Mobile, Alabama’s metropolitan area recorded the third highest homicide rate in the U.S. last year when Puerto Rico is excluded, behind only New Orleans and Pine Bluff, Ar., this week’s FBI statistical compilation indicated, says the Mobile Press-Register. “That’s quite a surprise,” Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said.
Mobile’s Metropolitan Statistical Area, had an estimated 405,797 people in 2008 and recorded 65 homicides for a rate of 16 per 100,000 residents. By comparison, the Birmingham Metropolitan Statistical Area had a rate of 10.1 homicides per 100,000 residents. Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine, who has criticized Mobile Mayor Sam Jones’s handling of crime, said the statistics provide more proof that local leaders must strongly emphasize public safety.