Despite a national report’s saying there were 12.3 murders per 100,000 residents in Pueblo in 2009, police say there were only half that number that year.
Pueblo Police Chief Jim Billings said a glitch in how murders and attempted murders are coded into the computer program for crime stats used by the Coloraro Bureau of Investigation and FBI caused inaccurate data to be reported.
He said there were seven murders and seven attempted murders in 2009.
In a story in Wednesday’s Denver Post, the “City Crime Rankings 2010-11: Crime in Metropolitan America” examined reporting statistics in several categories. The study, published by CQ Press, showed that Pueblo had the highest crime rate among cities of population 75,000 or more in Colorado. Officials for CQ Press could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The Denver Post left a voice mail Tuesday with Pueblo Deputy Chief John Ercul for comment, but it was not returned. Billings said Ercul missed the message.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
