Of the ten most dangerous cities in America with populations above 100,000, Rockford, Illinois came in at number 9.
Rockford has unusually high violent crime rates for a city of its size. Most notably, the city has the fourth highest rate of aggravated assault in the country, with 10.5 cases for every 1,000 citizens in 2010. During the same period, 20 murders occurred, almost double the number in 2000. Quoted by the Rockford Register Star in 2007, Winnebago County Sheriff Dick Meyers said that he believed the city’s “location worked against [it,]” as Rockford receives traffic from the drug markets in Madison, Chicago, and Milwaukee, resulting in heightened rates of violence.
Well back in the days of Alcohol Prohibition Rockford was known for alcohol manufacturing and as a hide out for Chicago criminals. Some things never change.
Cross Posted at Power and Control
Comments
5 responses to “Rockford Made The List”
So how many of those top ten were in ‘shall issue’ states?
I hope you understand the phrase…
Bill,
I understand and favor “shall issue”. Second point – I haven’t checked. The list is linked if you are interested.
If “Rockford receives traffic from the drug markets in Madison, Chicago, and Milwaukee, resulting in heightened rates of violence,” might it not be a good idea to think about market-related solutions? Or would a market approach be too radical?
This is as close as Rockford ever came to a market solution.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1174/a10.html?1354
BTW I wrote about 50 articles for that paper and was told to stop (on the QT) because it was demoralizing the police force. I did. It is unwise to antagonize the locals.