What are the cities with the highest crime rates?

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“To have once been a criminal is no disgrace. To remain a criminal is the disgrace” ― Malcolm X

While we would all like to believe the American human rights activist point that to remain a criminal is disgraceful. But the persistent presence of violence and crime in our cities is a fact that continues to plague many countries.

The anti-violence organization from Mexico called Seguridad, Justicia, Y Paz (Security, Justice, and Peace) has compiled a list of the most violent cities in the world. While crimes may be categorized into many categories, for the purpose of this study the organization picked the homicide rate as a reflection of the crime scenario in major cities around the world. Here’s a list of the most violent cities or the cities with the highest homicide rate (per 100,000 residents) in the world.

Rank	City	Country	Homicide Rate (Per 100,000 Residents)
1	Los Cabos	Mexico	111.33
2	Caracas	Venezuela	111.19
3	Acapulco	Mexico	106.63
4	Natal	Brazil	102.56
5	Tijuana	Mexico	100.77
6	La Paz	Mexico	84.79
7	Fortaleza	Brazil	83.48
8	Ciudad Victoria	Mexico	83.32
9	Ciudad Guyana	Venezuela	80.28
10	Belem	Brazil	71.38
11	Vitoria da Conquista	Brazil	70.26
12	Culiacan	Mexico	70.1
13	St. Louis	United States of America	65.83
14	Maceio	Brazil	63.94
15	Cape Town	South Africa	62.25
16	Kingston	Jamaica	59.71
17	San Salvador	El Salvador	59.06
18	Aracaju	Brazil	58.88
19	Feira de Santana	Brazil	58.81
20	Ciudad Juraz	Mexico	56.16
21	Baltimore	United States of America	55.48
22	Recife	Brazil	54.96
23	Maturin	Venezuela	54.43
24	Guatemala City	Guatemala	53.49
25	Salvador	Brazil	51.58
26	San Pedro Sula	Honduras	51.18
27	Valencia	Venezuela	49.74
28	Cali	Colombia	49.59
29	Chihuahua	Mexico	49.48
30	Joao Pessoa	Brazil	49.17
31	Obregon	Mexico	48.96
32	San Juan	Puerto Rico	48.7
33	Barquisimeto	Venezuela	48.23
34	Manaus	Brazil	48.07
35	Distrito Central	Honduras	48
36	Tepic	Mexico	47.09
37	Palmira	Colombia	46.65
38	Reynosa	Mexico	41.95
39	Porto Alegre	Brazil	40.96
40	Macapa	Brazil	40.24
41	New Orleans	United States of America	40.1
42	Detroit	United States of America	39.69
43	Mazatlan	Mexico	39.32
44	Durban	South Africa	38.12
45	Campos dos Goytacazes	Brazil	37.53
46	Nelson Mandela Bay	South Africa	37.53
47	Campina Grande	Brazil	37.29
48	Teresina	Brazil	37.05
49	Vitoria	Brazil	36.07
50	Cucuta	Colombia	34.78

Brazil is the country that features the most cities on the list, with 17 out of 50. Next in line is Mexico with 12 cities, followed by Venezuela. It remains a major cause for concern that an overwhelming majority of the cities on the list are in Latin American. The high homicide rates in these Latin American cities has been attributed to the presence of drug cartels and mob violence. Corruption, growing inequality, and political unrest have also been widely accepted causes for such violence. The beautiful city of Los Cabos which is known for attracting many tourists is at the very top in this list. While local authorities claim that tourists have not been the target of these homicides, the fact remains that tourism has been greatly affected by the string of violent crimes in the city.

The four American cities that feature on this list are St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans and Detroit. The three cities from South Africa that feature on the list of cities with the highest homicide rates include Cape Town, Durban, and Nelson Mandela Bay. Studies show that the high rate of crime and homicide in the country is a direct result of widespread unemployment and continued racism.

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