Crime rate in Charlottesville (Alexandria, Manassas: attorney, prices, stats)

[jtees4]

Off topic, but this thread made me feel like posting. A few weeks back I ended up at the UVA Emergency room via ambulance. When my wife and daughter came to try to see me, the emergency was in a lock down due to a shooting that night. They ended up standing near the entrance and watched as a car pulled up and the gun shot victim got out and was escorted in. It kind of sucked because they had never seen an actual gunshot victim in all their years in NYC and NY State. There was also an emergency helicopter landing from possibly Culpeper with another victim, though I'm not 100% sure that was a shooting. I'm not passing judgement on C'Ville based on this, I was a teen in the 70's in NYC....I KNOW what bad really is, but I'm hoping C'Ville doesn't keep going in this direction.
PS: The ambulance and emergency room staff at UVA were all great!

[Bigfoot424]

Obviously C'ville is far from NYC, DC and so on but it is slowly changing and many say not for the better. While I no longer do any training for the local LEO's there I had several tell me that at the first chance of retirement they are gone with their families and they'll work a 2nd LE job elsewhere in VA with their certification. I remember the days when C'ville was nothing but a boring college town and this was the great draw for it.

[jtees4]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Obviously C'ville is far from NYC, DC and so on but it is slowly changing and many say not for the better. While I no longer do any training for the local LEO's there I had several tell me that at the first chance of retirement they are gone with their families and they'll work a 2nd LE job elsewhere in VA with their certification. I remember the days when C'ville was nothing but a boring college town and this was the great draw for it.

I agree with your assessment of C'Ville, hopefully it will stay decent for awhile...but it is definitely slowly changing. I recently came from Long Island, NY. Every LE that I know, both NYC and Nassau and Suffolk County all say the same thing...and for good reason. Luckily most of my LE friends retired awhile ago, I do know some younger people still doing it, and I truly feel bad for them. I would never recommend doing that job to anyone these days.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by jtees4

I agree with your assessment of C'Ville, hopefully it will stay decent for awhile...but it is definitely slowly changing. I recently came from Long Island, NY. Every LE that I know, both NYC and Nassau and Suffolk County all say the same thing...and for good reason. Luckily most of my LE friends retired awhile ago, I do know some younger people still doing it, and I truly feel bad for them. I would never recommend doing that job to anyone these days.

I think those that stand to lose the most are the citizens served out here by LE. Standards are being loosened in some instances and if they keep this up I can only imagine how low they can go. So far it's not catastrophic by any means but the loosening of standards is never a good thing.

[getatag]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

I think those that stand to lose the most are the citizens served out here by LE. Standards are being loosened in some instances and if they keep this up I can only imagine how low they can go. So far it's not catastrophic by any means but the loosening of standards is never a good thing.

That is by no means a Charlottesville phenomenon, it's all over.

[sregorat3]

Crime is certainly on the uptick all around Virginia. Looser/weakened LE policies are a large part of this, so maybe this is the new normal.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by getatag

That is by no means a Charlottesville phenomenon, it's all over.

I never said it was a Charlottesville thing. But you're correct. My former agency was very well known for its high standards. The beard/tattoo policy changes seem to be happening all over and it is driving me crazy but I also understand that tattoos are more and more common with younger people so this was to be expected. Beards while in uniform just look unprofessional to me. But it's the loosening of the past drug usage that really bothers me.

[nm9stheham]

No, this is not all over. Crime is all over, all the time, but political decisions drive all to different outcomes in different jurisdictions.

I spent some time in and around Newark NJ in the 70's so a know bit of what jtees4 refers to in the NYC area. Since that time, it has changed for the better, and again is going downhill. All those NYC changes are directly related to political party decisions to court certain voters to gain power, and certain political beliefs. The same goes for the West Coast cities that have such crime problems. Loosened law enforcement is a purely political decision, so is a result that goes along with higher crime rates, not a cause per se.

I stated earlier that this has been moving along slowly in C'ville for decades; that is the long term reality. The more recent growth has just accentuated that trend. C'ville is just a milder version of the big city crime trends, and I hope it stays mild. IMHO, the surrounding area's power agents have some moderating influence on it; i.e., the mayor and close supporters can be lunatics but the 'powers that be' keep the excesses in check to some degree. The University has a strong influence on things.

Not every city has these unofficial checks and balances on policy and power. And local moral codes have a big role in this too.

[getatag]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

I never said it was a Charlottesville thing. But you're correct. My former agency was very well known for its high standards. The beard/tattoo policy changes seem to be happening all over and it is driving me crazy but I also understand that tattoos are more and more common with younger people so this was to be expected. Beards while in uniform just look unprofessional to me. But it's the loosening of the past drug usage that really bothers me.

Absolutely!

[justaGardener]

"Crime is certainly on the uptick all around Virginia." ... and other anecdotal comments like this:

Please do some actual research instead of foisting your perceptions as reality. Don't tell me I should be doing it for you; if you want to engage in civic, informed debate, you owe it to yourself and others to gather some actual information. The fact is that crime -particularly violent crime - has been on a long-term downward trend over the past few decades, in Charlottesville and most other locations around the country. There are exceptions, which are themselves interesting and worthy of debate, but citing false data and attributing it nebulously to certain political philosophies isn't worthy of a real discussion.