US
Camden, N.J. Has the Highest Crime Rate Ranking in Annual Publication
Author: CQ Press
Published on Nov 23, 2009 - 10:47:50 AM

Washington, D.C., November 23, 2009 - With the annual publication that brings the discussion of crime in U.S. cities and metropolitan areas into the national spotlight, CQ Press has released City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America. Colonie, New York tops the list for the first time with the lowest city crime rate ranking in the United States, while at the opposite end of the list, Camden, New Jersey has the highest. The list of crime rate rankings is one of over 90 easy-to-use tables of city and metropolitan area crime data found in the 388 page publication. Published annually for sixteen years, City Crime Rankings is a staple resource for researchers, city and law enforcement officials, and the news media that follow trends in crime.

Colonie earned the lowest city crime rate ranking with only 54 incidences of violent crime in 2008, the lowest number of all 393 cities included in the rankings. Joining Colonie among the lowest rankings are Amherst, New York; Mission Viejo California; Irvine, California; and Ramapo, New York, which had the lowest ranking last year. Camden has the highest crime rate ranking, and had the highest rate of violent crime for 2008, with 2,332.6 violent crimes per 100,000 population, compared with a national average of 454.5.

Behind Camden with the highest crime rate ranking are St. Louis, Missouri; Oakland, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Flint, Michigan. New Orleans, Louisiana, which was at the bottom of last year’s list, is sixth from the bottom. State College, Pennsylvania tops the list for lowest crime rate ranking among the 332 U.S. metropolitan areas that are ranked, while the Pine Bluff, Arkansas region has the nation’s highest crime rate ranking for metropolitan areas for the second consecutive year.

An introduction by criminologist Rachel Boba (Florida Atlantic University) explains the formula used to compile the rankings and offers insight into the methodology used by the editors. Dr. Boba also offers statistical analysis of the rankings, a comparative analysis of cities and metropolitan areas, and additional information and caveats regarding the analyzed data.

METHODOLOGY

The crime rate rankings of the cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. These categories have been used for determining city crime rate 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 for calendar year 2008. In the most recent survey, 332 metropolitan areas and 393 cities were considered using statistics released by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the FBI in September, 2009. More information on methodology is available on the CQ Press Web site.

City Crime Rankings 2009-2010 offers a thorough and valuable collection of data presented in over ninety tables that allow for easy comparison of crime numbers, rates, and trends throughout the United States. A complete list of rankings of all 332 metropolitan areas and 393 cities is available online from CQ Press.

A WORD ABOUT CRIME RANKINGS

CQ Press’s annual rankings of crime in cities, states, and metropolitan areas 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, and 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.

The rankings tell an interesting and an important story regarding 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 by providing accessible, straightforward data which citizens can use and understand.



City Crime Rankings is one of five annual reference books published by CQ Press that analyze and rank states and cities in various categories. Other books rank states using data on health care, education, crime, and social and economic conditions.

TITLE AND EDITOR INFORMATION

City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America
Edited by Kathleen O’Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan
November 2009 | 8 ½ x 11 | 388 pages
Paperback | ISBN 978-1-60426-539-2 | $65.00

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.

Dr. Rachel Boba is an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Criminology and Criminal Justice program. At FAU, she teaches methods of research, criminal justice systems, crime prevention, problem solving, and analysis in policing as well as conducts research in the areas of problem solving, problem analysis, crime analysis, regional data sharing, and technology in policing. From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Boba was Director of the Police Foundation's Crime Mapping Laboratory where she directed federally funded grants in the areas of crime analysis and crime mapping, problem analysis, and school safety.

Prior to her position at the Police Foundation, she worked as a crime analyst at the Tempe, Arizona, Police Department for five years where she conducted a wide variety of crime analysis and crime mapping work as well as applied research and evaluation. She holds a PhD and an MA in sociology from Arizona State University and a BA in English and sociology from California Lutheran University.

ABOUT CQ PRESS

CQ Press is a leading publisher of books, directories, reference publications, and textbooks focusing on U.S. government, world affairs, communication, political science, and business, with a growing focus on digital content. Based in Washington DC, CQ Press is a division of SAGE, the world’s leading independent academic and professional publisher (www.sagepublications.com), and is known in classrooms, libraries, and professional markets for its objectivity, breadth and depth of coverage, and editorial excellence. www.cqpress.com

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