CITY OF SPRINGFIELD NOT ON LIST OF TOP TEN MOST DANGEROUS CITIES IN AMERICA

for more information:
Ernie Slottag 789-2235

When is it good not to be on a top ten list? When it is on the list of the Most Dangerous Cities in America. An organization called 24/7 Wall Street has taken the most recent FBI crime statistics from the nation’s cities, and has determined that there are many other cities in the United States that have dramatically higher levels of crime than does Springfield.

The website utilized 2011 crime statistics as reported by the FBI, which indicated that violent crime dropped 4% last year, and dropped 5.5% a year earlier. The report concludes that murder rates increased in seven of the top 10 cities. In eight of the 10, burglaries increased.

"We have always felt that the crime rate in Springfield is significantly lower than that in many other cities in America,” said Springfield Mayor J. Michael Houston. “While we always take crime very seriously in our community, this comparison more accurately represents the situation on a national level than some other reports have.”

Springfield falls in the middle for similar sized cities across the country.  The difference from the Forbes' listing is that it was based on metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).  This is based on the actual cities statistics.

Springfield is not even close to the most dangerous city as listed by 24/7 Wall St, which is Flint, Michigan. Flint reported 650% more murders than did Springfield in 2011. With a population of 102,000, Flint reported 52 murders in 2011. Springfield, with a population of 116,000, fully 14,000 more than Flint, reported eight murders in 2011. Springfield did not report a murder during the first five months of 2012.

The 24/7 report goes on to say that cities with the highest crime rates tend to have higher rates of poverty and unemployment. Additionally, the two worst cities, Flint and Detroit, Michigan, had significant budget issues, both of which being placed into fiscal oversight by the state of Michigan.

“Every city in America is facing budget issues. We have been fortunate in that we balanced our budget by controlling our spending, and continuing to commit scarce resources to our Police Department. We will continue to work to reduce crime in Springfield. And, we are gratified to know that Springfield is not anywhere near the top of the list of most dangerous cities in America,” Houston added.

The top Ten cities according to 24/7 Wall Street are Flint, Michigan; Detroit; St. Louis, Missouri; Oakland, California; Memphis, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland and Stockton, California.