Forbes recently came out with a list of the top most dangerous cities in America. Forbes used various violent crime statistics and evaluated cities that had more than 500,000 residents. The crime categories that they used to define crime was murder and non-negligent manslaughter, robbery, forcible rape, and aggravated assault.
On the top of their list was the city of Detroit. The reason they stated for such a high rate of crime was because of small gang territorial wars that were happening. Detroit has had a long history of being a city with more violence.
Other cities that were on the list were Memphis, Tenn., Miami, Fla, Last Vegas, Nev, and Stockton, Cali. All of the top ten most dangerous cities had a common occurrence. They all were cities that the Department of Justice labeled as transit points for Mexican drug cartels.
Drug cartels are illegal, criminal organizations whose sole purpose is to distribute and regulate the trafficking of drugs. A lot of drug cartels have made their territory in Mexico and have waged war with each other and the government. More than 10,000 Mexican citizens have lost their lives because of drug related crime and violence.
This violence has made its way across the border into America. Drug gangs continue to show violent turf wars with one another. Places like Stockton, California have seen a major increase in crime rate because it has become a popular transit point along the freeway from Mexico to Seattle.
President Obama has made curbing Mexico’s violent drug war an urgent issue. In April he met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss ways to stop the cartels and any Americans who are helping. President Obama authorized federal officials to take any assets that any drug cartels have hidden in the United States, causing a major stumbling block to gangs and Americans who smuggle the drugs, laundered money, or weapons for the cartels.
The issues with Mexican drug wars have increased in the past few years, but the rise in crime in many of these cities has been around for forty years or more. Detroit and Las Vegas both fell victim to industrial and housing booms. Detroit fell victim to rapid suburban growth that caused abandonment, and Las Vegas homeowners were left with worthless properties and expensive mortgages.
These cities that are struggling with crime rate because crime fighting resources haven’t been made available to them. With the current economic recession the United States is in, funds for fighting crime are usually one of the first to be cut. Currently there seems to be little sign of improvement with these violent cities.
