Though we here at the Goldwater keep informing you every week about the killings taking place over a typical weekend in Chicago, the FBI crime figures for America in 2016 have come out, and it seems there are worse places still.
Detroit has once again crowned itself the winner and will continue to be recognized as the most violent big city in America, having more murders than Los Angeles (though the latter has 4 times as many residents).
Crime is unevenly distributed throughout Detroit, with much of the violent crime coming from selected neighborhoods both in the upper east and central west.
However the Detroit Chief of Police, Mr James Craig does not agree with the FBI numbers at all apparently: "Just because it's coming out of the FBI doesn't mean it's accurate. I reject it.
According to Mr Craig, Detroit police’s own data showed violent crimes went down by as much as 5% in 2016, a trend that it has sustained since 2013. In his calculation, the number for aggravated assaults stands at 8,900 for 2016. The FBI reports that number at 9,800.
In 2016, there were 303 murders in Detroit, compared to 295 the year before, or a 3% increase. Los Angeles on the other hand had 295 murders in 2016, just eight fewer than Detroit. Do note however that Los Angeles has 4 million inhabitants, compared to 700,000 for Detroit.
Mr Craig continued during his press briefing to state that the FBI's numbers are off because of a software called CRISNET, which was replaced by his department in December of last year.
Back in 2015, St. Louis had the questionable honor of calling itself the most violent city in the US, whilst Detroit had the number two spot (there had been a 13% drop in violent crime that year).
The Detroit Police Chief did admit that the numbers were not good overall: "Over the last several of years we've had a number of calls with the FBI and Michigan State police.” This number, Mr Craig said, is "very, very troubling."
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