[Shane@DBPerformance]

This year, several cities of 75,000+ population did not report complete crime information and thus were not included in the Safest Cities rankings.

Chicago and Other Illinois Cities: For several years, rape numbers submitted by cities in the state of Illinois have not met the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) guidelines. This remains the case with 2002 crime data. According to state statisticians, the state of Illinois tracks "sexual assault," which includes not only female rapes, but also offenses such as male rape, sodomy, etc. For these reasons, Chicago and other Illinois cities once again are not found in this year's Safest City rankings.  However, Chicago and other Illinois cities are included in our book City Crime Rankings for all of the other crimes.