Lynn ranked third most dangerous city in Massachusetts

LYNN -A recent nationwide crime survey suggests the old saying, “Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin” is more accurate than city officials would like to admit.
The annual CQ Press crime statistics report that lists the 385 most dangerous cities in the United States ranks Lynn at No. 106 nationally and the third most dangerous city in the state.
The only two Bay State cities considered worse than Lynn are Springfield at No. 40 and Boston at No. 100.
Lynn beat out New Bedford at nationally ranked No.136, Worcester at No. 164 and Lowell at No. 174.
Police Chief John Suslak says that despite his department’s best efforts the numbers are a cause for concern. There have already been six homicides in the city in 2008, which is one higher than 2007.
“The men and women of the Lynn Police Department are actively engaged in trying to bring these crime stats down,” Suslak said. “We’re obviously concerned about that. It doesn’t matter if we’re third or fifth (most dangerous) in the state.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. disagrees with the survey’s findings and calls the methodology skewed.
“There is a lot of trouble but I don’t think the crime problem in Lynn is nearly as pronounced as those comparisons suggest,” Clancy said. “I don’t think it’s valid.”
The CQ Press says it examined the 2007 crime rates of cities with populations more than 75,000 people. It created a combined score for each community based on the number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.
The list has been criticized by the FBI and criminologists in each of the 15 years it has been released because officials say cities compile their crime numbers differently.
While the Lynn police department has made several notable arrests in the past two weeks, including a heroin dealer with nearly $100,000 worth of product, Suslak says the root to solving the city’s problems start with the residents.
“It is very frustrating for our officers to respond to a shooting or stabbing where no one, including the victim, is willing to talk with us,” Suslak said. “When the bad guys believe most witnesses to their crimes will not come forward, they are emboldened to commit even more crimes.”
Suslak recently returned from a nationwide police chief summit, where he heard the turn-around story of East Palo Alto, Calif. ? a city of 32,000 that saw 42 homicides in one year at its worst point.
“I believe the most homicides we ever had in Lynn was 15 (in one year),” Suslak said. “Eventually, the community of East Palo Alto said, ?Enough.'”
Suslak says some of the approaches that ultimately led to a dramatic drop in crime in the west coast city are now used in Lynn. Just locking up people wasn’t the solution,” he said.
“Kids didn’t care if they got arrested. It was a badge of honor to them,” Suslak said. “One of the strategies they employed, working with the faith community to target gang members and other high-risk kids, is exactly what we are doing with funds from the Shannon Gang Grant.”
Clancy says while he takes the issue of crime seriously, he hasn’t heard much of an outcry in recent months.
“I never underestimate the problem we have at all. But overall, I don’t hear it,” Clancy said. “I haven’t been to a neighborhood meeting recently where people are up in arms for police protection.”
Cities near the bottom of the list included Cambridge, Quincy and Newton, which was ranked the fourth-safest U.S. city to live.
The survey lists New Orleans as having the most crime in 2007, followed by Camden, N.J., Detroit, St. Louis and Oakland respectively.
Notably missing from the ranking was Brockton, which did not correctly file its crime statistics to the FBI and therefore could not be included in the yearly survey, according to CQ Press.