St. Louis mayor disputes city's dangerous ranking as 'bogus'

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Mayor Francis Slay makes no bones about it: Morgan Quitno Press is dead wrong to call St. Louis the most dangerous city in the United States.

"It's bogus," Slay said of the group's annual ranking released Monday. "To suggest that St. Louis is more dangerous than Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Chicago -- it just doesn't make any sense."

The study placed St. Louis atop the most dangerous list after murders in the city jumped nearly 20 percent between 2004 and 2005.

Slay took issue with the study's methodology. He said the group used population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau that were too low, exaggerating the crime statistics. The city previously challenged the Census Bureau's figures, getting the population estimate bumped up from roughly 330,000 people to 353,000 people.

Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno, said he used a population estimate of 346,000 derived from an FBI report. Changing the figure to 353,000 doesn't change St. Louis's ranking, Morgan said.

Slay also repeated a long-standing criticism of the ranking, which only looks at crime within St. Louis city limits. More than 1 million people live in suburbs outside the city and including them in the study would greatly dilute the overall crime rate, Slay said.

Morgan basically agreed. He said city's like New York City benefit in the rankings because they include higher-income and lower-crime areas like Stanton Island.

But St. Louis still beat out several cities like Philadelphia and Detroit that have a similar population divide, Morgan said.

"St. Louis is not unique in being a core city surrounded by affluent areas that are in a different jurisdictions," he said. The whole purpose of the ranking is to send up a "red flag" for high-crime cities and promote discussion, Morgan said.

Slay acknowledged there are high-crime neighborhoods inside the city that push up the rate of murders and robberies, and he said the city is doing something about it.

City voters passed an increase in business license fees this year that will raise more than $3 million annually for law enforcement programs, Slay said.

The city is in the process of hiring and training 40 new police officers and launched a program in the prosecutor's office to crack down on career criminals.

Slay said there is simple proof the city isn't as dangerous as Morgan Quitno makes it out to be. The downtown population is steadily increasing as new lofts, restaurants and offices are being built.

"People are coming to the city, they like the city. They feel safe here," Slay said.

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On the Net:

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay: http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/mayor

Morgan Quitno Press: http://www.morganquitno.com/