Washington DC - In a new report, Republicans with the House Oversight Committee claim the chief of the Washington DC police department manipulated the city's crime data to appear lower than it actually is.

On Sunday, the committee published a 22-page report titled "Leadership Breakdown: How DC's Police Chief Undermined Crime Data Accuracy."

The report alleges that Police Chief Pamela Smith ordered senior officials to alter data put into the department's Daily Crime Report by downgrading certain offenses, thus voiding them from public statistics.

As part of their investigation into Smith, which was launched in August, the committee interviewed commanders from all seven MPD patrol districts.

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Some claimed they were directed to reduce offense classifications into ones that are not publicly reported, like changing assault with a dangerous weapon to endangerment with a firearm and burglaries to unlawful entries.

The report says the testimony "paints a troubling picture of department leadership placing a higher priority on suppressing public reporting of crime statistics than stopping crime itself."

Though Smith had announced her retirement earlier this month, committee Chairman James Comey said it "should not be seen as voluntary," and that she should step down immediately in light of the report.

Back in August, President Donald Trump announced that he was deploying National Guard troops to clean up what he claimed was rampant crime in the nation's capital.

At the time, both Smith and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser contested the president's claims, arguing that data showed crime had been on a steady decline since last year.

In a statement provided to Fox 5 DC on Sunday, Bowser said the city's decline in crime is attributable to Smith's leadership, and praised her for her work.