^[1]

As July draws to a welcome close (see also: “go the hell away!” [mb ^[2]] and “blame it on the squid?” [mb ^[3]]), up-and-coming infographic and data-dredging superstars j &/or k have put together another bar-chartastic look at how Seattle’s crime scene compares to the rest of our violent nation [chs ^[4]].

Short answer: not that much different. With fewer crimes per capita than criminal hotbeds Tacoma and Detroit, and more than Portland or the U.S. average [Ed: note to honor roll parents, not a good kind of "above average"], Seattle seems entirely unexceptional. The unfortunate part of this would-be reassuring analysis is that it not only excludes this depressingly violent month in local news, but also this year as well as the whole of 2005. But for now — bar charts! yeah.