Queensland Police insiders say reports have been manipulated to reduce crime rates.

Police crime managers have told reporters that legitimate crime reports were sometimes labelled “unfounded” to keep offences off the books, and reduce the apparent crime rate.

Other crime reports have allegedly been dismissed due to a “bar to prosecution”, which stops police from progressing investigations or making arrests.

This provision is designed to be used when the alleged perpetrator has left the country and extradition is not an option.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan says the state’s Police Commissioner has been informed him of the claims.

“The commissioner has assured me there are processes in place to make sure we get to the bottom of this matter, and to make sure the recording of our crime stat data is accurate,” Mr Ryan said.

The whistleblowers reportedly took the matter to the Audit Office, but no action was taken.

Audit Office investigators have now met with the heads of Gold Coast police stations.

The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) has confirmed that it is conducting a “performance audit to assess how well the [Queensland Police Service and the Department of Justice and Attorney-General] capture, report and use crime and justice data”.

The QAO will not provide any more detail until its report is tabled in the State Parliament, sometime in March.