The 2011 CQ Press City Crime Rankings, which purports to identify the most dangerous cities in America, was released on Thursday — but experts say not to put too much stock in the controversial annual report.

While FBI statistics are used to create the rankings, the bureau itself says such rankings “lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents.”

What’s more, the American Society of Criminology calls them “invalid, damaging, and irresponsible,” with criminologist Richard Rosenfeld saying, “The fundamental problem with the rankings is that they are supposed to inform individuals about their chances of becoming victims of crime, yet they tell you almost nothing about a person’s risk for crime. A person’s age, gender, their activities—all those help tell you a person’s risk for crime.”

That said, here are what the report claims are the 10 safest and the 10 most dangerous cities in the US.

SAFEST

  1. Fishers, IN
  2. O’Fallon, MO
  3. Mission Viejo, CA
  4. Ramapo, NY
  5. Newton, MA
  6. Irvine, CA
  7. Colonie, NY
  8. Clarkstown, NY
  9. Allen, TX
  10. Amherst, NY

MOST DANGEROUS

  1. Flint, MI
  2. Camden, NJ
  3. Detroit, MI
  4. St. Louis, MO
  5. Oakland, CA
  6. Cleveland, OH
  7. Baltimore, MD
  8. Jackson, MS
  9. Newark, NJ
  10. Richmond, CA

[The Atlantic]

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