The information in the passage AND the conclusion should sound somewhat "fishy"
All we're told is that Meadowbrook's and Parkdale's crime rate have increased 60% and 10% respectively in the past 4 years. HOWEVER, we know nothing about the crime rate statistics from 4 years ago.

Consider this possible scenario.
4 years ago: Meadowbrook's crime rate was 10 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
4 years ago: Parkdale's crime rate was 900 violent crimes per 1,000 residents

So, given the increases in crime, we can conclude that:
Present: Meadowbrook's crime rate is 16 violent crimes per 1,000 residents (going from 10 to 16 represents a 60% increase)
Present: Parkdale's crime rate was 990 violent crimes per 1,000 residents (going from 900 to 990 represents a 10% increase)

Can we conclude that Meadowbrook's residents are more likely to become victims of violent crime than are residents of Parkdale?
Absolutely not!

So, we should be looking for an answer choice that explains why we need to know the crime rates from 4 years ago.

Only answer choice D does this.

Answer: D