Saturday, October 21, 2006
For Four Decades, Highest Crime Rate
What the Republican didn't mention at Thursday's gubernatorial debate is that Massachusetts has had the highest crime rate in New England for the past 44 years, with the exception of 1967 and 1970 when Rhode Island's crime rate was slightly higher.
It's true that the number of violent crimes has declined since Healey took office in 2002. That year, the rate of crime in Massachusetts per 100,000 people was 484.9, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice. That figure sank to 473.1 in 2003, and to 458.8 in 2004, the latest numbers available.
Despite that downward trend, Massachusetts' crime rate continues to be significantly higher than the rest of New England. In 2004, New Hampshire's crime rate was 167, compared to Massachusetts' 458.8. Maine's crime rate was 103.5; Vermont's was 112; Connecticut's was 286.3; and Rhode Island's was 247.4.
What is really interesting is that Mr. Patrick threw out his "facts" without knowing the whole history. That is really poor research on behalf of Patrick's team. But hey he can't distinguish between 15 years and 5 years as we've already seen. You don't have to take my word for it though:
Democrat Deval Patrick noted that Massachusetts' crime rate is the highest in New England at Thursday night's debate, but his spokesman Richard Chacon said afterward that the campaign did not realize Massachusetts' crime rate has been the highest in New England for decades.
Perhaps Mr. Patrick has been reading "How to Lie with Statistics"
