DETROIT — In another blow to the Motor City’s tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation’s most dangerous city, according to a private research group’s controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.
The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft.
Last year’s crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/19/AR2007111900134.html
2006 murder rate tops in nation
By Brendan McCarthy
Staff writer
Using even the most generous population estimate, New Orleans finished 2006 as by far the nation's most murderous city, with more slayings per capita than other notoriously violent cities, including Gary, Ind., and Detroit, according to statistics released Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Confirming the long-suspected but grim ranking, the city's 162 homicides gave it a per capita rate in 2006 of anywhere from 63.5 to 72.6 per 100,000 residents, depending on varying population estimates. Even with considerable population gains, the city is on track this year to easily rank among the nation's most murderous cities for 2007.