SeattleCrime.com reporter Jonah Spangenthal-Lee capped off his year as the city's best and best-sourced crime reporter with a radio appearance on WNYC this morning (New York City's KUOW). NYC Police Commissioner Raymond  Kelly was also on the show.

The topic: With crime stats down nationwide, why are they up in Seattle?

Jonah, a determined critic at the local level, puts on his Seattle Seahawks cap as he's getting grilled by the New Yorkers, standing up for the SPD and putting the story in context.

He elaborates today on his blog:

Alright, now let's take a look at why things aren’t actually that bad.

Although Seattle's violent crime rate rose—which is totally scary. I get that—we're still an incredibly safe city compared to other cities our size

In the first six months of 2009, Washington DC—which saw a drop in crime—had 3,736 violent crimes, including 66 murders and 1,591 aggravated assaults.

Atlanta had 3,023 violent crimes. They racked up 43 murders and 1,694 aggravated assaults.

Milwaukee: 3,056 violent crimes, 39 homicides, and 1,562 aggravated assaults.

Seattle had 1,927 violent crimes, including 8 homicides and 956 aggravated assaults.

It's certainly not good that crime is on the rise here, but the fact is that we're coming out of a supposed 40-year-low crime rate. We're a growing city, and while 2009's numbers—and the fact that they've trended upwards—may be a sign of things to come, it also just might be a self-correction.

Sure, it might seems scary now, but try to keep some perspective. Robberies, thefts and aggravated assaults might be up, but just remember: even in our darkest hour, we are still better than Milwaukee.