Crime data a mixed bag for West Virginia September 17, 2008 @ 11:58 PM
CURTIS JOHNSON
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- West Virginia's violent crime rate dropped 1.6 percent between 2006 and 2007, keeping the state among the ranks of the safer places to live in the nation, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.
The report indicates West Virginia's violent crime rate in 2007 was the 14th lowest when compared with other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
However, 19 of the state's municipalities have violent crime rates higher than the national averages for cities and towns their size. Among them are Charleston, Huntington and Logan.
"The state is still extremely safe overall, compared to other states," Charleston Police Chief Brent L. Webster said Wednesday. "You can still do things in West Virginia that you can't in some other areas. When you throw in an urban flare or a population center, you've just got to watch your step more."
The federal government published its most recent crime report Monday. It measures violent crime by calculating the number of murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants.
That provides a standard to measure cities of all sizes, even if their populations are less than 100,000, but some experts warn the statistics do not account for geographical issues and fiscal issues unique to each area.
Charleston recorded a violent crime rate of 1,132.45 in 2007, the highest among the state's larger municipalities. The rate was up 14.2 percent, or 64 incidents, from 2006. It was down 27 percent since 2004.
Charleston's mark and Huntington's rate of 754.07 surpassed the crime rates of Louisville, Ky., Los Angeles and New York City.
Webster disputed comparisons to the larger cities. He acknowledged "a nominal increase from 2007 to 2006," but he believes crime is on a downward trend overall. He cited city statistics that use different methods to analyze criminal activity.
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