U.S. violent crime rises in 2006

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

But has the ratio of crimes to people increased that much?  That's the important statistic.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Michigan is fairly high with 7.1 murders per 100,000 population. But once again Detroit is by far the biggest problem. It has only 9% of the state's population but 57% of the murders. Take out Detroit and our murder rate falls to 3.2 per 100,000.

So once again I'd like to offer our Canadian neighbors the chance to make a trade for Detroit. You can have it in exchange for Toronto.

Too high?

How about Windsor?

Still too high?

How about a 6 pack of Labatts Blue?

We wouldn't take Detroit if you paid us.

How about you take Detroit if we take your trash again - sure the suburbs would rise into uproar again, but they'd be happier overall if Detroit wasn't their problem anymore.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Hopefully, this will be just a little statistical blip. The larger story that nobody on tv seems to have reported is the enormous and unprecedented decline in violent crimes in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s. Somehow, lack of crime isn't as sexy for the media.

Was this just a rise in crime or rise in crime rate?