2008 Most Dangerous Cities Rewind

I read an entry today by a local crime reporter for a major area Newspaper, and it got me wondering as I often do. First of all, let me say that I like Willoughby Mariano’s reporting, because I feel that she tries to be fair in her assessment, she brings some valid questions to the forefront, and I always read her writing with interest because she makes me think. Anyhow, I started to look at the crime indicators for all of the high ranking cities and their populations, and below are some of my findings.

First of all, let’s look at the top 30 cities and their populations:

City with population (*asterisk denotes city larger in population than Orlando)
1) New Orleans LA 431,153 *
2) Camden NJ 80,371 (four miles from Philadelphia)
3) Detroit MI 884,462 *
4) St Louis MO 346,879 *
5) Oakland CA 398,834 *
6) Flint MI 118,256
7) Gary IN 99,369 (thirty miles from Chicago)
8) Birmingham AL 233,577 *
9) Richmond CA 103,106 (twenty miles from Oakland)
10) North Charleston SC 87,655
11) Cleveland OH 452,759 *
12) Baltimore MD 637,556 *
13) Miami Gardens, FL 101,115 (fifteen miles from Miami)
14) Memphis TN 680,828 *
15) Youngstown OH 82,938
16) Atlanta GA 485,804 *
17) Compton CA 96,520 (part of Los Angeles metro area)
18) Orlando FL 216,819
19) Little Rock AR 186,670
20) Minneapolis MN 375,302 *
21) Washington DC 581,530 *
22) Philadelphia PA 1,464,576 *
23) Jackson MS 177,334
24) Newark NJ 280,877 *
25) Milwaukee WI 581,005 *
26) Dayton OH 159,067
27) Hartford CT 124,203
28) Cincinnati OH 309,104 *
29) Buffalo NY 280,494 *
30) Trenton NJ 84,703

Nine out of the first eighteen cities in this years ranking have a greater population than Orlando, which is listed as having a population of 216,819. Five of the smaller cities ranked are located near major metro areas. In the ten that fall below us, you have seven with a greater population than Orlando. This equates to a total of sixteen of the top thirty surveyed having a greater population than Orlando. Maybe this ranking system that people are complaining about has actually worked in favor of Orlando. If the statistics reviewed had included more of the unincorporated areas, our ranking may have been even higher overall. When Orlando gets reviewed in the category of cities that are closer to our size in population, we rank as the ninth most dangerous overall. Here is how that ranking was ordered:

1) New Orleans LA 431,153 *
2) St Louis MO 346,879 *
3) Oakland CA 398,834 *
4) Flint MI 118,256 (70 miles from Detroit)
5) Birmingham AL 233,577 *
6) Richmond CA 103,106 (within 20 miles of Oakland and San Francisco)
7) Cleveland OH 452,759 *
8) Atlanta GA 485,804 *
9) Orlando FL 216,819
10)Little Rock AR 186,670

Seven of the ten cities in that ranking had a greater population than Orlando, and two cities, Flint MI and Richmond CA both have major high crime areas in close proximity. Orlando does not have the luxury of being able to claim that. Maybe we should just sit quietly and avoid criticizing our ranking, because with a little closer scrutiny, it could be even worse.