CRIME STATS RIGGED

Cop Honcho Rapped

A deputy inspector with the NYPD was demoted and transferred after
investigators concluded that he altered important crime statistics
while overseeing a Queens precinct in 2004.

Thomas Manzolillo, 40, a former commanding officer at the 105th
Precinct, had his rank reduced to captain two weeks ago for
downgrading crimes that occurred in his precinct - and infiltrating
the department's CompStat program to increase archived crime numbers
for his precinct from before he arrived there, sources said.

The NYPD's CompStat program was set up in the 1990s under then-Police
Commissioner William Bratton.

The highly valued crime-fighting tool compares current crime figures
to past ones in each precinct, allowing department higher-ups to see
developing trends in crimes area by area.

CompStat results serve as one of the ways commanding officers are
graded on performance, and lower crime figures can help with future
promotions and assignments.

Manzolillo, who arrived at the 105th Precinct around March 2004, was
transferred out that summer and placed in the Bronx Transit Bureau
when the allegations of CompStat abuse were made, sources said.

After his recent demotion, which came at the behest of Police
Commissioner Ray Kelly, Manzolillo - an 18-year department veteran
who also worked in Brooklyn North and the 106th Precinct in Queens -
was moved to the Brooklyn Transit Bureau, sources said.

According to people who worked with him, Manzolillo is a good, active
cop and was considered a rising star before the investigation.

Manzolillo could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The NYPD's CompStat program is recognized worldwide, used by other
police agencies and is credited with helping drastically reduce crime
rates to record lows in the city.

Several commanding officers in the city have been accused of fixing
their CompStat figures in the past.

In 1996, Capt. Louis Vega retired under fire from his position as
commander of the 41st Precinct in the Bronx after he was accused of
fudging crime statistics.

Vega later collected on a discrimination lawsuit settlement against
the NYPD, after he complained that others facing the same accusations
were merely transferred.