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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/metropolitan/3093199
Dallas crime rate again tops among largest cities
Associated Press
DALLAS — The city's crime rate was the highest among nine U.S. cities, including Houston, with more than a million residents for the seventh consecutive year in 2004, according to police statistics.
The top ranking comes despite an overall four percent drop in the city's crime rate last year. But that fall was offset by even greater drops in the other eight cities whose statistics were compared.
Most of the crimes reported involved burglaries, auto break-ins or similar nonviolent property theft. But the city's murder rate crept up to No. 2 among the cities, with 20 murders per 100,000 residents, behind only Philadelphia, which reported 22 murders per 100,000 residents.
The rates for other violent crimes such as rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, meanwhile, fell in the rankings.
Dallas was fourth in assaults and rapes, but increased its lead for the rate of home and business burglaries after the number of burglaries hit a level not seen since 1992.
According to the statistics examined by The Dallas Morning News, Dallas residents were 42 percent more likely to have their homes or businesses broken into last year than people in Houston.
Criminologists warned that strictly statistical comparisons can be misleading.
They say the crime data can't account for the willingness of residents to report crime, the number of workers and shoppers who visit the city daily, as well as differences in geography, development and transportation.
Many New Yorkers, for example, take mass transit, lowering the number of vehicles that can be broken into or stolen.
The rankings come amid recent changes in leadership at the Dallas Police Department. In June, the city named David Kunkle as its new police chief.
Two months ago, he outlined a strategy to reduce crime by 10 percent in one year that includes adding extra officers on busy Friday and Saturday nights, and parking patrol cars in front of suspected drug houses.
"Our crime rate is too high and unacceptable," Kunkle said. "I think that we'll have dramatic reductions this year."
Mayor Laura Miller said she was confident that the numbers will do down with people like Kunkle on the job.
"When I hear the news again this year, I'm not surprised because Chief Kunkle has only been in the job for a few months," she said. "But I'm not alarmed because we have a good person in the job."
The other cities in the analysis were Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego and New York.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/metropolitan/3093199
Dallas crime rate again tops among largest cities
Associated Press
DALLAS — The city's crime rate was the highest among nine U.S. cities, including Houston, with more than a million residents for the seventh consecutive year in 2004, according to police statistics.
The top ranking comes despite an overall four percent drop in the city's crime rate last year. But that fall was offset by even greater drops in the other eight cities whose statistics were compared.
Most of the crimes reported involved burglaries, auto break-ins or similar nonviolent property theft. But the city's murder rate crept up to No. 2 among the cities, with 20 murders per 100,000 residents, behind only Philadelphia, which reported 22 murders per 100,000 residents.
The rates for other violent crimes such as rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, meanwhile, fell in the rankings.
Dallas was fourth in assaults and rapes, but increased its lead for the rate of home and business burglaries after the number of burglaries hit a level not seen since 1992.
According to the statistics examined by The Dallas Morning News, Dallas residents were 42 percent more likely to have their homes or businesses broken into last year than people in Houston.
Criminologists warned that strictly statistical comparisons can be misleading.
They say the crime data can't account for the willingness of residents to report crime, the number of workers and shoppers who visit the city daily, as well as differences in geography, development and transportation.
Many New Yorkers, for example, take mass transit, lowering the number of vehicles that can be broken into or stolen.
The rankings come amid recent changes in leadership at the Dallas Police Department. In June, the city named David Kunkle as its new police chief.
Two months ago, he outlined a strategy to reduce crime by 10 percent in one year that includes adding extra officers on busy Friday and Saturday nights, and parking patrol cars in front of suspected drug houses.
"Our crime rate is too high and unacceptable," Kunkle said. "I think that we'll have dramatic reductions this year."
Mayor Laura Miller said she was confident that the numbers will do down with people like Kunkle on the job.
"When I hear the news again this year, I'm not surprised because Chief Kunkle has only been in the job for a few months," she said. "But I'm not alarmed because we have a good person in the job."
The other cities in the analysis were Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego and New York.
