Last week's release of the FBI's preliminary 2008 Uniform Crime Report had at least some good news for Memphians -- a 14 percent drop in violent crime since 2006, a per-capita murder rate that placed just 21st among large cities -- but the political Web site Real Clear Politics crunched the data and called Memphis the nation's least-safe city.
And the U.S.'s least safe city? That distinction goes to Memphis, Tennessee, with a crime rate of 18% per capita, followed by Atlanta (16%), San Antonio (15.2%), Detroit (13.7%) and Milwaukee (13.4%). These rates reflect the total crimes detailed in the FBI's report divided by the population of the city.For her part, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is having none of it:
"The blog's rankings are based on incorrect data; they are contrary to the findings of reputable authorities on crime data; and they ignore Atlanta's 7-year track record of crime reduction," Franklin said Monday in a press release.
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