In the 2000s, Glasgow was known as one of the most violent cities in Europe. The average homicide rate from 2000 to 2002 was 62.9 per million people.[1] The homicide rate for San Francisco in 2014 was 45 per 100k people.[2]
Glasgow at its worst was comparable to Oklahoma or Indiana today.[3] Compared to Europe, the US just isn't safe.
(Homicide rates aren't a perfect metric, especially for comparisons over large periods of time, since social decline can be masked by medical advances. But they're good enough for back-of-the-envelope comparisons of similar areas.)