More Shocking Statistics

How many towns with a population of 6,000 have had three wholly unrelated homicides in the last 6 months?  My guess is none.  But guess what's new here?  You guessed it.  KYUK is reporting yet another homicide.  Another homicide here in Bethel.  Now, that whole math thing just got a little more interesting.  In less than 6 months, Bethel itself has had 3 homicides.  We have a population of roughly 6,000.  We are number one in a major way, with an annual murder rate of about 100 per 100,000.  That's more than FIVE times Detroit's murder rate.   To put it in a personal context, that's like Missoula County having 50 murders in the last 6 months.  Imagine if 63 people had been murdered in Ann Arbor in the last 6 months! 

If you include the whole YK Delta, the numbers aren't quite as bad, but they are still shocking.  In addition to the three Bethel murders, there was one in Newtok and another up the Tatlawiksuk River.  We have a regional population of around 20,000.  Our region's annual murder rate is therefore about 50 per 100,000. 

And even if there are no more murders in the next 6 months, our stats will still place  us at #1 in the nation, both regionally, and by city. 

Something to think about.  Maybe I should write a letter to Governor Palin.