Monterey County city has state’s highest murder rate
Which city has the highest murder rate in California? Oakland? Compton? The answer may surprise you.
Kings City, known by many travellers of the 101 as a speed trap in Monterey County, clocks in with the highest murder rate in California, according to an FBI crime report released last week.
There were 5 murders reported in the city last year, which has a population of just over 13,000.
"Crime data in low populations is easily skewed," said Michael Powers, King City's city manager, in an interview with the Santa Cruz Sentinel. "If cities have one homicide for 12,000 people, then that's a ridiculously high number."
“Of 165 small California towns with fewer than 20,000 people, only two — Red Bluff and Arcata — had as many as three homicides, according to the FBI's annual crime statistics. In 2012, King City saw three murders, while neighboring Greenfield ranked high on the list, with five.”
The news comes as King City is still trying to recover from a towing scandal that resulted in the arrests of several members of the police department, one of the biggest scandals in county history. After dismissing another officer Thursday, the city is down to five sworn personnel.
Last year, all five murder victims died during shootings — three of them during drive-by shootings. Officials have yet to confirm what percentage of the crimes were gang-related.