Races in Atlanta:
* Black (61.4%)
* White Non-Hispanic (31.3%)
* Hispanic (4.5%)
* Other race (2.0%)
* Two or more races (1.2%)
* Asian Indian (0.6%)
* American Indian (0.5%)
Posted on 06/09/2009 3:12:13 PM PDT by greatdefender
Mayor Shirley Franklin disputes a political blog’s ranking of Atlanta as the nation’s second most dangerous municipality, reiterating her claim that the city is “safer now than it has been in decades.”
“The blog’s rankings are based on incorrect data; they are contrary to the findings of reputable authorities on crime data; and they ignore Atlanta’s 7-year track record of crime reduction,” Franklin said Monday in a press release.
The ranking, compiled by the Web site Real Clear Politics, was derived by dividing the total crimes detailed in the FBI’s 2008 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report by city population. Real Clear Politics’ editors could not be reached for comment Monday.
The FBI stats, released last week, have presented a mixed bag for Atlanta. The positive: Violent crime decreased 8.3 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, with 672 fewer such incidents.
Property crimes, however, rose 7.6 percent in Atlanta; nationwide, a 1.6 percent decrease was reported — the first time property crime fell since 2003. Burglaries and larcenies were both on the rise locally, the FBI said.
But Franklin said citizens should focus on “dramatic improvement” in Atlanta’s crime rate over the past seven years.
“In that time the city’s crime rate has dropped from 11.2 percent to 8.7 percent, which is nearly a 25 percent improvement,” the mayor said. “Perhaps more importantly, our rate of violent crime is down nearly 40 percent over this period.”
While there’s some uncertainty over Real Clear Politics’ metrics, the FBI stats reveal that only Memphis had more crimes per person among U.S. cities with more than 500,000 residents.
“Franklin and [Atlanta Chief of Police Richard] Pennington have been trying to get us to drink the Kool-Aid for 12 months now,” said Randall Cobb, safety chairman for the Midtown Neighborhood Association. “The biggest thing they’re doing is refusing to take responsibility for crime in this city.”
Franklin cited other studies, including Congressional Quarterly Press’ crime rankings — which ranked Atlanta 16th overall in crime rate among U.S. cities — and Forbes magazine’s list of the 15 most dangerous cities in America — “Atlanta was not on it,” she said.
So far this year, Franklin said, figures compiled by COBRA (Command Operation Briefing to Revitalize Atlanta) indicate the overall crime is down 10 percent.
Those numbers don’t seem to register when it comes to public confidence.
“The problem is we’ve been getting the wrong information (from City Hall and the Atlanta Police Department) for years,” Cobb said. “There isn’t anyone I talk to who thinks we live in a safe city.”
After Memphis and Atlanta, Real Clear Politics ranked San Antonio, Detroit and Milwaukee as America’s least safe cities.
The safest? New York City, followed by San Jose, Calif., Los Angeles, San Diego, El Paso, Texas, Honolulu, Denver, Boston, Las Vegas and Louisville, Ky.
In 2001 the people of Atlanta elected Shirley Franklin, a first time candidate for public office, to serve as the 58th Mayor of the City of Atlanta. She also became the first female mayor and the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.
Since her (Shirley Franklin) inauguration in 2002, Mayor Franklin has worked to build a “Best in Class” managed city by strengthening existing frameworks, implementing progressive changes and making the tough decisions necessary to make Atlanta better. She returned accountability to city government, worked to increase effectiveness and efficiency in government operations and to strengthen private and non-profit partnerships in the city and metropolitan Atlanta region.
The Administration is continuing to improve financial and budget management practices as part of the reform plans initiated six years ago.
Sorry, Mayor, but that does not refute the assertion.
Outside of Buckhead, Atlanta is a sewer.
The two halves of this statement--"second most dangerous municipality" and "safer now than it has been in decades"--aren't mutually exclusive. Atlanta/Fulton County still has a huge crime problem, and the suburban jurisdictions (Cobb, Gwinnett, and especially Dekalb counties) are overrun with illegals.
}:-)4
I never go to Atl unless I have a very good reason,,,
Every year, Buckhead slouches closer towards Gomorrah. It's only arguably safe now.
Mayor Franklin said the next time anyone connected to Real Clear Politics came to Atlanta she was going to direct “some rock-smokin’ n_____s ta stomp dey pink ass.”
Your're supposed to ping a Freeper when you mention them ;)
I thought the Olympic Vill was supposed to to bring jobs and growth to the DT core of the ATL, what happened?
So who is #1?
Memphis
This is a mistake - we deserve first place.
Shirley Franklin wanted to get a job up in Washington, DC. Obama didn’t want her, too much baggage. Shirley’s ex-son-in-law was one of the biggest cocaine dealers in the country.
Don’t venture near Buckhead on a Sunday night, or Atlantic Station.
My wife has family in the Roswell area, just over the Cobb County line from Fulton County. In general it’s a very nice area, but if you go on the surface streets up toward Alpharetta from Roswell, you’d be surprised at the number of Hispanic folks you see. People have this antiquated civil-rights era view of metro Atlanta being just white/black, but it’s a very cosmopolitan area with a huge immigrant population from all over the world—both for good and for bad. I think my favorite example of that is a place that used to be on Buford Highway just outside 285...a German restaurant called the “Baden Baden Hof”, with the sign in Korean and English! I never had the guts to check the place out and see if they served kimchi sauerkraut...
}:-)4
http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-atlanta/season-1/about
The Mayor is too busy watching “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reruns....
Such a charming sentiment, beautifully expressed.
The Mayor is too busy as a “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reruns..”
There. Fixed!
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