Weekly Shredder 40:
2004 Crime Statistics
by James Norton
Ah, it's that time of year.
The smell of barbecued meat wafts across the freshly-cut yards of suburban America. The crack of a baseball bat makes itself heard over the warbles of cardinals and finches. The last snowstorm of the year reluctantly slinks away from Boston, its waves of frozen misery unlikely to be seen again until the waning days of August.
And the new FBI national crime stats are out.
Here's the total crime index (reported crimes committed per 100,000 people) for America's 10 biggest cities in 2004. It omits Chicago, which uses a non-standard protocol for reporting its crime to the FBI.
1. Dallas 8,959.7 crimes per 100,000 people
2. Detroit 7,903.7
3. Phoenix 7,402.3
4. San Antonio 7,346.8
5. Houston 7,194.8
6. Las Vegas 5,838.0
7. Philadelphia 5,470.5
8. Los Angeles 4,376.0
9. San Diego 4,102.7
10. New York 2,801.6
Now, I hate to fall into that old "red state vs. blue state" fallacy, but — just for fun — let's sort the list and play with our font colors a little bit.
The Five Most Crime-Infested Big Cities
1. Dallas
2. Detroit
3. Phoenix
4. San Antonio
5. Houston
The Five Safest Big Cities
1. New York
2. San Diego
3. Los Angeles
4. Philadelphia
5. Las Vegas
Whoa! I'm no forensic statistician, but it looks like the blue states are kicking ass. Detroit suffers from the worst kind of racial and economic segregation, and it has few friends in today's Republican administration, so it's not a shock that its crime is high. And relatively safe Vegas, despite being from the marginal red state of Nevada, tilts Democratic. San Diego, to be fair, is GOP country.
That said, New York has had a couple Republican mayors — but former mayor Rudy Giuliani was a pro-choice moderate, and current Mayor Michael Bloomberg is liberal enough to be a "Republican," at best. Moreover, New York's crime rate has not gone down because its leaders have introduced red-state intolerance and failed policies; Giuliani's innovative community policing policies and crackdown on petty crime deserve some of the credit, as does the city's resiliant civic spirit.
Back to the numbers.
The overwhelming champion of safety is big, bad New York City. It came in 221st out of 240 cities in terms of its crime rate. This may come as a surprise to some, as NYC is well-known as Sodom on the East River. None can deny: It's a multi-cultural cesspool, liberal and permissive, tolerant and bustling, chock-a-block with queers, gangs, sushi and switchblades.
The most dangerous place in the United States? Texas, with three of the five most dangerous big cities. The stronghold of the Bush morality revolution. America's execution headquarters. A place where the electric chair constantly crackles with showers of white sparks and a rousing visit to church is the only social event that can compete with a good BBQ cookout.
For archives, audio, and background about the column, click here.
|
Now, no one wants to get into a "my culture is better than your culture" discussion, but beyond crime, there are plenty of other important indicators (literacy and education, technological innovation, major universities and research labs, etc. etc.) where Blue States hold an overwhelming edge.
The question of "why?" is probably as hard to define as it is to answer, but there are people working on it. Richard Florida, the author of "The Rise of the Creative Class" and "The Flight of the Creative Class," suggests that creative, productive, law-abiding people tend to flock to places where the dominant virtues are tolerance, rational (not faith-based) debate, creativity, and technological and cultural innovation.
Sounds like New York.
By contrast, set up a state known for religious zealotry, intolerance, and an enthusiastic clinging to traditions (such as the death penalty) that are proven losers, and, well — guess what. You get Texas.
Now, I'm not trying to mess with Texas, and that's not simply because I fear for my own personal safety.
Although it's largely because I fear for my personal safety.
What I'm messing with are the George W. Bushian ideals that Texas has come to represent: blind faith over reason, vengeance over rehabilitation, and moving the rich into gated enclaves rather than trying to create a safe, integrated, cosmopolitan metropolis.
As the bills from the Bush years mount up, this kind of debate — what feels good versus what actually works — will matter more and more. And, true to form, the New Yorkers will probably be talking the loudest.
With good reason.
E-mail James Norton at jrnorton@flakmag.com.
— graphic by Derek Evernden (derek@ocellus.net)
