COLORADO -- Pueblo has the highest crime rate among all Colorado cities, according to the 2010-2011 crime index report released Wednesday by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
The program's latest book reveals crime rates and rankings in approximately the 400 largest U.S. cities and metropolitan areas. Crimes included in the report include violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, as well as property crimes such as burglary, larceny-theft,motor vehicle theft and arson. These are eight of the most popular crime categories and are known as the 'index crimes.'
According to the report, Pueblo is has the 112th highest crime rate out the 400 cities listed. The city's crime rate is nearly 70 percent above the national average. Denver is second in the state, ranking 141 nationally with a crime rate at 52 percent above the national average.
Police Chief Jim Billings of the Pueblo Police Department refutes the report, saying the data is inaccurate because attempted murders were listed in the national report, when in fact those are not index crimes. He said attempts to correct the numbers in the computer-automated reporting system were unsuccessful because the data cannot be changed once the FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigation publish it.
Centennial is the safest city in the state with a crime rate almost 64 percent below the national average.
Here are the complete Colorado state rankings, along with their crime rate percentages above or below the national average:
112 - Pueblo: +69.24%
141 - Denver: +52.04%
171 - Aurora: +35.04%
175 - Colorado Springs: +31.76%
190 - Lakewood: +24.78%
247 - Greeley: -6.14%
260 - Fort Collins: -12.07%
263 - Thornton: -12.20%
294 - Westminster: -26.72%
296 - Boulder: -27.63%
328 - Longmont: -39.45%
336 - Arvada: -43.35%
378 - Centennial: -63.53%
The rates are determined by taking the number of reported crimes in each category, converting that number to a rate per 100,000 based on that city or area's population, and determining the percentage compared with the national average. Scores in parenthesis are percentages below the national average, while those not in parenthesis are percentages above the national average.
Cities included in the study are all those with at least 75,000 residents in 2009, while metro areas included had at least 50,000 residents.
Billings said anyone who wants factual crime report statistics about Pueblo should view the 2009 Police Department Annual Report.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM