FBI ranks Niagara Falls as most Dangerous City in New York State

The 2015 report “Crime in the United States”, published annually by the FBI, has officially ranked the city of Niagara Falls as being the most violent city in New York State.

There were a total of 555 violent crimes reported for Niagara Falls for all of 2015. Based on a population of 48,989, that means that if you are a resident of the city of Niagara Falls, there was more than one chance in 100 that you were robbed, raped, murdered or assaulted last year. It also imparted to the city the ignominious distinction of having the highest per capita rate of violent crime in the state.

The actual breakdown was as follows: 3 murders, 32 rapes, 156 robberies and 364 aggravated assaults.

Interestingly, and by way of contrast, the town and village of Lewiston together experienced 5 violent crimes in 2015 (at a rate of less than 1/100 of what the city did), including 2 rapes, 1 robbery and 2 assaults. Lewiston is the major suburb of Niagara Falls, located north of the city on the other side of Niagara University and the massive Niagara Power Project hydroelectric dam.

Coming in second behind Niagara Falls was the city of Buffalo, with a total of 2,887 violent crimes. Based on a population of 258,096, however, the per capita rate was lower.

The FBI also released “Property Crime” statistics, comprising burglary, larceny, car theft and arson. Niagara Falls came in at a whopping 2,526 property crimes for 2015, at a per capita rate of more than one property crime for every 20 people who live here.

The fact is, nine years into the tenure of Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster, the rates of both violent and property-based crime have remained high.

Considering that the city’s population was 51,285 in 2009 when Dyster took over, 1,200 more than it is now, the slight drop in crime is proportional to the decrease in population which is still – as the FBI pointed out – not only dangerously high – but now the highest in the state.