DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says at first glance, Detroit's crime statistics may be a little misleading.

The city is not as dangerous as Bing says the media reports make it out to be.

In an effort to illustrate his point, Bing, Interim Chief Chester Logan and Inspector Dwayne Blackmon dug deeper into the 2012 homicide stats, looking at who the victims were, how they knew their killers, where they occurred and their race and gender.

The Detroit Police Department tallied 411 homicides in 2012, 25 of which were deemed justified and the remainder criminal.

The Detroit Free Press evaluated the number of homicides each year per 100,000 Detroit residents and found the number of killings per capita in 2012 was the highest for any year since 1993.

To summarize: the majority of victims, 78 percent, were black males — most under 30 — the vast majority of killings, 88 percent, occurred in residential neighborhoods; a large portion, 37.3 percent, resulted from arguments; and only 11.4 percent didn't already know their killer (with the relationship undetermined in 46.9 percent of the cases)

"It looks like a lot of the... media" portrays that "you can't walk down the street in the city of Detroit," said Bing Wednesday at a second of two meetings with media to discuss 2012 crime stats, department restructuring and promotions. "Nothing could be farther from the truth."

Detroit, based on 2011 Federal Bureau of Investigation crime statistics per capita

But a deeper look into at least the homicide count, should alleviate some concerns the figure might raise for many, especially out-of-towners, said Bing.

"That's not to say that we don't have problems in our city but I don't want to draw the conclusion that people should be fearful from coming into our city," Bing said. "I think they should look at once again the analysis.

"A vast majority of the homicides are in residential areas, people who actually live here, so when we scare people about visiting, I think that is the wrong approach really."

"Our job here in the Detroit Police Department is not only to solve some of these homicides but also figure out what we can do in the collective community to diminish the high rate of homicide in our city."

Not aiding Bing's message were statements made by the Detroit police officers' union last October. Union members passed out fliers at a Detroit Tigers baseball game

The message may have been retaliation for changes enacted by Bing and the department, resulting in 10 percent pay decreases, a move to 12-hour shifts and concerns about a diminishing number of officers due to attrition.

Logan and Bing's office have refused to reveal what the current sworn officer count is for the Detroit Police Department.

Officials revealed department restructuring changes Wednesday that would result in "approximately 100 or more officers to patrol and investigations."