Detroit Ranks As Most Dangerous City In The US For Third Straight Year

Play episode
Police cruiser in Detroit (Daily Detroit File Photo)

Some not so good news for our fair city this morning, and a reminder that although there is progress in some areas there is also a lot of work that needs to be done.

According to a recent ranking by lawstreemedia.com, for the third year in a row Detroit is number one among the most dangerous cities in the U.S. with a population of more than 200,000.

Law Street’s Crime Team uses the FBI’s four major violent crime categories–murders, aggravated assaults, robberies, and forcible rapes–to create a standard measure of violent-crimes-per-100,000 people.

Despite the grim results, there was a silver lining as the city saw a 4% drop in violent crime, including rapes, murders, and robberies. The city had a total of 18 fewer murders than the previous year, bringing that number to its lowest point in 47 years.

There was, however, a 4.5% increase in aggravated assaults.

A few key numbers mentioned in the report were:

  • Violent Crime Rate: 1,989/100,000 people
  • Murder Rate: 44/100,000 people
  • Officer to Population Ration 1:295

The article serves as a reminder that while we have seen significant surface level improvements in certain areas of the city, there is still a long way to go in improving one of the most vital characteristics of any city – public safety.

The top five cities including Detroit are Memphis, Tennessee; Oakland, California; St. Louis, Missouri; and Birmingham, Alabama. You can find out the rest of the list here.

2 comments
  • Maybe if New York and Chicago actually reported all their crimes….changing “procedures” since forever….

  • Now let’s take a closer look and break this down to how many of these homicides were blacks killing blacks. Then let’s revisit the Black Lives Matter movement.

More from this show