Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Gunshots Heard in Dangerous US Cities

Just read an article from CNN entitled: Group ranks most dangerous U.S. cities. Camden, NJ was named at the top of the list. Their mayor, Gwendolyn Faison, feels that people are just bad-mouthing Camden. I guess crime rankings have nothing to do with it and someone just decided to put them on top. [Detroit must really be upset they were not on top, but rather second.]  In a city of 80,000 people they only have one murder a week (2003). But this year murders are down 45% (2004 Jan thru Oct).  See, now there is an improvement and next year Camden will not be “bad-mouthed.”   I also admire the reporter in the story getting this fine quote: "I haven't heard that many gunshots," said Gracy Muniz, 22, a mother of three who lives in North Camden.  I have lived in Taipei for 5 years and never heard a gunshot. It is scary that someone feels safe in a place that you don’t hear “many gunshots.” So is safety gauged on the amount of gun shots heard?  Or does it mean the shooters are just missing 45% of the time and that it is just as dangerous as before? 

 

Now the sad thing to me is that my city of Cleveland, Ohio is #12 in the overall rankings of 369 cities. Glad I lived in the suburbs growing up and I did not have to hear or duck gun shots.  The good thing is that no city in Ohio ranks in the Most Dangerous 25 Metropolitan Areas (330 metro areas).  Check out the report your self at:  Morgan Quitno.

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