U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Jump to a detailed profile or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Business Search - 14 Million verified businesses
Search for:  near: 
Reply
 
Unread 09-27-2011, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Monterey County, CA
3,345 posts, read 4,830,025 times
Reputation: 2707
Default Santa Cruz and Capitola high crime cities?

I saw the earlier post regarding statewide FBI crime statistics by city. So when I saw Santa Cruz and Capitola toward the top of the list of worst cities for crime I was pretty shocked. I have a number of friends who live in the area and have visited these places for the past 30+ years. And I never considered them higher crime than most CA coastal towns.

When I showed this to a coworker who lives in Santa Cruz he didn't think the report was accurate. So I wanted to verify the numbers on FBI's website which were originally quoted by another publication. After some digging I found the numbers and they in fact matched. The orginal report can be seen here:
FBI — Table 8 - California

Then it is sorted by crime rate per thousand here:

FBI stats: Crime in California - San Francisco Business Times

My coworker seems to think a large majority of the crime in Santa Cruz is due with higher than average meth usage he has noticed in the area. I'm not sure about that. And I'm sure some may question this single report. But still there is no denying that some of the facts are a bit of a shocker = not good.

In 2010, Capitola reported 113 violent crimes and 708 property crimes. Violent crime includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes involve force or threat of force. Property crime includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Theft is the taking of money or property without force or threat of force. -- FBI stats: Crime in California - San Francisco Business Times


This crime rate is higher than cities such as Salinas, Watsonville, and a number of other cities which are generally considered higher crime areas.

Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 09-27-2011 at 08:05 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Unread 09-27-2011, 08:33 PM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,192 posts, read 1,670,362 times
Reputation: 1817
Groan ... sigh ... ugghhhhh.
But, i have noticed, over say the last 4 years that there is a more aggressive energy around the county.
I think it's part of the malaise of the whole country and yeah, meth has got to be a factor .... god what a stupid, stupid, stupid drug!!!
It just makes people crazy and has absolutely no redeeming value.
I'm wondering where most of those Capitola crimes occurred.
In the downtown area of Capitola ... the seaside village ... the cops (sometimes 2-3 police suv's) continually parole that area in order to keep the place safe for tourists.
And the neighborhoods that branch out from the village are generally safe i think.
I've walked around that area at night a lot and i've never felt threatened.
Of course now, after your post, well .... it's just such a bummer that people can't restrain themselves from hurting other people.
I bet a lot of those crimes in Capitola take place in a fairly specific area and perhaps that's true in Santa Cruz as well.
Thanks for the cheery post MtnSurfer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-27-2011, 09:48 PM
 
Location: Monterey, CA
259 posts, read 180,842 times
Reputation: 113
I thought downtown SC was sketchy but to be this high on the list is very surprising. I thought Capitola was safe. It is also surprising to see Monterey so close in the rankings with the two cities that I've lived most of my life in, Bellflower and Long Beach. Seaside is surprisingly very low on the list. Must not be that bad. Dont worry guys, once I move in, the crime rate on the block will drop.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-27-2011, 10:13 PM
 
Location: Monterey County, CA
3,345 posts, read 4,830,025 times
Reputation: 2707
Sorry to be the bearer of bad new guys. Geesh, I was just as surprised by this. Even though Monterey was better it was still a bit higher than I expected.

The one thing the report didn't differentiate in the overall crime rate was the degree of violent crime. Granted a violent crime is a crime no matter how bad right? But still Capitola had no murders. The majority were aggravated assaults along with 11 robberies and 3 rapes. By contrasts Salinas had 33 murders, yet still had a better overall crime rating due to the spread over a larger population. Its just hard to imagine where in Capitola 99 assaults occured. It would be interesting to see in the PD provided a crime map like some cities which show where they took place. In Salinas for example there is a greater concentration in the serious gang territory which can be seen on the crime map.

Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 09-27-2011 at 10:42 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-27-2011, 10:38 PM
 
Location: Monterey County, CA
3,345 posts, read 4,830,025 times
Reputation: 2707
I found this crime map from the Santa Cruz Sherrif's Office. It shows locations pretty well:

Crime map - Santa Cruz Sentinel

I don't really see a particular concentration however. Actually now that I narrowed the search criteria I do see a pattern with a higher concentration west of 41st Street. I'm not sure this is showing the full FBI count however.

Derek
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-28-2011, 08:39 AM
 
471 posts, read 232,932 times
Reputation: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaijai View Post
I think it's part of the malaise of the whole country and yeah, meth has got to be a factor .... god what a stupid, stupid, stupid drug!!!
It just makes people crazy and has absolutely no redeeming value.
Most people don't know this, but Mexico is the largest source of meth in the U.S.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-28-2011, 11:49 AM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,192 posts, read 1,670,362 times
Reputation: 1817
Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainrose View Post
Most people don't know this, but Mexico is the largest source of meth in the U.S.
and your point is?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-28-2011, 12:25 PM
 
Location: 'Shangri-La 'mountains west of Wolf Creek, Oregon
10,089 posts, read 5,431,848 times
Reputation: 5672
About once a month or so, we very much enjoyed our visit to the 'Shadowbrook Restaurant'... YUM.


Shadowbrook Restaurant
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-30-2011, 10:22 AM
 
Location: Whiteville Tennessee
8,257 posts, read 8,735,304 times
Reputation: 9508
Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnSurfer View Post
Sorry to be the bearer of bad new guys. Geesh, I was just as surprised by this. Even though Monterey was better it was still a bit higher than I expected.

The one thing the report didn't differentiate in the overall crime rate was the degree of violent crime. Granted a violent crime is a crime no matter how bad right? But still Capitola had no murders. The majority were aggravated assaults along with 11 robberies and 3 rapes. By contrasts Salinas had 33 murders, yet still had a better overall crime rating due to the spread over a larger population. Its just hard to imagine where in Capitola 99 assaults occured. It would be interesting to see in the PD provided a crime map like some cities which show where they took place. In Salinas for example there is a greater concentration in the serious gang territory which can be seen on the crime map.

Derek
99 assaults in Capitola?? What did they do? Stand on the border with Aptos and throw insults??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Unread 09-30-2011, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Monterey County, CA
3,345 posts, read 4,830,025 times
Reputation: 2707
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Dan View Post
99 assaults in Capitola?? What did they do? Stand on the border with Aptos and throw insults??
I'm thinking some of this is surfer skirmishes over the waves. Here's one article describing this:

Metroactive Features | Silicon Valley Surfers

Derek
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Options
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2005-2010 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $47,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:01 AM.

© 2005-2013, Advameg, Inc.

City-Data.com - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 - Top