Flint Is No Longer America’s Most Violent City, But Should We Be Celebrating?

Flint, Michigan has held the title of "The Most Violent City in the U.S." since 2010. We were finally knocked from the top spot on the FBI's list, but it seems a little bit silly that people are celebrating... we are still on the list.

According to several sources, Flint has been dropped to number two on the list, which based on the amount of violent crimes like rape and murder per capita. WNEM TV5 reports that Oakland, California is now the America's most violent city and that Flint's violent crime was down 26% in 2013.

Flint Police Chief James Tolbert congratulated his men on a job well done Wednesday evening. In addition to the hard work of Flint Police, state troopers patrolling crime hot spots have also helped reduce the crime rate within city limits. "Everybody's in," said Tolbert. "Everybody's all in, and because of that, you see, we've dropped to second."

Don't get me wrong, it's great that violent crime is down across the board and I respect the Hell out of the men and women who put their life on the line every night to try and keep this city safe. But the fact that the media (and even the police to a degree) seem to be celebrating that we're not number one is pretty ridiculous. We are still on the list... and at number two! You don't see a basketball team that usually gets beat by 40 points a night celebrating that they only lost by 30, do you? Maybe you do, but that doesn't change the fact that they lost.

It's great that crime is down, but 52 people were still murdered in Flint in 2013. That's a lot of blood spilled on our pothole-laden streets and only about a 17% drop from 2012's 63 murders. Flint's population has been on the decline for decades and we've lost around 1,000 people a year since 2010. There may be less violent crime, but there's also less people to commit violent crime against every year.

The good news is that we are headed in the right direction and that things are a bit safer in Flint. I commend the police for all their hard work and sincerely hope that things continue to move in the right direction. But while we're all high-fiving each other because we're not the most violent city anymore, people are still getting killed, there are still no jobs and potholes are still destroying our vehicles on a daily basis. We still have a long way to go, Flint. Hang in there and be safe.