Salt Lake City was the place most likely for violent robberies, with 26.2 per 10,000 residents. Clearfield was the place most likely for arson, with 4 per 10,000 residents.

All other major types of crime tracked by the FBI crime index — rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and car theft — were most likely to occur in South Salt Lake. The city was also the most likely place for any violent crime or any property crime to occur.

Of course, data also show where crimes are least likely.

For example, nine agencies reported no homicides at all in the five years analyzed. So agencies tying as those least likely for murders are: Alpine/Highland Police, Cache County Sheriff, Centerville Police, Farmington Police, Kaysville Police, North Ogden Police, Payson Police, Spanish Fork Police and the Uintah County Sheriff.

Emery County was the least likely spot for rape or car theft.

Farmington was the least likely spot for burglary or arson.

The Box Elder County Sheriff's Office reported the lowest rate of aggravated assaults. North Ogden was the least likely spot for robberies (using a threat of violence). And Syracuse was the least likely place for larcenies (without the threat of violence).

Don't blame police?

Wadman, the Weber State criminal justice professor and former police chief, said police generally do not deserve blame or credit for crime rates — their job is to catch criminals after a crime is committed.

He said certain demographic groups in the population are known to commit most crimes. So cities with more people in those groups tend to have more crime.

"If you have high poverty rates, high rates of single-parent families without a father in the home and a high high school dropout rate, you are going to have a high crime rate," Wadman said. Also, he said most criminals are male, and most are between the ages of 16 and 25. Crime also tends to be higher in places with high unemployment, among many other factors.

The Morning News compared Utah crime rates with the rates of some of those social categories, where available. Indeed, cities with high crime almost universally had high rates in those demographics. Cities with little crime usually had few people in those groups.

Sometimes even the weather affects crime, and Wadman said police obviously do not control that. "When I was the police chief of Omaha, the number of rapes in one month fell from 20 in one year to six the next year.... What's the difference? The weather. The second year the weather was very cold, and not many people were out jogging or at the parks."