Most /Least Peaceful States

Maine named most peaceful state in America and the least peaceful state is.....


Submitted by Anonymous on Tue 24 Apr 2012 06:55:00 PM EDT - Source: news.yahoo.comMaine
is the most peaceful state in America and Louisiana the least,
according to rankings by an Australian think tank called the Institute
for Economics and Peace.

The rankings are based on the prevalence
of violent crimes, homicides, police employees, size of the prison
population and small arms availability.

Overall, 2011 was the
most peaceful year the United States has experienced in 20 years.
Homicides and violent crimes both dropped by more than 3 percent last
year, while the murder rate has plummeted a staggering 50 percent since
1991, when the survey first started.

However, prison violence
which is not counted in the report has risen dramatically as the number
of people behind bars has also grown.

Almost half of all forcible rapes occur in prison.

Maine,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Utah were the top five most
peaceful states. Louisiana was the least peaceful, followed by
Tennessee, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.

The
Cambridge-Newton-Framingham area of Massachusetts ranked as the most
peaceful metro area, while Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn was ranked the least
peaceful.

The report found that out of dozens of environmental,
economic and health factors, the percentage of children living in
two-parent families was the factor most correlated to peacefulness.

The more children living in single-parent families, the less peaceful a state was. Poverty was also a strong indicator.

None of the top 10 most peaceful states had a poverty ranking that cracked 10 percent.

The
report estimates that the average taxpayer pays $3,257 per year on
violence and violence containment, while the total economic cost is $460
billion.

The cost of violence includes the health costs of
victims of violent crimes and homicides, incarceration costs and other
factors.

New York, California and Michigan showed the biggest
improvement in peacefulness from 1991, while Montana, North Dakota and
South Dakota showed the biggest swing away from peacefulness over the
same period.


San Quentin State Prison






Top 10 Worst States For Police Misconduct - SOURCE: http://www.policemisconduct.net/3/

# / ST / # of Cases
1. CA 49
2. NY 43
3. FL 37
4. TX 32
5. PA 28
6. IL 21
6. MI 21
7. LA 16
8. AZ 14
8. GA 14
8. WA 14
9. OH 13
10. MD 12
10. NJ 12
10. TN 12