After falling for five consecutive years, the number of violent crimes across the United States rose by 1.2% in 2012. Based on data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the increase was even greater in some of America’s largest cities. In 2012, for the third year in a row, Flint, Michigan had the highest violent crime rate in the country.
According to the FBI, violent crime includes murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In some cases, the cities with the highest violent crime rate, including Flint and Oakland, had high rates in all four categories. However, most of the most violent cities tend to do very poorly only in a few categories.
The following is based on the FBI Uniform Crime Report:
| 1. Flint, Mich. Violent crimes per 100,000: 2,729.5 Population: 101,632 2012 murders: 63 Poverty rate: 40.6% Percentage of adults with high school degree: 82.9% |
2. Detroit, Mich. Violent crimes per 100,000: 2,122.6 Population: 707,096 2012 murders: 386 Poverty rate: 40.9% Percentage of adults with high school degree: 77.4% |
| 3. Oakland, Calif.
Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,993.1 |
4. St. Louis, Mo. Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,776.5 Population: 318,667 2012 murders: 113 Poverty rate: 27.0% Percentage of adults with high school degree: 83.9% |
| 5. Memphis, Tenn. Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,750.0 Population: 657,436 2012 murders: 133 Poverty rate: 27.2% Percentage of adults with high school degree: 83.4% |
6. Stockton, Calif. Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,548.0 |
| 7. Birmingham, Ala. Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,517.8 Population: 213,266 2012 murders: 67 Poverty rate: 32.0% Pct. of adults with high school degree: 81.3% |
8. New Haven, Conn.
Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,439.2 |
| 9. Baltimore, Md. Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,405.7 |
10. Cleveland, Ohio Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,383.8 Population: 393,781 2012 murders: 84 Poverty rate: 34.3% Pct. of adults with high school degree: 77.0% |
Flint, MI – Mayor Dayne Walling, Democrat.
Detroit, MI – Dave Bing, Democrat.
Oakland, CA – Jean Quan, Democrat.
St. Louis, MO – Francis G. Slay, Democrat
Memphis, TN – A C Wharton, Democrat.
Stockton, CA – Anthony Silva, Democrat.
Birmingham, AL – William A. Bell, Democrat
New Haven, CT – John DeStefano, Democrat.
Baltimore, MD – Stepanie Rawlings-Blake, Democrat (Democrats in power since 1967).
Cleveland, OH – Frank G. Jackson, Democrat
Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
