Crime Data Comparison Paper

CRIME DATA COMPARISON PAPER –Murder Rate According to the FBI Unified Crime Report for 2009, there were 385 murders in that year. The total population for Detroit in 2009 was just over 951,000. (The Neighborhood Scout, 2009) In Minneapolis, a city with about one-half the population of Detroit, the number of murders was 47. Not only is the population less than Detroit, the murder rate 6 times lower than Detroit. Here you can see that population seems to play a role in the amount of murders for these metropolitan areas. The area that had the most reported incidents of murder was Detroit.

Minneapolis has shown that they have seen a 17% decrease in violent crimes over the past 3 years. In the previous year, 2008 Detroit reported the murder rate of 339. This seemed to be an overall drop from the previous year 383. Though this seems like a positive sign for the city, this merely shows a decrease in violent crimes in the nation. (Hendron, 2009) It seems that more major cities have seen a drop in crime rates over time. The 339 murders over a population just over 951,000 make Detroit the deadliest metropolitan area in the United States.

Additionally, Police officials in Detroit had misreported overall 2008 murder figures intentionally to avoid this distinction. (Hendron, 2009) Minneapolis, in comparison, saw their murders drop from about forty to eighteen percent in 2008. (Kohler, 2009) As the rates of crime for these areas show patterns, one thing is certain, Detroit as a whole has a higher crime rate capacity. It appears that in Detroit the crime rate decreased approximately 11% and Minneapolis dropped about 20%. The rates have changed for both areas over the last few years. They appear to have been dropping when compared to other major cities and metropolitan areas.

One theory that might explain a city’s murder rate is the lack of good, affordable housing. (Jeralyn, 2009) There are several theories on the reason for an areas murder rate to increase, decrease, or even remaining steady with little fluctuation. Jeralyn goes on to explain that the observation taken place in New York indicate that after the implementation of housing projects resulted in the homicide rate dropping, while Chicago, which did not have a housing project implemented, remained pretty steady. Both areas, Detroit and Minneapolis have both adopted this means of orrection to deal with the increasing homicide rate. Another factor that plays a huge role in the murder rate is the overall poverty. Detroit’s poverty level is significantly higher than that of Minneapolis. Several added reasons to the rate are those of theft, robbery, and attempts of theft of property. Police chief, Warren Evans suggests that we will not see anymore oversights on the number of the murder rate and next year we should see a more correct and concrete number. He goes on to say that the new correct number may even show an increase to fix the oversight problem. Oosting, 2009) There is no way to tell whether or not the poverty level is the sole or even major cause of the murder rate. While likely to be a contributing factor, poverty cannot be the entire answer to the issue. Economic trends have shown that the poverty level has not only increased in Detroit, but across our entire nation. Another factor that has been brought up several times is the gun laws and how they contribute to the rates of homicide. I know you’ve heard the old saying, “guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people. ” This statement has been argued both ways and there is no real information to support the claim here.

There doesn’t seem to be a real reason the why the murder rates increase but some of the more logical realistic reasons show to be the poverty level, unemployment rates, and affordable housing. There will always be murder, the rates are varied by different crimes and things used for these crimes. The homicide in major cities is fueld by the population. Simply it’s like this, the larger the population, the higher your murder rate will be. Reference Hendron, J. (2009, June 19th ) U. S. 'Murder Capital' a Tricky Figure. Retrieved July 28th, 2010 from ABC News website: https://abcnews. o. com/US/story? id=7884362&page=1 Neighborhood Scout. (2009). Crime rates for Detroit, MI . Retrieved from https://www. neighborhoodscout. com/mi/detroit/crime/ Jerelyn (2003, June 1st) Key to Reducing the Murder Rate. Retrieved July 28th, 2010 from Talk Left website: https://www. talkleft. com/story/2003/06/01/107/64240 Oosting, J. (2009). Detroit homicide rate up 20 percent in 2009, Police Chief Warren Evans says 'it's the Wild West'. Mlive. com. Retrieved from https://www. mlive. com/news/detroit/index. ssf/2009/07/detroit_homicide_rate_up_20_pe. html

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