June 3, 2009
America's Safest Cities
By Brandon Ott

When we think about cities in the United States, one thing almost always
comes to mind: crime. What's more, we often associate our largest cities
with being the most crime-riddled. But in fact, new data released by the
FBI demonstrates many of our largest cities are quite safe when measured
across a variety of categories.

According to FBI crime statistics released this week, the level of crime
in cities across America fell in 2008. Nationally, violent crime fell
2.5% versus 2007, property crime fell 1.6%, and arson fell 3.5%. This is
a welcome turn around, given that violent crime rate soared 2.3% from
2004 to 2005, with the murder rate and robberies increasing 3.4% and
3.9%, respectively. More striking is the fact that one would expect
crime to spike in an economic downturn, yet this has not been the case
so far. 2008 also saw the biggest decrease, year over year, in murder,
robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft in the past four years.

The violent crime category is comprised of murder, rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor
vehicle theft. Arson is a property crime, but its statistics are
calculated separately.

Among cities with a population exceeding 500,000 residents, New York
City tops the list of safest cities in America. The Big Apple saw a
decrease of 4% in violent crime from 2007, handily beating the national
average. The overall drop consists of a 9% decrease in assaults (the
largest sub category), but is marred by a 5.4% increase in murder, 1.7%
increase in rape and a 1.8% increase in robbery. New York City's
per-capita crime rate hovers at 4.2%.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted the continuing downtrend in crime
activity, declaring that New York City has had "43 fewer murders, 1,415
fewer robberies and 491 fewer cars stolen" in the first five months of
2009 compared to 2008. Bloomberg continued, "Using innovative policing
strategies and a focus on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, we
are continuing to do more with less, in spite of the economic downturn."

Tuscon, Arizona, however, does have a lower crime rate than New York
City, at 2.9% per-capita, but a lack of property crime statistics
prevents it from achieving the top spot.

After New York, America's safest cities a San Jose, Los Angeles, San
Diego, El Paso, Honolulu, Denver, Boston, Las Vegas and Louisville.

*****And the U.S.'s least safe city? That distinction goes to Memphis,
Tennessee, with a crime rate of 18% per capita, followed by Atlanta
(16%), San Antonio (15.2%), Detroit (13.7%) and Milwaukee (13.4%). These
rates reflect the total crimes detailed in the FBI's report divided by
the population of the city.*****


New York also tops the list of safest cities with more than a million
residents, beating out Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and San Jose. These cities all saw an
impressive reduction in all three major categories of crime.

Curiously, only the smallest category of cities - those with under ten
thousand people - saw an increase in the number of murders, rapes and
robberies.



http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...ies_96815.html
at June 09, 2009 - 02:44:50 PM PDT
--
The modern GOP is little more than an army of moral absolutists led by a
gang of moral nihilists.



Well, at least Memphis has some of the music industry and good food.


From Wiki:

Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including
"Memphis" by Chuck Berry, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad,
"Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam
Tillis, "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, and
"Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.

In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the
Rolling Stones, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet" by
Alannah Myles, "Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel by Hank
Williams III, and many others.

On Jun 9, 4:12*pm, HK wrote:
June 3, 2009
America's Safest Cities
By Brandon Ott

When we think about cities in the United States, one thing almost always
comes to mind: crime. What's more, we often associate our largest cities
with being the most crime-riddled. But in fact, new data released by the
FBI demonstrates many of our largest cities are quite safe when measured
across a variety of categories.

According to FBI crime statistics released this week, the level of crime
in cities across America fell in 2008. Nationally, violent crime fell
2.5% versus 2007, property crime fell 1.6%, and arson fell 3.5%. This is
a welcome turn around, given that violent crime rate soared 2.3% from
2004 to 2005, with the murder rate and robberies increasing 3.4% and
3.9%, respectively. More striking is the fact that one would expect
crime to spike in an economic downturn, yet this has not been the case
so far. 2008 also saw the biggest decrease, year over year, in murder,
robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft in the past four years.

The violent crime category is comprised of murder, rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor
vehicle theft. Arson is a property crime, but its statistics are
calculated separately.

Among cities with a population exceeding 500,000 residents, New York
City tops the list of safest cities in America. The Big Apple saw a
decrease of 4% in violent crime from 2007, handily beating the national
average. The overall drop consists of a 9% decrease in assaults (the
largest sub category), but is marred by a 5.4% increase in murder, 1.7%
increase in rape and a 1.8% increase in robbery. New York City's
per-capita crime rate hovers at 4.2%.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted the continuing downtrend in crime
activity, declaring that New York City has had "43 fewer murders, 1,415
fewer robberies and 491 fewer cars stolen" in the first five months of
2009 compared to 2008. Bloomberg continued, "Using innovative policing
strategies and a focus on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, we
are continuing to do more with less, in spite of the economic downturn."

Tuscon, Arizona, however, does have a lower crime rate than New York
City, at 2.9% per-capita, but a lack of property crime statistics
prevents it from achieving the top spot.

After New York, America's safest cities a San Jose, Los Angeles, San
Diego, El Paso, Honolulu, Denver, Boston, Las Vegas and Louisville.

*****And the U.S.'s least safe city? That distinction goes to Memphis,
Tennessee, with a crime rate of 18% per capita, followed by Atlanta
(16%), San Antonio (15.2%), Detroit (13.7%) and Milwaukee (13.4%). These
rates reflect the total crimes detailed in the FBI's report divided by
the population of the city.*****

New York also tops the list of safest cities with more than a million
residents, beating out Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and San Jose. These cities all saw an
impressive reduction in all three major categories of crime.

Curiously, only the smallest category of cities - those with under ten
thousand people - saw an increase in the number of murders, rapes and
robberies.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...ericas_safest_...
at June 09, 2009 - 02:44:50 PM PDT
--
The modern GOP is little more than an army of moral absolutists led by a
gang of moral nihilists.

Well, at least Memphis has some of the music industry and good food.

*From Wiki:

Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including
"Memphis" by Chuck Berry, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad,
"Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam
Tillis, "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, and
"Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.

In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the
Rolling Stones, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet" by
Alannah Myles, "Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel by Hank
Williams III, and many others.

Well howdy, Krausie, Old Boy. It's always a treat to turn on the
computer and find your thoughtful essays -- uh, cut and pastes.

Been around the Horn again in recent years?

Yours always,

GC Boater

On Jun 9, 5:12*pm, HK wrote:
June 3, 2009
America's Safest Cities
By Brandon Ott

When we think about cities in the United States, one thing almost always
comes to mind: crime. What's more, we often associate our largest cities
with being the most crime-riddled. But in fact, new data released by the
FBI demonstrates many of our largest cities are quite safe when measured
across a variety of categories.

According to FBI crime statistics released this week, the level of crime
in cities across America fell in 2008. Nationally, violent crime fell
2.5% versus 2007, property crime fell 1.6%, and arson fell 3.5%. This is
a welcome turn around, given that violent crime rate soared 2.3% from
2004 to 2005, with the murder rate and robberies increasing 3.4% and
3.9%, respectively. More striking is the fact that one would expect
crime to spike in an economic downturn, yet this has not been the case
so far. 2008 also saw the biggest decrease, year over year, in murder,
robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft in the past four years.

The violent crime category is comprised of murder, rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor
vehicle theft. Arson is a property crime, but its statistics are
calculated separately.

Among cities with a population exceeding 500,000 residents, New York
City tops the list of safest cities in America. The Big Apple saw a
decrease of 4% in violent crime from 2007, handily beating the national
average. The overall drop consists of a 9% decrease in assaults (the
largest sub category), but is marred by a 5.4% increase in murder, 1.7%
increase in rape and a 1.8% increase in robbery. New York City's
per-capita crime rate hovers at 4.2%.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted the continuing downtrend in crime
activity, declaring that New York City has had "43 fewer murders, 1,415
fewer robberies and 491 fewer cars stolen" in the first five months of
2009 compared to 2008. Bloomberg continued, "Using innovative policing
strategies and a focus on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, we
are continuing to do more with less, in spite of the economic downturn."

Tuscon, Arizona, however, does have a lower crime rate than New York
City, at 2.9% per-capita, but a lack of property crime statistics
prevents it from achieving the top spot.

After New York, America's safest cities a San Jose, Los Angeles, San
Diego, El Paso, Honolulu, Denver, Boston, Las Vegas and Louisville.

*****And the U.S.'s least safe city? That distinction goes to Memphis,
Tennessee, with a crime rate of 18% per capita, followed by Atlanta
(16%), San Antonio (15.2%), Detroit (13.7%) and Milwaukee (13.4%). These
rates reflect the total crimes detailed in the FBI's report divided by
the population of the city.*****

New York also tops the list of safest cities with more than a million
residents, beating out Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and San Jose. These cities all saw an
impressive reduction in all three major categories of crime.

Curiously, only the smallest category of cities - those with under ten
thousand people - saw an increase in the number of murders, rapes and
robberies.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...ericas_safest_...
at June 09, 2009 - 02:44:50 PM PDT
--
The modern GOP is little more than an army of moral absolutists led by a
gang of moral nihilists.

Well, at least Memphis has some of the music industry and good food.

*From Wiki:

Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including
"Memphis" by Chuck Berry, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad,
"Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam
Tillis, "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, and
"Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.

In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the
Rolling Stones, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet" by
Alannah Myles, "Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel by Hank
Williams III, and many others.

Oh, poor poor Harry..... he tries SO hard to hide the real
stuff.......

"On its official Web site, the FBI cautions against using its stats to
compare which cities are safe or not.

The head of Atlanta’s Police Foundation said he’s more worried about
future results.

The city had 1,784 officers in 2008 — “the most officers we ever had,”
said David Wilkinson, president and CEO of the APF. “That is why the
city had a good year last year with crime statistics. Since that time,
with budget cuts and police furloughs, we’re in a very dangerous
situation right now.”