[BlueTrain]

Some of these statistics, which we are free to believe, disbelieve or ignore, might be more meaningful if we remember that all across the United States, where I live, those statistics will change every fifty miles in any direction, if you follow me. Sometimes surprisingly.

First of all, it isn't easy to run down the statistics, unless you go to a web site for some organization that has some agenda to pursue. I'm not sure that any are completely bias free. But a year or two I did just that, comparing the statistics for a few select places. Here were some of my findings.

There is more crime in my home town in West Virginia, population of about 7,500, than there is in the county where I live now, population about 1,1 million. I'm speaking of crime rates. There were more homicides in Birmingham, Alabama, than in El Paso, Texas. Who cares what it is in England, which seemed like a pretty peaceful place when I was there, though I was not there for a statistically significant period, apparently.

Here are some hard numbers about the county where I live. They are from the website of the county police department. I don't know if they are believable or not. The last numbers I found were for 2010.

Murders: 16
All other violent crime, including rape, robbery and assault: 2096

They didn't list any kidnapping and "home invasion" is not a legal term. I don't know. Do I live in a dangerous place? A murder every 23 days? Pretty bad, I'd say. The traffic's pretty bad, too.