WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Mt. Juliet police report increase in false reports

Mt. Juliet police report increase in false reports

MT. JULIET, Tenn. – The Mt. Juliet Police Department in Wilson County reports an increase in the number of false police reports and believes it's because of the recession.

The department says they are fed up with the illegal trend and will prosecute those who file false reports to "the fullest extent."

Detective David Stolinsky told News 2 he spends hours investigating and writing up police reports that in the end, turn out to be nothing but lies.

"Every month it's getting worse, and now that the holidays are coming up, people are getting desperate," he said, adding people are filing these false police reports because it works.

For instance, Stolinsky said Mt. Juliet police arrested a woman Tuesday night who claimed she was robbed.

She then took the police report to the water company and she received an extension on her bill.

She later confessed to police that she made up the story.

According to Stolinsky, people will also "take their report to their doctor and say, 'Doctor, my pills were stolen I need more,' and the doctors are refilling their prescriptions."

Detectives say those prescription drugs, depending on what they are, can go for $10 to $30 a pill, making the police report worth a lot of money.

They say what may look like a free police report is costing Mt. Juliet taxpayers thousands of dollars.

"It's costing us man hours, it's costing us time, it's costing us officers off the road to do the reports and investigate these cases," Stolinsky said.

He reiterates anyone who files a false report will be prosecuted to the fullest extent and that it's better to "think twice before you file that report."