Mobile Has 3rd Highest Murder Rate

The Mobile area has the 3rd highest murder and manslaughter rate in the country according to the latest FBI statistics. The 2008 stats are for metropolitan areas. Mobile and Mobile County were ranked together. And Mobile's rate of murder and manslaughter is 16 per 100-thousand people. New Orleans had the highest rate at 22.4. Pine Bluff, Arkansas came in second with 20.8. The Police Chief, the Sheriff, and Mayor all agree the numbers are misleading, "I think it misrepresents the overall crime in the area. I think that it certainly does that. Because, I think if you look at where we are right now compared to other areas of the state we certainly don't have a crime rate that's higher than any other.Mobile is certainly not any more dangerous than any other city in the State of Alabama," said Mobile Mayor, Sam Jones. The FBI cautions people not to take its crime stats out of context because doing so can be misleading. The FBI stats also look at cities in Puerto Rico. If you include them, Mobile's murder rate drops to 7th worst.