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Richmond drops out of top 25 most dangerous cities

Richmond is no longer one of the 25 most dangerous cities in America.



According a new survey, Richmond ranks 29th most dangerous, which shows another in a spate of recent crime reductions in the city.



Statistics show the city ranked fifth most dangerous in 2004 and dropped to 15th most dangerous in 2005. According to last year's Morgan Quitno report, Richmond was sixth in terms of most improved cities, improving nearly 40 percent.



Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has worked to reduce crime in the city and touted its decrease as one of his biggest accomplishments. In a news statement released Monday, he referred to a recent report about how Richmond used to be known as a "murder capital" 15 years ago.



"Richmond has come a long way from just three years ago, and our new chief is to be commended along with the community for this accomplishment," Wilder said.



Richmond Police Chief Rodney D. Monroe credited a real strategy for community policing in which "police listen to what citizens want from their police department." He said trust, accountability, responsiveness and effective communications all were key in the improved ranking.



"I promised that we would drop out of the top 25 and we succeeded," Monroe said in a news release. "This is great news. A lot of hard work by both the police department and the citizens went into making this drop occur."



Also contributing to the improved ranking was the police department's focused approach to crime in which it targets offenders and locations with a propensity for violence, Monroe said in the release. He also cited the importance of enhanced law enforcement relationships, including the Cooperative Violence Reduction Partnership , which includes all local, state, and federal law enforcement, prosecutorial and correctional agencies that operate within Richmond.



The police department has also focused on systemic issues, like the Gang Reduction and Intervention Program, truancy efforts, school resource officers, and the Community and Youth Intervention Services, which enable the department to address underlying causes of crime, according to the release.



This year's ranking is based on 2006 data. The survey methodology gave an equal rank to the crimes of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.



So far in 2007, the city is showing a 12 percent decrease in major crimes.



As for next year's ranking, Monroe said, "We fully anticipate falling out of the top 30."