FBI data shows Corker may have overstated Chattanooga crime drop
2006-09-29
Source: Tri-Cities Tennessee
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rss feedFBI data shows that violent crime in Chattanooga did not drop by 50 percent while Bob Corker was mayor, as he claims in a new campaign ad.
"When I was mayor of Chattanooga, we cut violent crime by 50 percent," the Republican Senate candidate says while talking to his mother, Jean, in a new commercial. "We figured out who the bad guys were, and we sent them away."
The FBI's annual report shows violent crime in Chattanooga dropped fell between 2001 and 2004 - but only by 28.7 percent. That report draws its data from local and state authorities and is considered the most comprehensive source of crime data.
Corker campaign manager Ben Mitchell said the campaign got its information from the Chattanooga Police Department.
"We obviously take very seriously getting our facts correct," Mitchell said. "We took the original documents from the city of Chattanooga, which clearly show that under Bob Corker's time as mayor there was a 50 percent drop in violent crime."
Information released by Corker's campaign Thursday showed that the 50 percent figure was based on preliminary statistical data for 2004.
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