MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. - Monterey County ranks number one in youth homicide victimization in California for a the second year in a row. That's according to the annual study released today by the Violence Policy Center. The study uses the most recent available statistics, which are from 2010. The annual study compares homicide rates for Californians ages 10-24 by county, race, ethnicity, weapon used, circumstance and location.
The homicide rate for that age range in Monterey County is nearly three times the average rate for the rest of the state. But the study finds the homicide rate dropped from 31.24 per 100,000 in 2009 to 24.36 per 100,000 in 2010. The overall state homicide rate for that age range also dropped from 10.48 per 100,000 in 2009 to 8.48 per 100,000 in 2010.
Handguns are the weapon of choice in homicides of youth in California and African-Americans are 22 times more likely be murdered than whites. Hispanics are more than 5 times more likely to be murdered than whites as well.@
Here are the youth homicide rankings found by the study:
1) Monterey County, 24.36 per 100,000
2) Alameda County, 18.41 per 100,000
3) San Joaquin County, 18.36 per 100,000
4) Tulare County, 18.06 per 100,000
5) Merced County, 13.44 per 100,000
6) Contra Costa County, 12.94 per 100,000
7) Fresno County, 11.61 per 100,000
8) San Francisco County, 11.52 per 100,000
9) Madera County, 11.39 per 100,000
10) Los Angeles County, 11.35 per 100,000
