Camden, N.J., has ranked No. 1 or near the top of the list of America’s most crime-ridden cities since 1998, when publisher Morgan Quitno began to rank crime in cities. Camden will fall off the list when the publisher, now owned by CQ Press, releases its new ratings early next year, reports Philly.com. That’s because Camden’s police department was closed down on May 1, 2013, and succeeded by a Camden County-run entity. County-run organizations aren’t counted by CQ Press.
Camille Gamboa, spokeswoman for CQ Press and its parent company, Sage Publications, said counties “are not directly comparable to cities or metro areas.” Camden was No. 1 in the 2012 City Crime Rankings released this year, followed by Flint, Mi.; Detroit; Oakland, Ca.; St. Louis; and Cleveland. The new CQ Press rankings, based on FBI data released last week, are expected in late January or early February. The rankings are widely criticized by criminologists, the FBI, and city officials. In Camden itself, the homicide total is down to 32 compared with 50 at this time last year.