FBI names the USA's most dangerous cities

**Terminator** · 10-30-06, 03:44 PM

ST. LOUIS — Just days after the St. Louis Cardinals won the top honor in Major League Baseball, their hometown jumped to first place on a list no one wants to lead: the most dangerous cities in the United States.

This Midwestern city has long been in the upper tiers of the annual ranking of the nation's safest and most dangerous cities, compiled by Morgan Quitno Press. Violent crime surged nearly 20% there from 2004 to last year, when the rate of such crimes rose much faster in the Midwest than in the rest of nation, according to FBI figures released in June.

"It's just sad the way this city is," resident Sam Dawson said. "On the news you hear killings, someone's been shot."

The ranking, being released Monday, came as the city was still celebrating Friday's World Series victory at the new Busch Stadium. St. Louis has been spending millions of dollars on urban renewal even as the crime rate climbs.

Mayor Francis Slay did not return calls to his office seeking comment Sunday.

Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press, a private research and publishing company specializing in state and city reference books, said he was not surprised to see St. Louis top the list, since it has been among the 10 most dangerous cities for years.

Morgan said the study looks at crime only within St. Louis city limits, with a population of about 330,000. It doesn't take into account the suburbs in St. Louis County, which has roughly 980,000 residents.

The safest city in 2005 was Brick, N.J., population about 78,000, followed by Amherst, N.Y., and Mission Viejo, Calif. The second most dangerous city was Detroit, followed by Flint, Mich., and Compton, Calif.

Cities are ranked based on more than just their crime rate, Morgan said. Individual crimes such as rape or burglary are measured separately, compared to national averages and then compiled to give a city its ranking. Crimes are weighted based on their danger to people.

The national FBI figures released in June showed the murder rate in St. Louis jumped 16% from 2004 to 2005, compared with 4.8% nationally. The overall violent crime rate increased nearly 20%, compared with 2.5% nationally.

While crime increased in all regions last year, the 5.7% rise in the 12 Midwestern states was at least three times higher than any other region, according to the FBI.

Visiting St. Louis on Thursday, FBI director Robert Mueller said it was too early to tell why some types of crime were rising faster in the Midwest.

Mueller said the FBI is working harder to form partnerships with police departments to launch programs like St. Louis' Safe Streets task force, which focuses police efforts on problematic neighborhoods.

This year's ranking was good news for Camden, N.J., which in 2005 was named the most dangerous city for the second year in a row.

Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said Sunday she was thrilled to learn that her city no longer topped the most-dangerous list.

"You made my day!" said Faison, who has served since 2000. "There's a new hope and a new spirit."

***Maybe if Detroit was a little more dangerous, they could have won the World Series... ***

**10-42Adam** · 10-30-06, 04:14 PM

So where's the list?

I'm sure Philly is ranked pretty high, too. They've had a ton of murders this year...

**Jenna** · 10-30-06, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Terminator

***Maybe if Detroit was a little more dangerous, they could have won the World Series... ***

Hahaha, nothing like a dangerous city to train athletes to run and throw things! And to motivate them to play well so that some other city's team might want to hire them!

**Terminator** · 10-30-06, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Jewell

So where's the list?

The safest city in 2005 was Brick, N.J., population about 78,000, followed by Amherst, N.Y., and Mission Viejo, Calif.

The second most dangerous citywas Detroit, followed by Flint, Mich., and Compton, Calif.

Lazy American...lol.

Most Dangerous City's

1) St. Louis, Missouri
2) Detroit, Michigan
3) Flint, Michigan
4) Compton, California

Safest City's

1) Brick, N.J.
2) Amherst, N.Y.
3) Mission Viejo, Calif.

**Growler** · 10-30-06, 05:54 PM

Richmond was 15th.

Job security baby.

**OffDuty** · 10-30-06, 05:57 PM

Anyone know a link to the list.. the WHOLE list? I want to see where my craphole city is at.

**Terminator** · 10-30-06, 06:12 PM

Here is a link to the whole list:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/city_crime_list_glance

**Hannibal** · 10-30-06, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Terminator

***Maybe if Detroit was a little more dangerous, they could have won the World Series...

***

I recall St. Louis and Detroit playing in the World Series. Who's your home team?

Funny how Detroit and Flint are in there ranking above Compton. This will surely come up in the race for governer.

Here is an example of why Detroit is on the list. For those who are not familiar with our proud traditions - watch the news to see how many arsons we have tonight.

Detroit's Devils Night tradition is to burn down houses the night before Halloween. The city will be glowing tonight. The media has tried to help stomp out some of the flames; they never call it Devil's Night anymore, they call it Angel's night instead. Curfews are in full effect, but it won't matter.

**Ducky** · 10-30-06, 07:15 PM

Damn, all the cities I regularly visit are pretty close to the bottom of the list. How depressing. But there's some pretty damn big cities that didn't make the list, and some teeny weenie ones that did.

**Deputy2400** · 10-30-06, 07:18 PM

Id rather go to St. Louis than East St. Louis (two different cities)!!!

**Buttercup** · 10-30-06, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by Ronin Warrior

I recall St. Louis and Detroit playing in the World Series. Who's your home team?

Funny how Detroit and Flint are in there ranking above Compton. This will surely come up in the race for governer.

Here is an example of why Detroit is on the list. For those who are not familiar with our proud traditions - watch the news to see how many arsons we have tonight.

Detroit's Devils Night tradition is to burn down houses the night before Halloween. The city will be glowing tonight. The media has tried to help stomp out some of the flames; they never call it Devil's Night anymore, they call it Angel's night instead. Curfews are in full effect, but it won't matter.

I'd forgotten that they were trying to call it Angel's night. The funny thing is that some neighborhoods have citizens doing a heightened "neighborhood watch" on Oct. 30, but those are the neighborhoods that don't get torched. At least that's how it used to be.

**Welpe** · 10-30-06, 09:31 PM

Way to go Oakland and Richmond, CA. You guys make me proud to be from the Bay Area!

**Bosco3379** · 10-30-06, 10:21 PM

Random fact:

The number one safest city in Canada: Ottawa

**Hannibal** · 10-31-06, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by Bosco3379

Random fact:

The number one safest city in Canada: Ottawa

That's because all of your criminals are driving trucks in our country.

**Hannibal** · 10-31-06, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Buttercup

I'd forgotten that they were trying to call it Angel's night. The funny thing is that some neighborhoods have citizens doing a heightened "neighborhood watch" on Oct. 30, but those are the neighborhoods that don't get torched. At least that's how it used to be.

Yeah , they're out there tonight with their yellow blinky lights.

I'm at home watching over things. Its amazing how different my neighborhood looks through an EOTech and NV.

**CT209** · 10-31-06, 01:00 AM

Gee, and they wonder why when they spend millions of tax dollars in CT to build a sports venue in Hartford, people still don't want to go.

Hartford is 337 which is pretty impressive for such a small state.

I work in one of the safest CT cities. It's frequently boring, but I'm not all that sure I'd like to trade off the boredom.....