COLUMBUS, Ohio — We’re learning more about what caused one of the state’s biggest police departments to under-report crime for more than the last decade.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 100,000 Columbus Police cases were not reported to a database that’s used on both the state and federal level

  • Columbus’ Deputy police chief, Tim Myers, said the department has investigated nearly two million cases since 2013

  • Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and the city’s police union complemented the department’s transparency

According to Columbus Police, an administrative issue is to blame for more than 100,000 cases not being reported to a database that’s used on both the state and federal level.

Columbus’ Deputy Police Chief, Tim Myers, said the department has investigated nearly two million cases since 2013.

But he said about 165,000 of those cases are just now pending submission to the Ohio office of Criminal Justice Services.

Deputy Chief Myers said it was an administrative issue that caused the problem that ultimately under-reported crime to the state.

But he said all the cases, including the ones that weren’t properly reported, were investigated.

It all dates back to when the department started using a new records management system in 2013.

He said once the department realized the mistake; it wanted to be as transparent as possible about the problem.

“So I can certainly understand why the public would be frustrated to learn this. I certainly was when I found out about it. But I also think it’s important to acknowledge that the reason we discovered this is because we’re taking a hard look at our processes, if we had maintained the status quo, we would not have uncovered these issues,” said Deputy Chief Tim Myers with the Columbus Division of Police.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and the city’s police union are also complementing the department’s transparency.

Ginther saying in part, “Chief Bryant is committed to modernizing the Columbus Division of Police in its culture and operations to make our community safer. I’m grateful that her commitment to data-driven policing has helped to identify this under-reporting, and that it is swiftly being rectified”

For his part, FOP President Brian Steel said he wasn’t surprised to learn there have been more crimes than the department had reported.

But he also commended chief Elaine Bryant for her transparency.

Deputy Chief Myers tells me we’re just now finding out about these reporting errors because they just found out about it and their main goal now is to be transparent with the public and fix the problem going forward.