Crime in Charleroi, Belgium

I spent 3 months in Charleroi due to work, and I can assure that it's by far the worst and most unsafe city I've ever been to in Europe. Buildings are old and often vandalized, it's a common sight to find garbage, needles and broken glass laying on the street, drunkards and homeless people in every single street, drug dealers in almost every corner (even during the day, they don't care), thefts and assaults every single day and shootings in the middle of the street every now and then too.
I was staying in an appartment near the city center and it was the worst experience I've ever had. Half of the days I woke up because of people shouting on the street, street rodeos or police sirens.