Controversial study again calls St. Louis and Camden, N.J the most violent
US city
ST. LOUIS - Camden is no longer the most dangerous city in the country per
capita, but some fear budget cuts will land them back on the bottom.
So far this year there have been 33 murders in the city of 80,000 people.
Camden's police chief insists protection levels won't drop even if he is
forced to layoff officers.
A study by CQ Press released over the weekend found St. Louis, Mo., had
2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average
of 429.4. That helped St. Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year's
list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004.
First place went to St. Louis. Miss. Rounding out the top five were
Detroit, Flint, Mich., and Oakland, Calif.
For the second straight year, the safest city with more than 75,000
residents was Colonie, N.Y.
City officials are again decrying an annual report that consistently ranks
the city of St. Louis as one of the most dangerous in the country.
St. Louis again led CQ Press's crime rankings, beating out Camden, N.J.,
which led the list last year. CQ Press found St. Louis had more than 2,000
crimes per 100,000 residents, well above the national average of about 430
violent crimes for 100,000 residents.
The FBI has in the past said its crime numbers should not be used the way
CQ Press does to develop the rankings. The U.S Conference of Mayors has also
rejected the study's methodology.
Kara Bowlin, a spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay said crime has gone down
in the city each year since 2007. And a spokeswoman for the St. Louis
Metropolitan Police Department called the rankings irresponsible.
The CQ Press's annual study of U.S. crime statistics shows that Camden, NJ
is no longer the most dangerous city in the country—it's just the second
most dangerous city. St. Louis, MO, with 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000
residents was #1 (the national average is 429.4). Other cities in the top
five are Michigan's Detroit and Flint and Oakland, CA. The safest city?
Colonie, NY. NYC is #256 while Newark, NJ is #29. Of course, the FBI and other
agencies have denounced the study's methodology./b.sina/
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