Someone was murdered in most neighborhoods of Detroit last year, and victims' ages ran from infancy to the elderly, according to a Detroit News analysis of 2012 data from the county Medical Examiner's Office.
George Hunter, a veteran police beat reporter, presents this stark comparison:
Killings were so pervasive that Detroit's homicide rate was higher than some of the most despairing places on earth, including Port Au Prince, Haiti; Monrovia, Liberia; and Mumbai, India, according to United Nations data.
Using county figures of 411 homicides, Detroit's murder rate was 57 per 100,000 residents, Hunter reports. City figures, which exclude homicides ruled justifiable, put the number at 53 -- just below New Orleans' rate of 53.5.
Grand Rapids, the state's second-largest city, had 18 murders in 2012. The national average was 5.3 murders per 100,000 residents.
Midtown, Palmer Woods, Rosedale Park and Indian Village had no slaying or were far below the Detroit average, the article notes.
Mayor Dave Bing sought to assure the public Wednesday that the city is safe, casting most slayings as those committed by acquaintances during arguments.
