Why is rape so high in Anchorage? (fit in, high crime)

[graciebear]

It is the second worse city in the nation. I am possibly moving there for my job and I am really nervous after seeing the crime stats for the area. Can anyone let me know why this might be? It is such a beautiful place and it clouds my judgement for the move. I am not a bar person but love to go on long road rides on my bike. Being vulnerable in a place like that makes me nervous.

[graciebear]

Latest 2005 Crimes per 100,000 People:


Anchorage, AK Los Angeles, CA National

Murder: 5.8 12.6 6.9
Forcible Rape: 81.13 28.55 32.2
Robbery: 139.1 356.4 195.4
Aggravated Assault: 509.6 423 340.1
Burglary: 645.8 583.6 814.5
Larceny Theft: 2987.2 1704.2 2734.7
Vehicle Theft: 483.1 741.9 526.5

Actual Reported Population and Crimes:


Anchorage, AK Los Angeles, CA
Population: 276,109 3,871,077
Murder: 16 489
Forcible Rape: 224 1105
Robbery: 384 13797
Aggravated Assault: 1407 16376
Burglary: 1783 22592
Larceny Theft: 8248 65972
Vehicle Theft: 1334 28721

[Placidstorm]

Many factors i am shur apply here . Not to mention the accuracy of your stat's . I myself Question anything writ on paper . And i wonder how much crime down there go's unreported as compaired to alaksa ?
I can profer a conversation i had with an anchorage cop last fall . We met on the ferry, him comeing down to hunt on vacation ,me bringing a car back for the wife .
I had asked : Is there really that much gang activity in ank. ?
he said : Oh yea !
I asked : Are they really gang's or just wanabee's with nuthin ta do?
he said : It's the real deal .
I told him that most crime in the bush was alcohol related , izat so in ank.?
he said : 90% of what i do alcohol related .
Then i asked the key question : how much of this is homegrown and how much is imported .
He said : ( well i forgot eggzatly ) but it wuz sumthing like 80 % imported .
We talked about alota stuff as we watched the water go by and pounded our beers . This man was squarely set . Luved doing honest cop work ." anything non alcohol related" . And in my opinion , a very cool dude .
Alaska is famous for it's hard drinking ,hard living,hard men and sometimes harder women .The God guns and guts philosophy . And it's many differing levels of the "good life" . If you are an arm chair warrior that wont leave pavement , theres a place for you . If yur a diehard back to nature'ist , theres a place for you . And as you can imagine everything in between .
Many people have aspired this life for many differnt reasons , not all what some would deem honorable .

[graciebear]

I got the crime stats from the FBI website after learning about the high crime so I feel confident that it is right. It is avaialble for all states. I also looked at many other realiable sources all of which had the same information. I researched many different aspects of living in Anchorage and one of which was the crime. It was alarming to find out how much is in the area with such a low concentration of people.

[Rainy]

The areas where violent crime is most likely to occur are not the areas where you will most likely be doing mountain biking or hiking.

The common denominator in Anchorage as far as violent crime goes is who you're spending time with and what you are doing.

It hate to take any kind of " blame the victim " stance, but the Anchorage PD did a report on this very thing. If I can find the link I'll post it later.

[Rainy]

You might want to take a look at this, gracie. It explains the demographics a little---I'd say that it's pretty safe to go bike riding and so on.

http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/forum/...4/a_rapes.html

[freeedom]

Rainy,
I tried your link a couple of times it does not follow through,is there another link by chance?

[mal_flisk]

That link worked for me. Did you eliminate the url b4 and after?

[Rainy]

Gracie, Anchorage is a big city with big city problems, but it's got a factor that some other big cities don't have. It's got a high population of Native Americans with problems with alcohol. Rape and sexual assault are rampant among those who have allowed alcohol to control their lives. Sorry to anyone if I sound racist but those are stats also and should not be ignored just to be PC.


Mal-flisk is right, the link has to be copied leaving out the url tags and then pasted in your browser for it to work.

You're probably safer in the parks and trails in Anchorage than most places in the lower forty eight.

[niceplacetovisit]

Anchorage (Alaska for that matter) is an "ends of the earth" type place. So lots of folks who dont "fit in" elsewhere decide that Alaska is where it's at and head north. I grew up in Anchorage and know that it is not all entirely a bunch of weirdos but it has its fair share and then some. Almost every "less than flattering" statistic regarding societal ills is either highest or close to the top in Anchorage or the state. Its just a crazy-a$$ frickin' place.