The OIG audit did not examine whether the department has been reporting crime statistics accurately. Instead, investigators looked into whether the department had adequate quality-control systems for crime data and reporting. The police department’s policies are also outdated and incomplete, according to the report, which said that officers are subject to a “patchwork of overlapping and sometimes conflicting policies” on how to report crime. The report noted that concerns about crime statistics are not unique to the District. “Research has consistently found that when the same personnel responsible for crime reporting are also the ones whose performance is measured by that crime data, there is an inherent incentive to influence the numbers,” it said.