Homicide expert said Flint's homicide rate nearly four times higher than national rate
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Flint reached 50 homicides, according to the Flint Journal's count. The mayor's office says there is 49.
Jesenia Pizarro, an assistant professor of criminal justice who specializes in homicides, said Flint has a homicide rate of 44.8 per 100,000 residents — nearly four times the 2009 national average.
She said a rate that high as a large negative affect on the community.
"People are going to be scared to go there," she said. "The people that live there are going to want to move out. New businesses will not want to move in."
She said those factors combined could cause a "bigger spiral of decay."
There's no one reason for a high homicide rate, although poverty and social inequality are big factors, she said.
"With the industrial jobs that have been leaving, you almost expect something like (a high homicide rate) to happen," she said.
