COLONIE, NEW YORK HAS THE LOWEST U.S. CRIME RATE RANKING

NEWS FROM CQ PRESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America
Now available from CQ Press.

COLONIE, NEW YORK HAS THE LOWEST U.S. CRIME RATE RANKING;
CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY HAS THE HIGHEST CRIME RATE RANKING IN
ANNUAL PUBLICATION FROM CQ PRESS
Washington, D.C., November 23, 2009: With the annual publication that brings the
discussion of crime in U.S. cities and metropolitan areas into the national spotlight, CQ
Press has released City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America.
Colonie, New York tops the list for the first time with the lowest city crime rate ranking in
the United States, while at the opposite end of the list, Camden, New Jersey has the
highest. The list of crime rate rankings is one of over 90 easy-to-use tables of city and
metropolitan area crime data found in the 388 page publication. Published annually for
sixteen years, City Crime Rankings is a staple resource for researchers, city and law
enforcement officials, and the news media that follow trends in crime.
Colonie earned the lowest city crime rate ranking with only 54 incidences of violent crime
in 2008, the lowest number of all 393 cities included in the rankings. Joining Colonie
among the lowest rankings are Amherst, New York; Mission Viejo California; Irvine,
California; and Ramapo, New York, which had the lowest ranking last year. Camden has
the highest crime rate ranking, and had the highest rate of violent crime for 2008, with
2,332.6 violent crimes per 100,000 population, compared with a national average of 454.5.
Behind Camden with the highest crime rate ranking are St. Louis, Missouri; Oakland,
California; Detroit, Michigan; and Flint, Michigan. New Orleans, Louisiana, which was at
the bottom of last year’s list, is sixth from the bottom. State College, Pennsylvania tops the
list for lowest crime rate ranking among the 332 U.S. metropolitan areas that are ranked,
while the Pine Bluff, Arkansas region has the nation’s highest crime rate ranking for
metropolitan areas for the second consecutive year.
An introduction by criminologist Rachel Boba (Florida Atlantic University) explains the
formula used to compile the rankings and offers insight into the methodology used by the
editors. Dr. Boba also offers statistical analysis of the rankings, a comparative analysis of
cities and metropolitan areas, and additional information and caveats regarding the
analyzed data.
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METHODOLOGY
The crime rate rankings of the cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six crime
categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.
These categories have been used for determining city crime rate ratings since 1999. The
rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in
the categories noted for calendar year 2008. In the most recent survey, 332 metropolitan
areas and 393 cities were considered using statistics released by the Uniform Crime
Reporting Program of the FBI in September, 2009. More information on methodology is
available on the CQ Press Web site.
City Crime Rankings 2009-2010 offers a thorough and valuable collection of data presented
in over ninety tables that allow for easy comparison of crime numbers, rates, and trends
throughout the United States. A complete list of rankings of all 332 metropolitan areas and
393 cities is available online from CQ Press.
A WORD ABOUT CRIME RANKINGS
CQ Press’s annual rankings of crime in cities, states, and metropolitan areas are considered
by some in the law enforcement community as controversial. The FBI, police, and many
criminologists caution against rankings according to crime rates. They correctly point out
that crime levels are affected by many different factors, such as population density,
composition of the population (particularly the concentration of youth), climate, economic
conditions, strength of local law enforcement agencies, citizen’s attitudes toward crime,
cultural factors, education levels, and crime reporting practices of citizens and family
cohesiveness. Accordingly, crime rankings often are deemed “simplistic” or “incomplete.”
However, this criticism is largely based on the fact that there are reasons for the differences
in crime rates, not that the rates are incompatible.
The rankings tell an interesting and an important story regarding crime in the United States.
Annual rankings not only allow for comparisons among different states and cities, but also
enable leaders to track their communities’ crime trends from one year to the next. City
Crime Rankings helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight
against crime by providing accessible, straightforward data which citizens can use and
understand.
THE CQ PRESS STATE AND CITY RANKING SERIES
City Crime Rankings is one of five annual reference books published by CQ Press that
analyze and rank states and cities in various categories. Other books rank states using data
on health care, education, crime, and social and economic conditions.
TITLE AND EDITOR INFORMATION
City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America
Edited by Kathleen O’Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan
November 2009 | 8 ½ x 11 | 388 pages
Paperback | ISBN 978-1-60426-539-2 | $65.00
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Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan have compiled state and city rankings
books for almost two decades. Kathleen O’Leary Morgan holds a master’s degree in public
administration and has served in a number of media and legislative liaison positions with
the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she also served as deputy director of
Congressional Affairs. Scott Morgan is an attorney who served as chief counsel to Sen.
Robert Dole’s 1988 presidential campaign.
Dr. Rachel Boba is an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Criminology
and Criminal Justice program. At FAU, she teaches methods of research, criminal justice
systems, crime prevention, problem solving, and analysis in policing as well as conducts
research in the areas of problem solving, problem analysis, crime analysis, regional data
sharing, and technology in policing. From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Boba was Director of the
Police Foundation's Crime Mapping Laboratory where she directed federally funded grants
in the areas of crime analysis and crime mapping, problem analysis, and school safety.
Prior to her position at the Police Foundation, she worked as a crime analyst at the Tempe,
Arizona, Police Department for five years where she conducted a wide variety of crime
analysis and crime mapping work as well as applied research and evaluation. She holds a
PhD and an MA in sociology from Arizona State University and a BA in English and
sociology from California Lutheran University.
ABOUT CQ PRESS
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FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Ben Krasney • CQ Press • 2300 N Street NW, Suite 800 • Washington, DC 20037
(202) 729-1846 • bkrasney@cqpress.com • www.cqpress.com