Crime wave in Redding

Redding topped a list of 10 American cities with the greatest increase in violent crime over the last five years, according to an article published on the business news and analysis website 24/7 Wall St. last week. The list is based on information gathered between 2006 and 2011 and presented in the FBI’s most recent Uniform Crime Report, and measures violent crimes in cities per 100,000 citizens.

While the nation’s violent crime rate dropped 19.4 percent, Redding is the sole city where the crime rate doubled, from 357 in 2006 to 726 in 2011. Aggravated assaults and robberies rose (134 percent and 54 percent, respectively), while the murder rate went down (from eight to six). Other cities rounding out the top three were Manchester-Nashua, N.H., and Mobile, Ala.

A Forbes magazine article published in April gave Redding another dubious honor based on the same FBI UCR data: It’s the country’s fifth-most-dangerous city for women, with 65 rapes per 100,000 citizens.