Chicago's Crime Problem Is Massively Overhyped

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-is-less-dangerous-than-it-used-to-be-2013-6


A general view of the Chicago skyline on the third and final day of Lollapalooza at Grant Park on August 5, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois

Many readers were surprised that gang-ridden Chicago did not make our list of America's 25 most dangerous cities (based on FBI crime data).
After all, last year Chicago became known as the "deadliest city in America" when it recorded 500 homicides. New York, by comparison, is 3 times Chicago's size and had 414 homicides last year.

The media was obsessed with the downfall of the Windy City, including a report from "This American Life" on a Chicago high school where 15 gangs battle for turf and many kids have been shot.

While things were bad last year, however, the truth is that Chicago is much safer than it used to be and much safer than many cities.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-is-less-dangerous-than-it-used-to-be-2013-6#ixzz2X2n1MAkj

[graham4anything]

1. it goes without saying the reason the rightwing likes to harp on Chicago and lie about it

it's the same old same old

I would rather be in Chicago, than at a NRA meeting or at a Gun show in the middle of nowherelandia.

[Bay Boy]

3. What part of Chicago are you considering in your hypothetical?

And what specifically about a gunshow scares you?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. I was prepared to call bullshit...

But apparently it's true.

One of several sources: http://www.policymic.com/articles/22686/america-s-10-deadliest-cities-2012

[Recursion]

4. Crime evrywhere is massively overhyped

It serves nobody's interests, apparently, to figure out what we've been doing right for 20 years.

[Downwinder]

5. It always has been.

[X_Digger]

6. It would be nice if Chicago would standardize it's rape reporting

Without that, you can't calculate the overall violent crime rate for it.

For cities over 500k population, the five top murder rates are: Detroit (54.6), Baltimore (35), Philadelphia (21.5), Memphis (20.2), and Chicago (18.5).

Bottom of that same list are: Portland (3.3), El Paso (3.4), San Diego (3.5), Seattle (3.7), and Austin (3.8).