America’s Most Violent City Isn’t Detroit: Crime in the Suburbs

METRO DETROIT, MI — Detroit is still one of the most violent cities in the United States, ranking second behind St. Louis among cities of 100,000 or more people in new FBI crime statistics released Monday, but there’s some good news: Violent crime decreased 13 percent in 2015.

Nationally, murder, rape, assault and robbery increased 39, though such crimes occur with less frequency than during peak levels in the 1990s, according to the data.

Violent crime in Detroit dropped 13 percent, to 11,846 violent crimes reported in 2015 from 13,616 in 2014, according to the report.

Despite the overall decrease in violent crimes, the murder rate remained fairly constant — 295 in 2015, compared with 298 in 2014, for a rate of 44 per 100,000 residents. Only St. Louis (59 per 100,000 residents) and Baltimore (55 per 100,000 residents) had higher rates.

Chicago, also notoriously violent and much larger than Detroit, had 17 homicides per 100,000 residents, and New York, with about 8.3 million people, has four homicides per 100,000 residents, according to the data.

Flint, which along with Detroit has historically been considered one of the nation’s most dangerous small cities, saw a 14 percent decrease in violent crime. Total incidents were down to 1,451 in 2015, compared with 1,694 in 2014, making it the nation’s 11th most violent city with a population of more than 50,000.

Despite the decline, murders increased precipitously in Flint, to 47 in 2015, compared with 28 in 2014, according to the data.

Here’s information for some selected communities for 2015 and 2014:

OAKLAND COUNTY

• Berkley: 50 violent crimes (7 in 2014); 112 property crimes (137 in 2014)
• Birmingham: 8 violent crimes (12 in 2014); 215 property crimes (206 in 2014)
• Bloomfield Hills: 2 violent crimes (2 in 2014); 22 property crimes (44 in 2014)
• Bloomfield Township: 13 violent crimes (17 in 2014); 402 property crimes (330 in 2014)
• Clawson: 18 violent crimes (7 in 2014); 57 property crimes (87 in 2014)
• Farmington: 6 violent crimes (9 in 2014); 116 property crimes (97 in 2014)
• Farmington Hills: 75 violent crimes (95 in 2014); 935 property crimes (977 in 2014)
• Ferndale: 40 violent crimes (51 in 2014); 599 property crimes (550 in 2014)
• Huntington Woods: 2 violent crimes (6 in 2014); 36 property crimes (26 in 2014)
• Lake Orion: 6 violent crimes (3 in 2014); 42 property crimes (33 in 2014)
• Northville: 4 violent crimes (3 in 2014); 64 property crimes (66 in 2014)
• Northville Township: 19 violent crimes (23 in 2014); 435 property crimes (355 in 2014)
• Novi: 31 violent crimes (47 in 2014); 762 property crimes (853 in 2014)
• Oakland Township: 6 violent crimes; 59 property crimes (no report for 2014)
• Orion Township: 22 violent crimes; 207 property crimes (no report for 2014)
• Rochester: 13 violent crimes (12 in 2014); 148 property crimes (124 in 2014)
• Rochester Hills: 25 violent crimes; 579 property crimes (no report for 2014)
• Royal Oak: 52 violent crimes (75 in 2014); 661 property crimes (594 in 2014)
• Troy: 55 violent crimes (50 in 2014); 1,146 property crimes (1,359 in 2014)
• West Bloomfield Township: 51 violent crimes (50 in 2014); 453 property crimes (514 in 2014)
• White Lake Township: 26 violent crimes (20 in 2014); 317 property crimes (375 in 2014)

WAYNE COUNTY

• Canton Township: 119 violent crimes (118 in 2014); 1,097 property crimes (1,327 in 2014)
• Dearborn: 356 violent crimes (339 in 2014): 2,932 property crimes (3,315 n 2014)
• Dearborn Heights: 218 violent crimes (211 in 2014); 1,159 property crimes (1,208 in 2014)
• Grosse Ile Township: 1 violent crime (1 in 2014); 34 property crimes (41 in 2014)
• Grosse Pointe: 8 violent crimes (5 in 2014); 110 property crimes (104 in 2014)
• Grosse Pointe Farms: 3 violent crimes (6 in 2014); 89 property crimes (116 in 2014)
• Grosse Pointe Park: 9 violent crimes (13 in 2014); 249 property crimes (284 in 2014)
• Grosse Pointe Woods: 9 violent crimes (22 in 2014); 195 property crimes (191 in 2014)
• Plymouth: 9 violent crimes (9 in 2014); 60 property crimes (70 in 2014)
• Plymouth Township: 23 violent crimes (20 in 2014); 260 property crimes (295 in 2014)
• Wyandotte: 53 violent crimes (43 in 2014); 437 property crimes (572 in 2014)

MACOMB COUNTY

• Chesterfield Township: 105 violent crimes (107 in 2014); 796 property crimes (797 in 2014)
• New Baltimore: 15 violent crimes (7 in 2014); 112 property crimes (101 in 2014)
• Shelby Township: 89 violent crimes (95 in 2014); 701 property crimes (760 in 2014)
• St. Clair Shores: 129 violent crimes (111 in 2014); 756 property crimes (764 in 2014)
• Utica: 15 violent crimes (8 in 2014); 191 property crimes (172 in 2014)

LIVINGSTON COUNTY

• Brighton: 10 violent crimes (5 in 2014); 151 property crimes (145 in 2014)

WASHTENAW COUNTY

• Chelsea: 4 violent crimes (10 in 2014); 39 property crimes (34 in 2014)
• Saline: 20 violent crimes (13 in 2014); 78 property crimes (97 om 2014)

GENESEE COUNTY

• Fenton: 22 violent crimes (16 in 2014); 264 property crimes (223 in 2014)

If your city or township isn’t listed, data may not have been reported. For more information, go to the report: Crime in the United States, 2015.

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