Interesting that Cincinattie and New Orleans were also on the list of Ten Most Murderious Cities:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1923960/posts
You have to be careful when comparing "cities" to "metropolitan areas", also known as SMSAs.
Good example is the Washington DC SMSA. Because the standard for naming an SMSA is to pick the name of the most populous city, it should actually be called Fairfax VA SMSA, with DC itself identified as a mere suburb.
Fairfax VA has a low murder and crime rate. On the other hand, it has several places ~ e.g. DC proper, Prince Georges County MD, and portions of Montgomery County MD that are as dangerous as Baghdad on a hot Summer's evening.
As it would be wrong to speak of Fairfax VA about conditions in DC, it's equally wrong to talk about DC when the reality is the comparison is being made with Fairfax.