Because he sees big problems in HPD’s crime reporting.

“It really is giving an impression of the situation in Houston that is wrong,” Dr. Fox said.

For example, take those same annual crime reports. For of those four years, for the crime of buying and selling stolen property, HPD reported a miraculous ‘zero arrests’ for all of Houston.

The problem?

Police internal records show during those years, HPD actually did make arrests for the crime.

Fox’s reaction?

“You can’t trust any of these numbers,” he said. “They are just too bizarre to be believed.”

Because HPD may also be having problems with simple math.

Take a look: The HPD official Web site claims for the crime of DWI, Houston police somehow solved more than 100 percent of the cases with 112 percent in 2003 and 145 percent in 2004.

“Well that is just crazy,” Dr. Fox said. “Anytime you see a clearance rate over 100 percent you have to wonder.”

For example: “Imagine if Peyton Manning or David Carr had a completion rate of 173 percent,” Dr. Fox said.

His conclusion? HPD needs an audit.

“Without that you can’t trust any of these numbers,” Dr. Fox said.

“This is as bad as it gets, and it is a crisis of confidence,” Councilman Berry said. “How can the public trust what you’re doing?

A crisis that he says affects public safety.

“We’re talking about people’s lives being on the line,” Berry said.

That’s because he says City Council and others rely on HPD reports to figure out police funding and manpower.

“It says that this number of crimes were solved, we’re thinking: OK we’re doing a great job,” Berry said. “Maybe this money needs to go over here. If we realized how bad the problem was, you’d put more money at that problem.”

In short: “If we don’t know how much crime is out there how can we even begin to fight it?” Berry said.

For example, 11 News found that when it comes to DWI arrests, HPD keeps three sets of books.

For example, for all of 2005, one report to top police brass claims more than 1,300 arrests, but another to Mayor Bill White and City Council boasts 4,700 arrests.

While this official report made to both the state of Texas and the FBI claims more than 5,000 arrests.

11 News: “Can we trust anything that HPD is telling us about these crimes?”

Assistant Police Chief Charles McClelland: “Wes you can.”

So how does he explain those conflicting DWI totals?

“Our crime analysis; when they compile data it comes from three or four different databases,” McClelland said. “That’s my only comment.”

And how about solving more than 100 percent of a crime?

11 News: “When you see you’ve solved 145 percent of the crimes, does that concern you?”

CM: “No, because I understand the reporting and procedure.”

11 News: “How can that not concern you?”

CM: “Well it’s just the way the reporting is done.”

But during the interview we discovered something even more astounding. For crimes such as narcotics offenses, sex offenses, vandalism, embezzlement, DWIs and more,

HPD has no one assigned to check the numbers.

CM: “That type of crime data is not staff reviewed.”

11 News: “If you’re not reviewing this information, don’t you think that gives you some credibility questions?”

CM: “No.”

11 News: “How can you say that?”

CM: “I just said it. No.”

But Berry is outraged.

“Narcotic drug laws? I don’t think the general public would buy that’s not a real problem,” he said. “Vandalism? Fraud? I don’t think the public would agree with that analysis.”

Both the police chief and the head of crime analysis for the department declined on‑camera interviews with 11 News.

That said, the top person in charge of HPD’s Records Division who signs her name to these numbers, Sheila Duncan, admits she’s begun the process of trying to correct some of the errors 11 News pointed out for 2006 crime numbers.

But the Department of Public Safety says anything reported incorrectly for previous years would be difficult to correct since the statistics get sent all over the nation.