The FBI keeps thousands of records -- and while they don't specifically mention gang crime -- they do paint a picture of violence in a community.

NBC Augusta took a look to see how Augusta compares to other small cities in the area.

In 2006 -- the Augusta metro had almost four violent crimes per 1,000 people. That is significantly fewer than Charleston, Columbia and Macon.

But it's a different picture when you look at property crimes. Augusta had more than 45 per thousand people. That's worse than all but Macon.

When you compare Augusta nationwide, we rank 69th out of 356 metro areas for property crime. There are only 59 cities with a higher rate of auto theft.

Augusta ranks 187th for violent crime, but our murder rate is in the top third.

These statistics are not perfect . Cities measure crime rates differently and these statistics don't account for the underlying factors in crime. But, they at least provide a snapshot.