Detroit: In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St Louis, Missouri, to become the most dangerous US city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out yesterday. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike on Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data. The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's September 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 US cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St Louis, fell to number two. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland, California; Camden, New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; North Charleston, South Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; Richmond, California; and Cleveland, Ohio. The study ranked Mission Viejo, California, as the safest US city, followed by Clarkstown, New York; Brick Township, New Jersey; Amherst, New York; and Sugar Land, Texas.

CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said details of the weighting system were proprietary. It was compiled by Kathleen O Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

Source : PTI