Most Dangerous

The statistics are in for the 2010 Crime State Rankings. According to CQ Press, that publishes these statistics each year, the most dangerous cities in America (from a violent crime standpoint) are:

1. St. Louis, MO
2. Camden, N.J.
3. Detroit, MI
4. Flint, MI
5. Oakland, CA
6. Richmond, CA
7. Cleveland, OH
8. Compton, CA
9. Gary, IN
10. Birmingham, AL
11. Baltimore, MD
12. Memphis, TN
13. New Orleans, LA
14. Jackson, MS
15. Little Rock, AR

The criteria for determining which of the 400 cities in the evaluation are most dangerous were the overall ranking for six types of crime — assault, murder, rape, auto theft, robbery, and burglary. For example, in Camden, New Jersey, the rankings were #2 in the nation for assault; #4 for murder; #1 for rape; #23 for auto theft; #1 for robbery (way to go, Camden, you win top spot for two categories!); and #78 for burglary. Seems that Camden criminals lean toward rape, robbery, assault and murder rather than theft. 

Are there demographic patterns to these top 15 crime cities? I'll bet there are. You think it over and see if you can come up with what all these places have in common. I won't try to influence your thinking on this subject — I'm sure you can figure it out. But this is good information to keep in mind if you want to avoid being in dangerous places.