Federal audit: Major problems in PHX statistics

PHOENIX - Federal auditors have found major discrepancies with Phoenix kidnapping statistics, confirming the results of an ABC15 investigation.

Last week, Phoenix police leaders said the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General sent them the preliminary results of their investigation into the city's 2008 kidnapping numbers. They presented the findings before a special panel Monday afternoon.

"They went a step further," said Phoenix Lt. Mike Giammarino, an investigator in the department's professional standards unit.

In 2008, Phoenix police reported 358 kidnappings and used those statistics to get millions of dollars in federal grants with the purpose of fighting "border-related" crime.

Federal investigators have been in Phoenix at least three times this year. According to police, the OIG found that of those cases 109 should not have been counted, with another 85 in question.

Those results match the results an ABC15 investigation uncovered two months ago.

See the rest of the ABC15 investigation "Phoenix Kidnappings: Uncovering the Truth."