This is nothing new. Believe it or not, John Vliet Lindsay did something good in his time as mayor. He discovered that serious crimes were being downgraded because precinct commanders were graded on the level of serious crime in their areas. Lindsay ended that practice and the reported crime rate increased.
What to do? Make sure the incentives are to do the right thing.
I think you’re right about that. How can you and I change the incentives?
Houston (Harris County) has similarly downgraded car theft to “unauthorized use of a motor vehicle”. An unauthorized user of my car stripped $4000 worth of parts from it recently. The unconcerned cop writing the report suggested that I get used to it, as it was becoming more common all the time.