Study: Victorville more dangerous than Los Angeles

BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE • Residents of Victorville are more likely to become victims of violent crime than residents of Los Angeles, according to a recent study.

Victorville ranked number 152 of 385 cities in the CQ Press “City Crime Rankings 2008-2009,” with New Orleans taking the top spot as most dangerous. Los Angeles was six places below Victorville at 158.

The only other local city listed in the study was Hesperia, which ranked at 232.

Officials did say, however, that violent crime in Victorville has dropped since 2007.

There were eight murders in 2007 compared to four as of November 2008, said Karen Hunt, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s Victorville station.

“There has been a drop in all of our violent crimes except rape and assault, but as a whole violent crimes are down,” Hunt said.

In comparison to the national average, Victorville sees more reported violent crimes except when it comes to rapes.

Nationally, 30 rapes for each 100,000 residents were reported in 2007. Victorville saw 28.6 rapes per 100,000 people during the same year.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials would not directly comment on the rankings, stating that more information was needed such as what criteria were used and how the statistical information was gathered, before they could speak out about the findings.

The rankings combines the crimes of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft — based on Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics.

Beatriz E. Valenzuela can be reached at 951-6276 or at BValenzuela@VVDailyPress.com.