Food for Thought
New Orleans is nowhere to be found on the list of most dangerous cities.
http://www.morganquitno.com/cit07pop.htm#25
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/30/city.crime.ap/index.html
It's nice not to be at the top of the "bad" list for once.
Maybe all these other places are going to blame Katrina Evacuees, just like Houston did. Maybe they could get federal money for law enforcement, just like Houston did.
I was going to question the report. I have so many questions. However, I have decided to take the good news and run.
posted by Hollis P. Wood @ 11:03 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
The numbers also tell you that Houston isn't that bad either. But if you listened to Houstonians talk, you'd think they were living in Kosovo.
Hollis,
You need to click on the Missing Cities link and you'll see why New Orleans isn't listed.
Quote:
Other Cities: Crime data for a number of other cities with populations larger than 75,000 are not reported in this 13th annual Safest City Award. Crime statistics for these cities are not included for a number of reasons, ranging from general reporting difficulties and computer issues to changes in reporting systems. Below is a list of cities that the Census Bureau showed as having populations greater than 75,000 but for which no 2005 crime information was available through the F.B.I.’s Uniform Crime Report:
Augusta GA
Evanston IL
Bloomington MN
Fall River MA
Cicero IL
Longmont CO
Citrus Heights CA
New Haven CT
Decatur IL
New Orleans LA
Deltona FL
Vallego CA
Duluth MN
Waukegan IL
Elgin IL
West Jordan UT
Elk Grove CA
Wichita KS
Kinch, I knew something had to be up. Still not being at the top of that list is a good thing. Why? Because if we were it would be national news.
Yes - one of the morning news services (I forget which one I was watching) said that due to Katrina, the N.O. Police were not able to submit their numbers this year, therfore, New Orleans was not included in the listing...not because of any reduction in violent crime. It will be interesting to see where we rank next year...
Poverty and crime are intimately related. If you compare stats for cities with high poverty rates with those with high crime rates, there is a correlation (e.g., Compton, CA, a relatively poor, minority dominated-area located in the middle of the extraordinary wealth of L.A.). Note that several Louisiana cities, although not in the top 10, are really high on the list, including Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Solve the problem of severe poverty in urban America (through education and investment, not displacement and hatred) and the crime problem will disappear.
Crime and income may be intimately linked but I think people tend to get that relationship backwards. It has been assumed that if you fight poverty, you also fight crime.
Does anyone ever give thought to the idea that crime exacerbates poverty. It seems to me that the best way to beat poverty is for people to have jobs. What business would be willing to locate in high crime areas.
Additionally, where do you usually find the highest concentration of crime? It's in the areas where there is also a high concentration of government subsistence.
Perhaps if we stopped putting the cart before the horse, the horse might not be so confused about which direction to go in.
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