Least-Safe Cities: Some Surprising Results
The top 100 least-safe cities list has been complied, with some surprising results. The number one city on the list is Industry, California. Absent from the list are New York City and Chicago.
The list was compiled by City-Data.com. Each city is given a crime index number, which is based on per-capita crime rates. Detroit is listed as number 62; St. Louis, Missouri is number 46; Camden, New Jersey is number 67; and Atlantic City is listed as number 80.
As reported by PIX 11, most of the cities on the list are in the southern and western portion of the US. Despite daily reports of violent crime in the media, cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta were not included on the list.
According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, even in some of the traditionally least-safe cities, many residents do not feel they are in danger. As reported by Gallup.com, residents of numerous cities were asked if they “feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where [they] live.”
Residents in Minneapolis-St. Paul scored their area the highest in the poll. Eighty percent of residents in that feel they are safe walking around at night. In the Chicago-Naperville area, 73 percent of residents report feeling safe. In New York, North New Jersey, and Long Island, 75 percent of residents stated that they feel safe.
These results are surprising, as Chicago and New York are notoriously reported as dangerous cities. However, early last month, the Chicago Police department released figures that indicate violent crime has decreased in recent years.
As reported by ABC News 7, early 2013 figures have shown a 42 percent decrease in murders, compared to early 2012. In fact, the most recent figures indicate that the murder rate in Chicago is the lowest it has been since 1963.
Officials with the Chicago Police department credit an increase in task force and patrol units. By replacing administrative positions with patrol units, they have increased their presence in some of the most notoriously dangerous neighborhoods.
As they have increased visibility, they believe this has contributed to the drop in crime. Chicago’s absence from the least-safe cities list is one indication that the increased patrols are having a positive impact.
Crime control is never an exact science, but it seems that some of the nation’s largest police forces are finding methods that work, as they decrease the number of violent crimes.
