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Thank God for Oakland

When I was growing up in Arkansas, we had an expression, “Thank God for Mississippi.” In the days before Sam Walton, J.B. Hunt and Don Tyson became world class entrepreneurs; Arkansas was usually way down the scale in any national rating of quality of life statistics – per capita income, dollars spent per student on education, etc. But there was always one state lower – Mississippi, which was usually dead last.

 

Today, I guess we should say, “Thank God for Oakland,” as it once again edged out Richmond for the most dangerous city in California based on 2006 statistics and even gave Detroit, St. Louis and Flint a run for their money by jumping up to fourth place.

 

However, Richmond has little to rejoice about. Last year, based on 2005 statistics, Richmond was rated No. 11 nationally. Advancing to No. 9 is not the direction we wanted to go.

 

See http://www.cqpress.com/pages/153 for more information about the ratings.

 

Richmond No. 9 on list of most dangerous cities

·  Oakland ranks No. 4 in annual report, which is criticized by the FBI

By Kelly Rayburn

STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 11/19/2007 02:59:57 AM PST

 

OAKLAND -- Oakland was ranked as the fourth most dangerous city in the United States on Sunday by a controversial but closely watched private-research group that publishes a list of the country's most dangerous cities annually. Nearby Richmond came in at No. 9.

Oakland jumped four spots, from No. 8 last year, in this year's "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America," which was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc.

"Obviously, it's not something we can ignore," said City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. "I think that unfortunately, let's face it, we have not been able to deal with some of the main sources of crime."

He said city officials did not do enough in the past 12 months to attack the problem.

"I don't think we've done a very good job, collectively -- that's the mayor, that's the chief of police and that's the council," he said. "We have increasing crime in neighborhoods that have historically been safer than they are today."

Detroit earned the dubious title of most dangerous city in America. It was followed by St. Louis and Flint, Mich.

After Oakland at No. 4. came Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond; and Cleveland.

Landing in the Top 10 in the 2007 rankings, which were based on the FBI's crime data for 2006, is not shocking for Oakland.

"We don't need a poll to tell us that public safety is the No. 1 issue in the hearts and minds of Oakland residents and the top priority for the mayor's administration," said Paul Rose, a spokesman for Mayor Ron Dellums.

He attacked the credibility of the report.

"The FBI questions the use of the statistics, which forces many to question the validity of such a poll," he said.

The FBI distanced itself from the report.

"These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region," the FBI said in a statement on its Web site. "Consequently, they lead to simplistic an/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents."

Indeed, criminologists and law enforcement officials across the country pan the most dangerous cities list when it is published every year.

This year, the report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people. Its conclusions were based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft.

Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

The report's findings were compiled by Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published the annual list until it was acquired by CQ Press.

The details of the weighting system are kept secret.

The number of violent crimes increased slightly last year in some of the largest East Bay cities, reflecting a national increase of about 2 percent, according to FBI numbers released in September. Robbery increased in many cities, although homicides, forcible rapes and aggravated assaults dropped or remained about the same.

Richmond's 2007 homicide total is at least 24, including four since Oct. 9. Police had investigated 34 homicides by mid-October last year. Richmond had 1,224 violent crimes last year, compared with 1,174 in 2005. Property crime was down to 5,495 incidents from 5,808 in 2005.

Oakland police Chief Wayne Tucker said people might be misled by the report.

"The department is always interested in how we're being rated," he said, "but I think a rating can be very deceptive and ultimately give a false impression."

He said being ranked fourth on the list of dangerous cities could easily lead people to believe the whole city is under siege from crime.

Tucker said the reality is that crime is concentrated in "two reasonably small areas" in East and West Oakland.

He said thus far in 2007, crime is up overall by about 2 percent, attributing that to increases in residential burglaries and domestic violence.

Homicide is down this year compared with last. There have been 111 homicides this year, compared with 134 at this point in 2006, when Oakland finished the year with 148 killings.

Assault with a deadly weapon involving a firearm is also down this year, Tucker said.

Staff writer Scott Marshall contributed to this report.

A list of the most and least dangerous cities with at least 75,000 residents, as measured by the study "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America," published by Washington-based CQ Press. The authors analyzed FBI crime statistics released Sept. 24. The danger score uses zero as the national average.

 

MOST DANGEROUS 25:

1. Detroit 407.2

2. St. Louis 406.2

3. Flint, Mich. 381.0

4. Oakland, Calif. 338.9

5. Camden, N.J. 323.8

6. Birmingham, Ala. 268.8

7. North Charleston, S.C. 254.3

8. Memphis, Tenn. 245.6

9. Richmond, Calif. 245.1

10. Cleveland 244.4

11. Orlando, Fla. 237.4

12. Baltimore 236.7

13. Little Rock, Ark. 233.8

14. Compton, Calif. 223.6

15. Youngstown, Ohio 222.0

16. Cincinnati 218.3

17. Gary, Ind. 214.0

18. Kansas City, Mo. 203.4

19. Dayton, Ohio 201.5

20. Newark, N.J. 197.3

21. Philadelphia 192.9

22. Atlanta 189.9

23. Jackson, Miss. 188.8

24. Buffalo, N.Y. 187.8

25. Kansas City, Kan. 187.6

———

SAFEST 25:

1. Mission Viejo, Calif. -82.1

2. Clarkstown, N.Y. -81.0

3. Brick Township, N.J. -78.7

4. Amherst, N.Y. -75.4

5. Sugar Land, Texas -75.4

6. Colonie, N.Y. -74.6

7. Thousand Oaks, Calif. -73.8

8. Newton, Mass. -73.5

9. Toms River Township, N.J. -72.7

10. Lake Forest, Calif. -71.7

11. Irvine, Calif. -71.1

12. Orem, Utah -70.6

13. Round Rock, Texas -69.4

14. Cary, N.C. -68.6

15. Greece, N.Y. -68.5

16. Chino Hills, Calif. -63.2

17. Coral Springs, Fla. -62.0

18. Troy, Mich. -61.8

19. Farmington Hills, Mich. -61.7

20. Centennial, Colo. -61.3

21. Glendale, Calif. -59.2

22. Broken Arrow, Okla. -58.8

23. Parma, Ohio -58.8

24. Sterling Heights, Mich. -58.5

25. Simi Valley, Calif. -58.5