The District is often taken to task for having a high homicide rate, and the city’s most recent crime emergency has provoked pundits left and right to declare the District more dangerous than Baghdad and compare it to a real-life version of “A Clockwork Orange.”

But how about Annapolis, huh? How about that murder-infested stinkhole that Maryland calls its state capital? What about them? Shouldn’t they similarly be dragged over the coals of public opinion? Just read today’s Post:

Annapolis prides itself on its tourist appeal, safe streets and family atmosphere.

But halfway through 2006, more people have been killed than in all of last year, and robberies have increased about 50 percent compared with all of 2005.

The city of about 36,000 residents has averaged three homicides a year in the past decade. This month, it recorded its sixth. Although the number is small when compared with the 96 homicides in the District by midyear, the per capita rate is proportionate to the District’s.

With crime stats like that, maybe they should take a cue from the District — a strict curfew for juveniles, surveillance cameras, and adding 1,300 police officers to their police force. That should do the trick. Until then, you’d be nuts to ever find us in Annapolis after dark.