A far cry from Fairfield County's tony suburbs filled with old money, CEOs and hedge fund operators, Bridgeport is Connecticut's largest city -- and its most crime ridden.

About a quarter of Bridgeport's population live below the poverty line. And there's a gang problem, which is believed to be responsible for many area shootings. The city has attempted to get firearms off the street with gun buyback programs. One launched in 2012 received nearly 10,000 guns in its first three months.

That may have helped lower the number of murders, which fell to 11 last year -- half the level three years earlier.

The police think that the statistics are "overly simplistic," "misleading" and do not accurately reflect local conditions.

In one example, the FBI stats included 250 counts of sexual abuse committed by two individuals over a period of years. They were discovered and arrested in 2012 and each count was tallied separately. That sent Bridgeport's forcible rape totals soaring for the year, according to a police spokesman.