chichester: the detroit of england's south coast?

If like me you've been to Chichester and enjoyed its beautiful cathedral and quaint streets you might be a bit surprised by this post.

I was listening to the local news a couple of weeks ago, and evidently Chichester is not the quiet, safe, town it would appear to be. "11 people attacked at Chichester Railway station" was the headline. This to me would seem pretty big news, but the newsreader was more concerned with the statistics and the fact that apparently it was now - wait for it - the third most dangerous West Sussex town.

So this got me thinking. If we're talking about a mass attack on 11 people, the towns fighting for the top spots must be terrifying places to be. But if we're talking about statistics compiled since the dawn of time, then who cares?

I think we just need to be thankful that I was probably one of three listeners that morning. Otherwise we might have seen a downturn in Chichester's tourism industry or an increase in the number of mass attacks because no-one took the warning seriously.

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