The rates for property and violent crimes are soaring across many parts of the United States. This is concerning for police officers who are out there trying to protect their communities, especially for those officers that are working to protect the most dangerous cities across the country.
PoliceOne recently did an interesting analysis of the FBI crime data. According to the FBI, property crimes include offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Violent crimes are considered to be murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Cities with the Most Violent Crimes
The majority of the cities that are on the Top 10 Dangerous Cities for Violent Crimes list consist of cities that are in the midwest with the exception of Baltimore, Maryland as well as Stockton and Oakland, California.
St. Louis, Missouri is number one in all of the United States as the most dangerous city to be a cop because it is the most dangerous city for violent crimes. With a population of 317,000, the total violent crime rate is 2,781 which equals out to be 877 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
Oakland, California is the tenth most dangerous city for violent crimes with a rate of 703 per 100,000 people. While the population is about 100,000 more than St. Louis, Oakland’s total violent crime rate is 2,952.
Violent crime rates aren’t nearly as high as property crime rates but they are still concerning.
Cities with the Most Property Crimes
Property crime extends all across the country. The state of Washington happens to have 4 cities on the list of most dangerous cities by property crime.
Springfield, Missouri only has a population of 166,000 people yet their total property crime rate is 6,283 which totals out to be 3,765 per 100,000 people. Spokane and Tacoma are both cities in Washington and they follow as number 2 and number 3 on the list of most dangerous cities by property crime.
Renton and Kent are also both in the state of Washington and they end the list as number 9 and number 10 on the list. Their populations are both under 130,000 with property crime rates around 2,900 per 100,000 people.
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Florida all have cities on the list of most dangerous cities by property crime. With a growing housing market in a lot of these cities, property crime rates appear to be on the rise.
Moving in the Right Direction
Regardless of the violent and property crimes all that occur all throughout the United States, police officers continue to do their job each and every day. Moving forward, we hope that each state takes measures to try and reduce these crimes so that our police officers can remain safe while protecting the lives of people within their communities.
