New Year’s Day discussion of crime, a topic that often comes up relative to my theory that I have reason to feel safer IN Dallas than I do in either Oklahoma City or Tulsa.

I had never thought about it until I started covering news in Oklahoma City, which leads my friends to believe that this opinion is jaded. Of course, given that I work in news, I have access to tons of information and 10 to 12 hours a day to consume it.

In other words, I know that my opinion is supported by fact, and it is.

The problem with analyzing crime statistics, however, is in the process of crime reporting city-to-city. Plus, in some cities, violent crimes against women, such as rape, are less likely to be reported or believed, etc.

So, when Duluth, Minn., says it had X number of aggravated assaults in 2007, and Albuquerque says it had Y, you have to at least consider each municipality’s definition of aggravated assault and the way it’s classified for the purpose of record-keeping.

My beliefs regarding Oklahoma’s two largest cities and crime — general violent crime and property crime — are based not so much on frequency but on randomness and location. In Dallas, there are neighborhoods and districts where you never hear about a crime.

In Oklahoma City — and I’m talking about the city itself and NOT suburbs — it’s a total crapshoot. From SW89th to NE81st, if you were to plot instances of crime on an OKC map, you’d see that it’s pretty spread out and even. There are some bad neighborhoods, but no really good neighborhoods relative to crime (both violent AND property).

Statistically, I cannot support this at all. This is a function of my work in news, notsomuch relative to OKC but to Dallas, where I did not write any crime stories. In other words, I suspect it’s more widespread in Dallas than I’d otherwise have believed.

But, if I were looking for a home or apartment in Dallas, I would probably think, “Hmm, give me North Dallas near Addison. Give me the M Streets, or keep me near Preston Hollow,” but in Oklahoma City, the only possible choice would be the far northwest part of the city.

This is why I live in Norman, Okla., USA.

With the exception of areas near 12th Street East, you can practically leave your doors unlocked here. But, alas, what do the most recent figures say about Dallas, about OKC, about Tulsa? Let’s see the proof.

Dallas had a 2007 population of 1,239,104 and a violent crime figure of 1,069 for a rate of .0008627.

OKC had a 2007 population of 542,199 and a violent crime figure of 851 for a rate of .0015695.

Tulsa had a 2007 population of 381,469 and a violent crime figure of 1,193 for a rate of .003127.

If this were a comparison of one city on the laid-back West Coast to a city in the Deep South to a city on the East Coast, I’d be more cynical about the numbers. However, the culture of and processes of handling crime in Dallas, OKC and Tulsa are super similar. These are three fairly cosmopolitan cities in the Bible Belt, relatively unaffected by the bad economy so far.

So, to me, you go to the numbers, and they’re clear. Tulsa’s violent crime rate is nearly twice that of OKC, which is virtually twice that of Dallas.

Represent.

And figures regarding things like robbery and property crime fall into line as well. In fact, based on other statistics I’ve read, Oklahoma City’s property crime is even more significantly higher than Dallas’.

The good news is that Oklahoma City’s violent crime rate doesn’t come close to St. Louis, D.C., Atlanta, Buffalo, Memphis, Nashville, Minneapolis and Oakland among others. However, Oklahomans shouldn’t start bragging too heavily when differentiating its largest cities from neighbors to the south.

Heck, Houston is safer than Dallas, OKC *and* Tulsa when you look at violent crimes to population.

You want to know an even safer city in this regard? New York City.

Anyhow, when people ask me why I live in Norman or believe the way I do relative to crime opinions in Oklahoma City, give me some credit. It’s not like I pulled it out of my tush.

Information consumers go home and read or watch their news.

Journalists not only write and report it but consume it — all day, mind you — with an emphasis on analyzing the information for the purpose of presentation.

To be fair and perfectly complimentary, the state of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Police Department have focused efforts the past couple of years on quashing the scourge of meth and on curbing gangs, both of which are relevant problems to the state and city, respectively.

So, props to all those efforts. Still doesn’t change the stats.