Safety IS determined by crime rate per capita. If San Jose had as many people as Oakland, it would be as dangerous as Oakland. If Oakland had over a million people, it wouldn't be such a dangerous place to go according to statistics. They were just talking about this on TV a few months ago, and how it's determined. New York City's crime rate is miniscule compared to the amount of people that actually live there, which is why it's the 2nd safest BIG CITY in the country. San Jose is not the safest CITY in the country, it is the safest BIG CITY (large metropolitan area) in the country.
Now, if San Jose, with a population over a million, all of a sudden had over 100 homicides in a year, and NYC had 99, SJ wouldn't be the safest big city in the nation anymore would it? It's all determined by how many people live in the city, and how many violent crimes occur in a year.
You're right about San Jose being safe, because most cats out here are about chips, and that's it...we HAVE to be with the cost of living in this fuckin place. HOWEVER, all these stats are determined, like I said, by population and crime rate...if half of the city moved away, and our crime rate was still the same, I guarantee you we wouldn't be the safest city in the nation....that's just how it works.