York and Harrisburg have been ranked among the top 30 most dangerous cities in the nation. But law enforcement officials and criminal justice researchers say the ranking don't tell the real story.
Neighborhoodscout.com lists York as the 18th most dangerous and Harrisburg the 30th. The rankings are based on the number of violent crimes per thousand residents reported to the FBI in 2011.
“To actually characterize it an extremely dangerous city versus another, I don't know if it should be used in that nature,” commented Patrick Hughes, Assistant Dean at Central Penn College.
Violent crimes include murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Crunching the numbers from the FBI uniformed crime report; you have a 1-to-70 chance of being a victim of violent crime in Harrisburg. Also, there is a 1-in-19 chance of falling victim to a property crime such as burglary, theft and arson in the Capital City.
Hughes is a former police officer on the East Shore and Criminal Justice Instructor at Central Penn. He said he wouldn't base any important decisions on rankings such as this one.
“You can skew data in different directions, especially descriptive data,” Hughes explained. “More in-depth research that looks at the significance between variables such a recidivism versus homeless, these are a little more in depth."
Chester was the 19th most dangerous, Philadelphia, 50th and Norristown, 68th.
However, Harrisburg officials looked at the latest rankings this way: Harrisburg is getting safer as last year it was the 20th most dangerous city.
Neighborhoodscout.com lists York as the 18th most dangerous and Harrisburg the 30th. The rankings are based on the number of violent crimes per thousand residents reported to the FBI in 2011.
“To actually characterize it an extremely dangerous city versus another, I don't know if it should be used in that nature,” commented Patrick Hughes, Assistant Dean at Central Penn College.
Violent crimes include murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Crunching the numbers from the FBI uniformed crime report; you have a 1-to-70 chance of being a victim of violent crime in Harrisburg. Also, there is a 1-in-19 chance of falling victim to a property crime such as burglary, theft and arson in the Capital City.
Hughes is a former police officer on the East Shore and Criminal Justice Instructor at Central Penn. He said he wouldn't base any important decisions on rankings such as this one.
“You can skew data in different directions, especially descriptive data,” Hughes explained. “More in-depth research that looks at the significance between variables such a recidivism versus homeless, these are a little more in depth."
Chester was the 19th most dangerous, Philadelphia, 50th and Norristown, 68th.
However, Harrisburg officials looked at the latest rankings this way: Harrisburg is getting safer as last year it was the 20th most dangerous city.