Two cities from my home state of Michigan were “honored” with being among the top dangerous cities in the United States according to the 14th annual “City Crime Rankings” report. Detroit was the number 1 most dangerous city in the country and Flint, my home town, was the third most dangerous city. Go Flint-town!
But seriously, folks, what do all these numbers mean? As the Detroit police chief wisely observed, the full results of the study are only available if you purchase them. “It really makes you wonder if the organization is truly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit,” said Bully-Cummings, who noted the complete report is available only by purchase. “With crime experts across the country routinely denouncing the findings, I believe the answer is clear.”
You tell ‘em, Detroit!
Now, do I think that Flint is a safe city? Not particularly. But if Flint is the third worst in the nation, then I don’t think that things are really that bad. It’s not a pretty area by any means but they have made some strides with local colleges in the area. The downtown is cleaning up a bit. And it hasn’t turned into a complete wasteland since GM pulled up the stakes and left town.
I also don’t recall seeing the once-a-week televised car chase that you tend to see in southern California. For my money, Los Angeles is a much bigger (and therefore scarier) place. However, there are a lot of sketchy cities in LA County which may all be lower on the scale than Flint and Detroit. Together they may have worse crime rates but you won’t know unless you order the official report.
