Posted on 06/12/2012 7:43:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Today, the FBI announced that violent crime dropped 4% in 2011, compared to a 5.5% drop in 2010. Nationally, the murder rate fell 1.9% from 2010, and robbery, forcible rape and assault fell 4% each. However, among the cities with the highest violent crimes rates, the trend is not entirely positive.
A 24/7 Wall St. review of 2011 FBI crime data shows that violent crime rose in more than half of the cities that have among the highest rates in the country. In seven of the 10 cities, murder rates increased. In eight of the 10, burglary went up.
Strained budgets are forcing police layoffs that many cities cannot afford to make. More than half of local police departments that responded to a national survey reported cuts in the 2011 fiscal year, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization of police executives from across the country. Many are cutting police forces through planned layoffs and attrition.
More than half of the cities with the highest violent crime rates are cutting law enforcement budgets and police forces as well. However, unlike the national picture, the situation is worse for these cities, which depend on tax bases that are shrinking faster than most.
The cities with the highest crime rates tend to have particularly high poverty rates, high unemployment and low median income. Two of the worst-off cities, Flint and Detroit, Mich., both have had well-publicized budget woes. Flint was taken over by an emergency city manager after failing to pay its bills in 2011. Detroit is facing similar budget problems and recently came to a temporary oversight agreement with the state.
While PERF notes that budget cuts appear to be slowing in police departments in the United States, most departments are still cutting. According to the group’s April report on local police budgets, this includes many of the cities on this list.
Oakland, Calif., cut its budget by 7% in the current fiscal year, with an additional 5% cut on the way, according to PERF. In the past two years, the city lost 80 police officers to layoffs and another 108 to attrition. This occurred despite increases in both violent and property crime in 2011.
Similarly, while the Detroit Police Department reported no cuts for fiscal year 2012, the city is planning a 15% cut next year. Detroit also has one of the highest crime rates in the country.
On its website, the FBI cautions against using crime data to compare city violence because rankings tend to be simplistic and ignore factors that influence crime, as well as the different ways crimes are measured and reported. “Data users should not rank locales because there are many factors that cause the nature and type of crime to vary from place to place,” the FBI warns.
Congressional Quarterly, which publishes and analyzes FBI crime statistics each year, referred to crime rate in terms of the “safest” and “most dangerous” cities. However, the publication recently dropped the terms “safe” and “dangerous” due to the concerns of criminologists, Dr. Rachel Boba Santos told 24/7 Wall St.
Despite these objections, Dr. Boba Santos said the data is useful to get a feel for the needs of a particular community and to look at a specific city’s trends on a year-over-year basis. She said the data also is used at the federal level to determine funding resources for different communities, comparing crime rates.
Based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more with the highest rates of violent crime per 1,000 residents. Using the estimated populations and crime incidents from UCR, which measures incidents of eight types of violent and nonviolent crime for 2011, 24/7 Wall St. calculated the incidence of the four types of violent crime per 1,000 persons for that year: murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In addition to crime data, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed median income and poverty rates for these cities from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2010, the most recent available year. We also included average 2011 unemployment rates for these cities, provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These are the 10 cities with the highest rates of violent crime.
10. Stockton, Calif.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 14.1
> Population: 295,136
> 2011 murders: 58
> Median income: $45,606
> Unemployment rate: 20.2%
In 2010, Stockton had an unemployment rate of 18.4%, among the worst in the nation for large cities. In 2011, the labor market worsened and unemployment rose to 20.2%, well more than double the national average of 8.9% and the highest of any of the cities on this list. Violent crime rates also have worsened, increasing from 13.8 crimes per 1,000 people in 2010. Though Stockton has long had high crime rates, the 58 murders recorded in Stockton last year were an all-time record for the city. This month, to curb the increasing crime rates in the city, police decided to prioritize violent crime and to no longer respond to property crimes in the city unless certain criminal conditions were met.
9. Baltimore, Md.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 14.2
> Population: 626,848
> 2011 murders: 196
> Median income: $38,346
> Unemployment rate: 10.5%
Baltimore managed to decrease its violent crime rate slightly from 14.6 per 1,000 in 2010 to 14.2 last year. This coincides with a 12% decrease in murders. However, Baltimore still has the sixth-highest homicide rate of any U.S. city with a population above 100,000. Baltimore’s murder rate has been dropping steadily, but with 341 forcible rape cases in 2011 and the 11th-highest aggravated assault rate in the country, many residents are victims. In 2010, Baltimore made plans to layoff 193 police due to budget cuts.
8. Atlanta, Ga.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 14.3
> Population: 425,533
> 2011 murders: 88
> Median income: $41,631
> Unemployment rate:12.1%
Compared to most American cities, Atlanta has extremely high incidences of both violent and property crimes. The city’s 8.27 aggravated assaults per 1,000 people is one of the 10 highest rates among the country’s largest cities, as is the city’s 70.84 property crimes per 1,000 people. Atlanta also has one of the nation’s highest rates of motor vehicle theft, with a total of 5,371 incidents in the city last year. Vehicle theft likely will remain an issue throughout 2012 as well; in March almost 100 individuals were arrested as part of a single auto theft operation.
7. Birmingham, Ala.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 14.8
> Population: 213,258
> 2011 murders: 54
> Median income: $30,212
> Unemployment rate: 10.9%
New on the list this year is Birmingham, which ranks among the top five cities in the U.S. for forcible rape and property crime rates. The city also has among the highest rates of burglary and larceny-theft. Like many other high crime cities, Birmingham has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, at 25.1%. Despite the rampant crime, officials announced last year that they planned to lay off 148 employees of the sheriff’s department in an effort to reduce the budget by $12.3 million.
6. Little Rock, Ark.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 14.9
> Population: 194,988
> 2011 murders: 37
> Median income: $44,415
> Unemployment rate: 7.2%
Though Little Rock’s 2011 violent crime rate is down from 2010, when there were 15.2 violent crimes for every 1,000 people, in many ways the city’s crime rate has not truly improved. Although in 2010 there were only 25 murders in the city, in 2011 there were 37. Additionally, incidents of forcible rape increased from 149 to 161, while the number of property crime incidents increased by 708, or almost 5%. According to the Little Rock Police Department’s COMPSTAT reports, the total number of violent, property and arson crimes has experienced a net increase since 2001, although with slight declines in more recent years.
5. Memphis, Tenn.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 15.8
> Population: 652,725
> 2011 murders: 117
> Median income: $37,045
> Unemployment rate: 11.1%
In 2011, Memphis defied the national trend of declining crime rates in major U.S. cities.
The rate of violent crimes per 1,000 people increased, from 15.4 to 15.8. This was the product of increases in murders, which rose from 89 to 117 cases, and aggravated assault incidents, which rose by 100 cases. A rising unemployment rate, which grew 1.2% to 11.1% in 2011, likely has not helped to reduce criminal behavior. With a current budget deficit of $45 million, Mayor Wharton says he may need to consider “taking boots off the street,” by laying off members of the police force in the near future.
4. Oakland, Calif.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 16.8
> Population: 395,317
> 2011 murders: 104
> Median income: $49,190
> Unemployment rate: 15.6%
Oakland historically has been among the most crime-ridden cities in California, with a violent crime rate this year of 16.8 per 1,000 people. There were 14 more murders in 2011 than in 2010, causing Oakland to maintain the ninth-highest murder rate in the country two years in a row. Oakland is the number one city for both robbery and motor vehicle theft rates in the country. Oakland city councilmember Desley Brooks, who wants to allocate $11 million in revenue to the police force, acknowledges the increased violent crime, saying, “we cannot ignore that we have had an increase in violent crime, and so we cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect that it’s going to be a different result.”
3. St. Louis, Mo.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 18.6
> Population: 320,454
> 2011 murders: 113
> Median income: $32,688
> Unemployment rate: 11.7%
Although the total number of murders in the city has decreased by 31 since 2010, crime in St. Louis did not improve overall last year. Violent crime rates in St. Louis have risen dramatically, from 17.5 to 18.6 cases per 1,000 people. And the city’s murder rate is still the fourth highest in the nation, its robbery rate is the fifth highest in the nation and its aggravated assault rate is third highest in the nation. Despite these troubling facts, the St. Louis Police Department recently faced potentially drastic budget cuts, that may require the elimination of 100 street-patrolling officer positions through attrition.
2. Detroit, Mich.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 21.4
> Population: 713,239
> 2011 murders: 344
> Median income: $25,787
> Unemployment rate: 19.9%
Long regarded as one of the poorest cities in the U.S., with a 32.3% poverty rate and nearly 20% unemployment in 2010, Detroit has the second-highest violent crime rate in the country. Homicide increased by 11% in 2011, while robbery and aggravated assault are fourth and second highest in the country, respectively. Nonviolent crime is also an issue, with burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson rates in the top 10 rankings in the country. In response to an 18% decrease in the Detroit police budget, which will result in the elimination of 380 positions through attrition and early retirement, the city has begun taking steps to decrease police funding by introducing “Virtual Precincts.” The plan, which closes police stations between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m, requires citizens to report non-emergency crime to a call center, and frees up more patrol officers to respond to 911 emergency calls.
1. Flint, Mich.
> Violent crimes per 1,000: 23.4
> Population: 102,357
> 2011 murders: 52
> Median income: $22,672
> Unemployment rate: 18.9%
According to the FBI examined, no city with more than 100,000 residents had a higher violent crime rate than Flint. In 2011, there were 2,392 incidents of violent crime in Flint, which has a population just above 100,000. That same year, there were just 1,246 violent crimes in all 10 of the safest cities in America — which have 13 times as many residents as Flint among them. Flint has the second-highest murder rate and the highest rates of aggravated assault, burglary and arson in the nation. According to Flint Mayor Dayne Walling: “there are too many guns on the street and it’s easy for individuals with evil motives to take another human being’s life.” Though the violent crime has long been a problem in Flint, in 2010 the city laid off 20 of its 140 police officers, a decision that diminished both the police’s street presence and response times to crime.
That is nuts...I was making more than that in the 1980s...
Yes, check out the income levels where benefits kick in and you will be surprised.
Just a guess, but making 1980s wages in todays America, without some help, the crime would probably 10 fold.
I am offended ... Chicago didn’t even make the top ten.
I am wondering why the city-data charts don’t come up eventually ( they did when I used the preview mode ).
I wish they would adjust the figures to remove criminal-on-criminal crime. Unless I’m a bad guy getting mixed up in this lifestyle, many of these figures probably don’t apply to us. (And frankly, who cares about criminal-on-criminal crime?? Not me. I like that they “police” themselves. It’s A LOT cheaper and effective than using my tax dollars.)
Other than for trivia purposes, I am only interested in the spillover into the law abiding community. Why not go to the jungle and report animals killing other animals??
There is no crime in Toad Suck, Arkansas. Everyone’s a friend there!
Good point. We were watching a schpielburg TV series and dumped it as soon as the sterotypical stupid white Southerners and rabid Christian minister appeared.
Steven schpielbugger is a marxist racist demagogue a-hole like most other hollywood types.
I sometimes have to reboot to reset my security settings (once in a while I start getting warnings from Google’s home page - weird). Can’t remember what the source of that problem was, but do recall the solution.
Ah yes. Mayor Kasim Reid.
The man who was TRAILING handily on election night until all those magic votes came in REALLY LATE from Fulton county precincts ...
Paper ballots I might add.
One can carry concealed in Atlanta. State law now makes sure of that. You can even carry on MARTA IIRC.
Note that these rankings are by “violent crime per 1000”, NOT by number of murders.
If they were ranked by MURDERS the list would be -
1. Detroit (344)
2. Baltimore (196)
3. Memphis (117)
.
.
Note that Democrat-controlled Chicago had 441 murders last year, making it a clear leader in that respect. BUT that’s The Prez’s hometown, so reporting it that way wouldn’t make him look too good ... easier to rank it by some other stat, so Chicago disappears ....
A few years back, I had to stay in Detroit for extended periods on business. Walking the streets there, I felt safer (due to my CCW being honored there) than I do walking in NYC.
The cities with the highest crime rates tend to have particularly high poverty rates, high unemployment and low median income.
&&&
Gee, why was there not a high spike in violent crime during the Great Depression if violent crime is linked to poverty?
The increased violent crime is a direct result of the main cause of poverty in these same cities, single mothers and dependence on government handouts.
From the link below - Looks like Congressional Quarterly has very liberal roots....
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/corporate/article1020308.ece
Times Publishing sells Congressional Quarterly to Roll Call
By Richard Martin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Times Publishing Co., parent company of the St. Petersburg Times, has sold Congressional Quarterly to Roll Call Group.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roll Call will purchase CQ to form a new company to be known as the CQ-Roll Call Group. The sale price was not disclosed.
Roll Call, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Economist Group, publishes a daily newspaper and operates CongressNow, a legislative wire service.
“The Times Publishing Co. takes great pride in the success of Congressional Quarterly, and takes great pleasure in knowing that it has a very bright future as part of the Economist Group,” ...
I just checked the two episodes for today. I am not going to watch them but one is about Victoria delivering medicine to the Indians and the other is about helping Mexican revolutionaries.
No chance for PC script in those is there? Actually I can almost write it myself.
How ‘bout them toad suckers, ain’t they clods?
Sittin’ there suckin’ them green toady frogs!
Suckin’ them hop toads, suckin’ them chunkers,
Suckin’ them a leapy type, suckin’ them flunkers.
Look at them toad suckers, ain’t they snappy?
Suckin’ them bog frogs sure makes ‘em happy!
Them hugger mugger toad suckers, way down south,
Stickin’ them sucky toads in they mouth!
How to be toad sucker, no way to duck it,
Get yourself a toad, rear back, and suck it!
— Mason Williams
No one left there to be victims. Camden NJ is a shell of a town. Nothing worth stealing or killing over.
From what I've seen, that's about a standard wage in Michigan, especially in the rural areas. That is, if you're lucky enough to HAVE a job. My wife makes that with over 10 years of experience at an office job. That's why most Michiganders laugh when UAW types call themselves “middle class”.
And let’s not forget the “rancidly corrupt” allocation of concessions at the airport (bascialy a license to print money) that went to Reid’s cronies. Atlanta is dangerous to our rights beacuse it has a large number of delegates to the state legislature, and they’re all pretty much in lockstep on the question of gun rights (even the white ones), namely that only the government’s JBTs should be armed.Since my friend Bobby Franklin died, gun owners don’t have a strong representative in the legislature.
And then there’s Las Vegas...if the crime isn’t reported, it won’t make the statistics. Can’t scare the tourists....
Dang! We've got to try harder!
That is the one constant in all these cities and the #1 predictor of high violent crime rates.
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