MOBILE — For several months, city officials in Mobile have been working with the FBI to correct crime data that led to an incorrect report stating that Mobile was the second-most dangerous city in the United States.
MoneyGeek.com first came out with the rankings earlier this year. Right away, Mayor Sandy Stimpson said he knew something was wrong. He said a glitch in a new system that tracks statistics caused the wrong numbers to be transferred to the FBI.
“After a couple of months of work, the FBI has now corrected that information so we will no longer be recognized as such,” said Stimpson.
Stimpson said most violent crime has decreased in the past year, and now the city isn’t even on the list of most dangerous cities.
Homicides, gun crimes and robberies have decreased, Stimpson added.
“We are headed in the right direction,” he said. “I hope someone a year from now talking about Mobile in a very positive light.”
Birmingham is now ranked number two, with the crime cost per capita being $7,900. According to the updated data, the only city with a higher crime cost is St. Louis, Missouri, with $8,457 per capita.
The study was based on FBI data and considered the cost of crime, violent crime and property crime data. However, the study is not perfect because not all cities report all information to the state, and not all states report complete, accurate data to the FBI. Limited data was available for cities in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Pennsylvania.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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