Don’t meet me in St. Louis. It’s now the most dangerous city in the United States.

The Missouri city lays claim to 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 population, taking over the top spot from Camden. N.J. by a hair.

CQ Press had compiled the rankings of cities with 75,000 people or more for 17 years, based on FBI figures.

The safest city in the U.S., for the second year in a row, was Colonie, N.Y., a suburb of Albany, which had 61 violent crimes in 2009.

Kara Bowlin, spokeswoman for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, told The Associated Press the city actually has been getting safer over the last few years. Crime in St. Louis has gone down each year since 2007, and so far in 2010, St. Louis crime is down 7 per cent, she said.

Erica Van Ross, spokeswoman for the St. Louis Police Department, called the rankings irresponsible.

“Crime is based on a variety of factors. It’s based on geography, it’s based on poverty, it’s based on the economy,” Van Ross said.

“That is not to say that urban cities don’t have challenges, because we do,” Van Ross said. “But it’s that it’s irresponsible to use the data in this way.”

The FBI “don’t like that we’re doing this list,” CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney told the Star. “But this is the only one for cities across the country.”

While violent crime has many reasons behind it, he said, the numbers are strictly “how police precincts report to the FBI. This is a starting point for further research.”

St. Louis was not among the places listed in the rankings of crime by metropolitan area because Greater St. Louis included a portion of Illinois.

The FBI does not accept Illinois’ method of reporting rape, said Krasney, and so their annual rankings will not accept their figures.

St. Louis has been in the top five in recent years and was second most dangerous last year, he said.

With Greater St. Louis excluded, the Detroit metropolitan area jumps into the most dangerous region of the U.S. By metropolitan area, Glens Falls, N.Y., north of Albany is the safest, with Logan, straddling Utah and Idaho, the second safest.

Greater Toronto had 983 violent crimes per 100,000 population in 2008, according to Statistics Canada.

Among the biggest (500,000+ population) U.S. cities, El Paso, Texas, is the safest and Detroit the most dangerous.

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For mid-sized cities with 100,000 to 499,000 people, Amherst, N.Y., is the safest and St. Louis the most dangerous.

For smaller cities of up to 99,999 people, Colonie does the best and Camden the worst.