All you see on TV is people being murderd and kidnapped. Is America a crime ridden sess-pool? If I go for a walk in South Central L.A. will I die?

I've lived for 30 years, in large suburbs(Orange County, CA), very rural areas(Gray Court, SC). I've never seen a violent crime, never seen any drug harder than pot. I have always felt safe. No other country enjoys the level of freedom we enjoy in America, yet we are proportionally the safest people alive.

I find that you have some interesting timing with your question for me personally, RancidUncle.

I say this because crime in dowtown Savannah is very high recently.

What is sad about it is that Savannah is the kind of city where strangers can say hello to each other. Or used to. Now women are afraid to walk alone or with a purse. That's not normal. At least, it's not normal for here.

I suppose people who enforce the laws deserve to be paid better on average. However, I think the police themselves need more accountability (at least here in Savannah where it took over a half hour for them to arrive at a fight in progress call - which was no longer in progress by the time they came by.)

Being wishful, we need to stop the drug war and eliminate a whole class of criminals. We need to make education important to the juvenile drop outs. We need to make sure sentences are fully served. We need to hire cops that care and screen out the ones that like holding their gun a little too much. Like I said - being wishful

I think if you watch the TV news, particularly if you live in a city, you could end up scared to even go outside. There are some very dangerous places in America. I have been in parts of Brooklyn, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and Washington DC where I felt very nervous. But even in those neighborhoods, the actual chance of being robbed or attacked is fairly small. After all, there are many denizens of these neighborhoods who live and work there all the time. Sure, if you walk around South Central carrying wads of cash in your hands, you will get robbed. And the chance of random crime is higher.

This is true anywhere in the world. You have to be wary and savvy, but, well, allow me to give personal examples.

I lived for 10 years in India - never saw a violent crime, never robbed, nothing. My uncle and aunt lived with their children in Africa - Madagascar, then Durban, South Africa, for many years, with no problems (both during and after Apartheid). I have visited Places like Capetown, Calcutta, and Nairobi and the only violent crime I ever saw happened in Charlottesville, Virginia.

I'm not saying there's no crime in these places, or even that crime isn't a big problem. What I am saying is that you've got to take it in perspective, when it comes to your own fear of crime. If you look at violent crimes per 1000 people or whatever, you can say that there are places of increased risk, but no places in which attack is certain.

Note that when they discuss the crime rate on the news, it is usually in reference to itself only (as in the crime rate is up 10% or whatever). They don't usually break it down into crimes per number of people, which gives you a more objective way of looking at the actual risk.

The main thing, I guess, is don't be stupid. Don't cruise around South Central in your Rolls Royse asking for directions to the Yacht Club. Don't wander the streets of Calcutta in an Armani suit, clutching a briefcase and asking where the nearest bank with a safe box is!

Quarkhead - my issue is not with traditionally unsafe places. I am talking Johnson Square in Savannah. It is our financial district. It is a mini-version of Wall Street in NYC or LaSalle Street in Chicago. Most tourists who come to my city go through this area. There have been 4 muggings and one bank robbery in this tiny area in less than a week.

I understand my particular concerns are very local, but I think it serves to show that "bad neighborhoods" are not the problem, "bad people" are. I feel safer in my lower income, mixed race neighborhood than I do in the upperclass, mostly white old-downtown area.

If the media is misleading us about crime does the media create frightend, scared people who think the need more prisons, more guns and more strict laws for criminals. People in other countries don't lock their doors and have guns under their pillows.

Most other countries won't allow you to have a gun under your pillow to defend your family.

Well in most countries you don't need a gun to defend your family (some would argue this one too).

Remember the jokes about New York City being a crime capital of the U.S. before 9/11? I think that was all sterotypical

This may seem off topic but it has to do with crime:

During Rudy Giuliani's 2 terms as Mayor of NYC, Crime in NYC dropped 62%!!

And he also padlocked the porn shops in Times Square & cracked down on Drug Dealers & Prostitutes(some call these events "The Re-Birth Of Times Square")


I hope this wasn't off topic

It had to do with Crime & that's what the topic was basically about so i guess not

The strongest correlation is economic performance to crime rate. Good economy, low crime rate; bad economy, high crime rate.

Even up here in rarified air and near a small town, a double murder happened just a few months ago. It was as a result of a botched burglary.

My greatest fear involves the Interstates in Denver, though, especially with snow and ice in the mix.

Canada has more unemployment then the U.S. and they have less crime. Many European countries have much weaker economies and have very much less violent crime.

Ranciduncle,

Yep. That's why I called the relationship a correlation rather than a cause/effect. Our economy takes wild swings while others are more steady-states. You can get filthy rich here! You can also go homeless and die in a filthy sleeping bag crouched in a ditch.

You will notice that a tendency is for those closest to the ditch to be liberal, while those in the gated communities tend to be conservative.

Makes perfect nonsense to me.