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City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America, 14th edition.
Now available from CQ Press.
MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA, IS THE SAFEST U.S. CITY
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, IS THE MOST DANGEROUS
Washington, D.C., November 19, 2007: Mission Viejo, California—a top-ten safest city since the inception of the Safest City and Metropolitan Area Awards—reigns for the first time as the United States’ safest city. At the opposite end of the scale, Detroit, Michigan, reappears as the nation’s most dangerous city, a position last held by the Motor City in 2003.The rankings are contained in the 14th edition of City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America, published today by Washington-based CQ Press, the reference and textbook-publishing division of Congressional Quarterly. Media who wish to see the full rankings should follow this link: CQ Press Web site.Mission Viejo experienced no murders in 2006, had the nation’s lowest rape statistics, and boasted the third-lowest rates of aggravated assault, violent crime, and property crime among cities with populations of 75,000 or more. Joining Mission Viejo among the safest city ranks are Clarkston, New York; Brick Township, New Jersey; Amherst, New York; and Sugar Land, Texas. As the most dangerous city, Detroit has the worst crime of all the major cities in the country. St. Louis, Missouri, ranks second to Detroit in the dangerous cities ranking, followed by Flint, Michigan; Oakland, California; and Camden, New Jersey.The Logan region of Utah and Idaho tops the rankings as the safest U.S. metropolitan area. The Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn metropolitan region in Michigan ranks as the most dangerous for the fourth consecutive year. The 14th edition of this annual reference work launches a new and exciting era for City Crime Rankings. Formerly published by Morgan Quitno Press, the series is now published by Washington, D.C.-based CQ Press.METHODOLOGY
The rankings of the safest and most dangerous cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six basic crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. These categories have been used for determining city ratings since 1999. The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in the categories noted. In the most recent survey, 378 cities were considered for the awards. The 2006 statistics released by the FBI on September 24, 2007, determined their rankings. More information on methodology is available on the CQ Press Web site.City Crime Rankings, 14th edition—available in paperback, CD-ROM (PDF), or enhanced CD-ROM (PDF plus database)—offers a thorough collection of data presented in ninety tables that allow for easy comparison of crime numbers, rates, and trends throughout the United States. A full report containing information on all 378 cities is available online for $5.00.
A WORD ABOUT CRIME RANKINGS
CQ Press’s annual rankings of crime in states, metro areas and cities are considered by some in the law enforcement community as controversial. The FBI, police and many criminologists caution against rankings according to crime rates. They correctly point out that crime levels are affected by many different factors, such as population density, composition of the population (particularly the concentration of youth), climate, economic conditions, strength of local law enforcement agencies, citizen’s attitudes toward crime, cultural factors, education levels, crime reporting practices of citizens and family cohesiveness. Accordingly, crime rankings often are deemed “simplistic” or “incomplete.” However, this criticism is largely based on the fact that there are reasons for the differences in crime rates, not that the rates are incompatible. This would be somewhat akin to deciding not to compare athletes on their speed in the 100-yard dash because of physical or training differences. Such differences help explain the different speeds but do not invalidate the comparisons. To be sure, crime-ranking information must be considered carefully. However, the rankings tell not only an interesting but also very important story regarding the incidence of crime in the United States. Annual rankings not only allow for comparisons among different states and cities, but also enable leaders to track their communities’ crime trends from one year to the next. City Crime Rankings helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight against crime. The first step in making our cities and states safer is to understand the true magnitude of their crime problems. This will only be achieved through straightforward data that all of us can use and understand.THE CQ PRESS STATE AND CITY RANKING SERIES
City Crime Rankings is one of six reference books published by CQ Press that analyze and rank states and cities in various categories. Annual awards based on the data from these books designate the nation’s smartest state, the most livable state, the healthiest state, the safest and most dangerous states, the safest and most dangerous cities, and the most improved state.TITLE AND AUTHOR INFORMATION
City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America, 14th edition
Edited by Kathleen O’Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan
November 2007 | 8 ½ x 11 | 416 pages
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-87289-820-2 | $49.95
Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan have compiled state and city rankings books for almost two decades. Kathleen O’Leary Morgan holds a master’s degree in public administration and has served in a number of media and legislative liaison positions with the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she also served as deputy director of Congressional Affairs. Scott Morgan is an attorney who served as chief counsel to Sen. Robert Dole’s 1988 presidential campaign.
ABOUT CQ PRESS
CQ Press (www.cqpress.com) publishes reference works, textbooks, directories, and online resources on government, politics, and world affairs that educate and inform readers about government and democracy. It is a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ), a private, independent news-gathering and publishing firm based in Washington, D.C. CQ produces content renowned for its objectivity, breadth, depth of coverage, and high standards of journalistic and editorial excellence. Founded in 1945, CQ is owned by the Florida-based Times Publishing Company, a leading independent media organization and publisher of the St. Petersburg Times.
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