Little Rock in Nations "Top 25 Most Dangerous Cities"

[schwilj]

1. St. Louis

2. Detroit

3. Flint, Mich.

4. Compton, Calif.

5. Camden, N.J.

6. Birmingham, Ala.

7. Cleveland

8. Oakland, Calif.

9. Youngstown, Ohio

10. Gary, Ind.

11. Richmond, Calif.

12. Baltimore

13. Memphis, Tenn.

14. Trenton, N.J.

15. Richmond, Va.

16. Kansas City, Mo.

17. Atlanta

18. Cincinnati

19. Washington

20. North Charleston, S.C.

21. Reading, Pa.

22. Newark, N.J.

23. Little Rock, Ark.

24. San Bernardino, Calif.

25. Orlando, Fla.

MSN Story

Not sure how this is figured out, but there it is. I have to say, yes our violent crime rate has gone up this year, but overall I feel safe in Little Rock. It's more of a where you live, where you go kind of thing I believe. Still there is allways room for imporvement in public safety.

[johnnydr87]

I'm actually surprised we're ranked that low after all the murders this year.

[CentralArkansas]

Interestingly, this list is just the opposite....

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/30/D8L2OIB80.html

346. Dayton, Ohio

347. Orlando, Fla.

348. San Bernardino, Calif.

349. Little Rock, Ark.

350. Newark, N.J.

351. Reading, Pa.

[Aporkalypse]

Interestingly, this list is just the opposite....

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/30/D8L2OIB80.html

346. Dayton, Ohio

347. Orlando, Fla.

348. San Bernardino, Calif.

349. Little Rock, Ark.

350. Newark, N.J.

351. Reading, Pa.

[richyb83]

New Orleans is definetly a Top 25 dangerous city. Hurricane Katrina may have slowed New Orleans down for a "year", but things unfortunately are not very good crime-wise now.

[theman]

I guess Mickey Mouse has to pack a gun since Orlando is #25.

[CentralArkansas]

It's the exact same study reversed, from safest to most dangerous whereas the order was reversed to give the "most dangerous" results. Ft Smith was #273 but I didn't see any more Arkansas cities on the list.

[arkansas_buff]

I would think that the size of the metro area (approx 600K) vs the actual city (185K) is part of the reason for the higher per capita ranking. Any thoughts?

[schwilj]

I would think that the size of the metro area (approx 600K) vs the actual city (185K) is part of the reason for the higher per capita ranking. Any thoughts?

[Aporkalypse]

The story i read on MSN or CNN stated that St. Louis' #1 ranking was based on crime in the city limits of St. Lousi, not the surronding areas/suburbs... so it looks "based" on the city itself not the metro area

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

CNN Story

[skirby]

The MSN story only talks about city listings but the report also has a listing for metro areas. It is bad news for Arkansas metro areas. At #2 Memphis metro leads with Pine Bluff at #3. Hot Springs comes in at #13 and Little Rock is ranked #16. Some of the metro areas ranked above Little Rock are: Detroit, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, SC, Jackson, TN., Charlotte-Gastonia, NC-SC, and Albuquerque, NM.

[Aporkalypse]

The MSN story only talks about city listings but the report also has a listing for metro areas. It is bad news for Arkansas metro areas. At #2 Memphis metro leads with Pine Bluff at #3. Hot Springs comes in at #13 and Little Rock is ranked #16. Some of the metro areas ranked above Little Rock are: Detroit, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, SC, Jackson, TN., Charlotte-Gastonia, NC-SC, and Albuquerque, NM.

[dimebag1980]

What doesn't make sense about this study, to me at least, is that Shreveport is ranked at #51 on the cities list while Shreveport-Bossier metro came in at #10 in the metro list. And considering crime in the outlying cities and towns in metro Shreveport isn't extremly high, I don't see how that could be. Bossier City, in fact, averages 3-4 murders per year when Shreveport averages 10x that in a city that's got only 3x the population. Bossier City is one of the safest cities in Louisiana and the south central states, so it's hard to see it helping raise Shreveport-Bossier's overall crime index.

[Aporkalypse]

What doesn't make sense about this study, to me at least, is that Shreveport is ranked at #51 on the cities list while Shreveport-Bossier metro came in at #10 in the metro list. And considering crime in the outlying cities and towns in metro Shreveport isn't extremly high, I don't see how that could be. Bossier City, in fact, averages 3-4 murders per year when Shreveport averages 10x that in a city that's got only 3x the population. Bossier City is one of the safest cities in Louisiana and the south central states, so it's hard to see it helping raise Shreveport-Bossier's overall crime index.

[dimebag1980]

I would assume it has to do with crime in smaller cities and unincorporated areas in Caddo, Bossier, and Desoto parishes being high enough that when you average it out its higher.

[skirby]

I guess so... it just wouldn't seem like it. But considering about another 140,000 people live in the outlying areas, it would make sense that it would add up. I wasn't looking at it like that.

I can't remember where I found the metro rankings before... does anyone know where Little Rock ended up on that list? Did the metro ranking HELP Little Rock on that list, or is it still in the top 25 with metro?

[dimebag1980]

LR is #16 on the metro list.

[Aporkalypse]

Oh holy... I really thought the metro list would have rendered a much better result, not a worse one. There really aren't any high-crime suburbs there, are there? I guess I've always just heard really good things about the suburbs there and have always thought the ones I've seen have looked nice.

[dimebag1980]

I don't think of many of LR's suburbs per se as being high crime. North Little Rock isn't counted in the city's population and it is just as urban as Little Rock with similar crime rates (unlike Bossier, which is rather different as it is more affluent and more suburban. There are some nice suburbs with very little crime - Maumelle, Cabot, Bryant and some middle class suburbs like Sherwood and Benton that have some crime issues. Jacksonville is fairly low-income (in part because of the AFB) and has crime issues. There is some crime in unincorporated Pulaski County, especially SE of Little Rock. The MSA's crime rate is lower than the city itself by a substantial margin, it's just that when you add in the rest of the metro it doesn't lower it as much as other MSAs benefit from their suburbs.

One thing that would really help improve LR's crime rate is just too incorporate more of West LR into the city, something that probably needs to be done. Much of Chenal and the Hwy 10 corridor it still outside of city limits.