San Jose Close To Safest City

A national study that ranks crime rates cities across the United States finds two Bay Area cities on the top and bottom of the nation's most dangerous list for 2009.
     
CQ Press released the study Sunday. It found Oakland to be the third most dangerous city in the country.  San Jose, which used to be ranked No. 1 in the safest cities list, is the fourth safest according to CQ data.

Most dangerous:

  1. Camden, NJ
  2. St. Louis
  3. Oakland
  4. Detroit
  5. Flint, MI

Lowest Crime Rate (cities with population over 500,000)

  1. Honolulu
  2. El Paso
  3. New York City
  4. San Jose
  5. Austin

The annual rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI.

CQ explains it methodology this way:

The crime rate rankings of the cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. These categories have been used for determining city crime rate ratings since 1999. The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in the categories noted for calendar year 2008. In the most recent survey, 332 metropolitan areas and 393 cities were considered using statistics released by the Uniform Crime Program of the FBI in September, 2009.

The Associated Press notes some criminologists question the findings, saying the methodology is unfair.

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