Quincy Illinois (Chicago: college, sex offenders, friends)

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by Clint_Noname

I'm not saying that you have to agree with me; I'm just trying to make a point. I looked at the link that you gave me, and it's the exact same data that's on this site. "Overall" crime indexes can be misleading because a lot of petty thefts or other property crimes can make a city look worse than another city that actually has problems with violent crime. This is exactly the case with Hannibal, which has a high theft rate and low rates of almost everything else. Wouldn't you rather have some of your stuff stolen or even your house broken into than become a victim of violent crime? Galesburg and Quincy have similar "overall" crime indexes because they each have strenghths and weaknesses in different categories. What really matters is what categories the strengths and weaknesses are in. Quincy had twice as many aggravated assaults (a violent crime) as Galesburg (not "slightly more" as you say), while Galesburg had twice as many burglaries (a property crime) as Quincy did. Galesburg also had twice as many robberies (a violent crime), but Quincy has always had a extremely low robbery rate to begin with. I think that looking at the number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents (a violent crime is classified by the FBI as murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and attempts to commit those crimes) is the most accurate measure of crime in a city or town, as well as the best way of measuring the actual chances of becoming a victim of violent crime. If a city or town has more population, of course there's almost always going to be more total crime. If you measure a city or town's crime by total crime instead of per-capita crime, New York City is obviously going to have the most crime because it's the largest city in the United States. In fact, New York City has one of the lowest crime rates for a city its size (although, like you said earlier, there may be a good deal of unreported crime in such a big city).

Again, as an American citizen, you have the right to disagree with me. I just think that since Quincy's weakness is in violent crime, and particularly aggravated assaults, it's currently not a safe place to raise a family.

OK, you say that overall crime rates are misleading, but then say to look at the overall rates provided by the FBI......... You also say that Quincy has a low robbery rate and that Galesburg is higher in that, but then that Quincy is much worse. Have you ever heard of a battery occuring between two people who didn't know eachother in Quincy? I remember once where a guy got in a fight with a bunch of drunk guys he didn't know, but that's about it.

Also, if you look at percentages, less than 1% of people in Quincy (actualy .0025%) were murdered in 06, less than 1% were raped (actually, .0875%- and some of these were found to be false claims, most were acquantince rapes), less than 1% were robbed (.0375%), less than 1% were battered (.6275%), less than 1% were burgeled (.685%), and 3% (so this is our higest) experienced theft. Theft is the biggest problem and this is non-violent. So, basically, you have a less than 1% chance than experiencing these "violent crimes."

If you feel that Quincy is so "unsafe" then read about some of the crimes of the week at Quincy Regional Crime Stoppers needs your help in solving thefts.
Very Scary

Quincy is very safe to raise a family. According to this site Quincy, Illinois Homes for Sale - MLS Real Estate Listings besides larceny (trespassing) and burglary, we are much below the national crime average. Do you know anyone in Quincy who has ever been a victim of an aggravated assault by someone they don't know?

[Clint_Noname]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

OK, you say that overall crime rates are misleading, but then say to look at the overall rates provided by the FBI......... You also say that Quincy has a low robbery rate and that Galesburg is higher in that, but then that Quincy is much worse. Have you ever heard of a battery occuring between two people who didn't know eachother in Quincy? I remember once where a guy got in a fight with a bunch of drunk guys he didn't know, but that's about it.

No, I said to look at violent crime rates from the FBI and the Illinois State Police. I said that even though Galesburg has a higher rate of robbery than Quincy, Quincy already had an extremely low robbery rate to begin with, and both are below the national average in that category. However, Quincy is much higher than Galesburg for aggravated assaults, and is over twice the national average in that category. Thus, Quincy has a much higher rate of violent crime than Galesburg.

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

Also, if you look at percentages, less than 1% of people in Quincy (actualy .0025%) were murdered in 06, less than 1% were raped (actually, .0875%- and some of these were found to be false claims, most were acquantince rapes), less than 1% were robbed (.0375%), less than 1% were battered (.6275%), less than 1% were burgeled (.685%), and 3% (so this is our higest) experienced theft. Theft is the biggest problem and this is non-violent. So, basically, you have a less than 1% chance than experiencing these "violent crimes."

That's the same excuse they made for New Orleans, which was one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation until Hurricane Katrina destroyed it. Did that make it safe? Nope -- in fact, it was widely regarded to be the "murder capital of the U.S." Also, I said earlier that the majority of crimes in almost all cities with a population of 20,000 or higher is theft, even in St. Louis and Detroit.

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

If you feel that Quincy is so "unsafe" then read about some of the crimes of the week at Quincy Regional Crime Stoppers needs your help in solving thefts.
Very Scary

Those are crimes that they're having problems solving. Of course thefts and burglaries are going to be the toughest crimes for them to solve.

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

Quincy is very safe to raise a family. According to this site Quincy, Illinois Homes for Sale - MLS Real Estate Listings besides larceny (trespassing) and burglary, we are much below the national crime average. Do you know anyone in Quincy who has ever been a victim of an aggravated assault by someone they don't know?

I'm confused. First you point to the Illinois State Police (official) statistics, then you point to statistics from an unofficial source? I'll use the Illinois State Police statistics to make my own "crime indexes" for Quincy, where 100% is the U.S. average:

Murder: 44% (2.5 / 5.7)
Robbery: 25% (37.6 / 149.4)
Assault: 219% (630 / 287.5)
Violent Crime: 160% (757.9 / 473.5)

And I did the same for Galesburg:

Murder: 54% (3.1 / 5.7)
Robbery: 54% (81.2 / 149.4)
Assault: 129% (371.7 / 287.5)
Violent Crime: 113% (537.2 / 473.5)

Comparing the ISP statistics for rape to the national average is misleading because the ISP counts male rape and other sex offenses in the "rape" category, while the FBI counts them in the "aggravated assault" category. The FBI only counts female rapes in the "rape" category.

Anyways, as you can see, Galesburg's violent crime rate is only slightly above the national average, while Quincy's is well above the average. Even if most people in Quincy are assaulted by people they know, all that means is that the risk of being assaulted by someone you know is very high in Quincy compared to the national average. As with any place, even the most innocent-looking people in Quincy can carry dark secrets, but as shown by the statistics, this is more true in Quincy than in many of the other small towns. Have I made myself clear?

[jessiegirl_98]

I pointed to both official and unofficial sources because I was trying to figure out where you were getting your info. Maybe I missed that.

Do you also realize that the majority of crimes in Quincy are committed against people who know eachother and many of these assaults are drunken bar instances. You make it sound like people are running around hitting eachother. My friends from Quincy and I were having a discussion on Quincy "violence" and all agree that the statement that Quincy is unsafe is ridiculous. You can also see that murders and robbery are very much below the average. I can't believe you compared Quincy to New Orleans! Wow. That doesn't even deserve a response.

I think we've both made ourselves clear. You will clearly continue to think that Quincy is unsafe, while I will continue to think that it's a very safe place to raise a family. Period. You are good at painting a very bleak picture of things. Again, I'm not being rude, but I'm seriously suggesting that you go and read the book "The Culture of Fear." I think you would find it interestin.

Thanks for the debate, I'm done with this thread because we are just going to keep going back and forth, but feel free to continue to post if you wish. If anyone is thinking about moving to Quincy, I would suggest that they read the posts and then go actually visit for themselves to make their own opinions.

Lastly, I would suggest that if you live in Quincy, you take these crime stats to the city council meeting and see what they have to say for themselves. Seriously. If you think there is a problem, help it get addressed. Otherwise, maybe they will provide more qualitative information behind the quantitative data. Even the FBI data has this disclaimer:

"Caution Against Ranking

Each year when Crime in the United States is published, some entities use reported figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region. Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population coverage or student enrollment. "

[Alexva]

Not related to Quincy crime or traffic—but FYI, there are a couple of nice YouTube clips showing Quincy scenery, entitled “Quincy, IL” and “Quincy Illinois Time Lapse”.

Here is the url for the first: YouTube - Quincy, IL

[midwesterner7]

What concerns me when looking at the Quincy data, is the 144 registered sex offenders. We lived there briefly in the early '80's. I was 9 mo pregnant and was shopping in a store for 45 minutes. When I got back in my old VW, my car wouldn't start. Upon examining my engine, I noticed the distributor cap had been removed!! A man immediately came to my rescue and offered me a ride. When I said "Looks like someone unhooked this cap, he turned bright red from the neck up and again offered to give me a ride!" He never offered to help me fix my car and see if I could start it. I honestly believe he had BIG plans for me and my baby who was born the following week. The sexual offender thing is a huge issue to me when considering a move somewhere.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by midwesterner7

What concerns me when looking at the Quincy data, is the 144 registered sex offenders. We lived there briefly in the early '80's. I was 9 mo pregnant and was shopping in a store for 45 minutes. When I got back in my old VW, my car wouldn't start. Upon examining my engine, I noticed the distributor cap had been removed!! A man immediately came to my rescue and offered me a ride. When I said "Looks like someone unhooked this cap, he turned bright red from the neck up and again offered to give me a ride!" He never offered to help me fix my car and see if I could start it. I honestly believe he had BIG plans for me and my baby who was born the following week. The sexual offender thing is a huge issue to me when considering a move somewhere.

After living in Quincy my entire live, I can tell you that I do not know anyone who has been a victim of crime (violent or non-violent), with the exception of having their house TP'd or cars getting broken into.
Regarding sex offenders, if you look, you'll see that the majority of the sex offenders in Quincy don't have aggravated criminal sexual assault (e.g., rape) are stagetory rape (e.g., offender was 19, victim was 16; offender was 18, victim was 15) kind of thing (not that that's great or anything).
I'm not saying that crime doesn't exist in Quincy by any means; however, relative to pretty much any place I that I've ever lived (and places in Illinois), it is extremely safe.

[midwesterner7]

jessiegirl - You are funny. I don't see any way that you could know everything that goes on in a town the size of Quincy, whether you have lived there all your life or a couple of weeks. I have lived in seven states and several towns whithin those states due to job transfers. The midwest is the best place to live. I'm simply saying a person has to look at all the statistics. Obviously, you wouldn't be holding up for the sexual offenders if you were the one that was almost abducted when you were pregnant.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by midwesterner7

jessiegirl - You are funny. I don't see any way that you could know everything that goes on in a town the size of Quincy, whether you have lived there all your life or a couple of weeks. I have lived in seven states and several towns whithin those states due to job transfers. The midwest is the best place to live. I'm simply saying a person has to look at all the statistics. Obviously, you wouldn't be holding up for the sexual offenders if you were the one that was almost abducted when you were pregnant.

I never said that I know everything that goes on in Quincy. But, I have several family friends who are judges, states attorneys, public defenders, and cops and generally, the majority of residents find it to be a safe place to live. Also, anytime ANYTHING happens in Quincy (rapes, assaults, etc) it's on the news because there its a "big deal" (aka out of the norm). Two of these judges also don't lock their doors....now I think that's taking it to the extreme.

I'm also not "holding up for the sex offenders" but am stating that when you give stats, you also need to consider how exactly that stat impacts you and what goes into that stat. I'm not saying that there is no crime at all, but it's still a pretty safe smaller town.

I'm sorry that 20 years ago someone tried to do something almost happened to you in Quincy. I'm not saying it DOESN'T happen there, I'm just saying it's not the norm. I also thinks it's funny that you let one instance years ago influence your view of the city.

[fairmarketvalue]

I grew up near Quincy, in a town called Jacksonville. We used to swim and play tennis against Quincy CC, Springlake CC, always a fun time and a really friendly city with some absolutely beautiful old homes that have been restored and added on to in the historic district. We go to Quincy every year for the Pepsi Little People's Golf Tournament where our 11 year old has participated since age 7. The tournament brings in kids age 5-19 from ALL OVER the world and most states. Higher attendance years have been over 900 participants. It is the 3rd largest jr. golf tournament in the world, second to Callaway Jr. Worlds in San Diego and USKids World Championships in Pinehurst, NC. Why Quincy you ask? Because the woman who started the tournament (Nan Ryan) 35 years ago is from there and where it all began. The entire city comes together to welcome all of these jrs. and their families wth over 200 volunteers helping run it. They use 11 golf courses in the Greater Quincy area. It speaks VOLUMES about what kind of community it is, as far as I'm concerned!

In the 70's and 80's, Quincy High had one of the best basketball teams in the state- The Quincy blue Devils. I remember the Douglas brothers and I'm sure I remember a couple of them playing pro for a while. It is a GREAT place to raise a family and you'll love it!

[midwesterner7]

J - I was looking at the stats re sex offenders on THIS website. Then, I remembered the incident that happened to me in 1984. Then, I compared these stats to some other states in the immediate area that has the same population as Quincy......Quincy is rather high for sexual offenders. THAT is what I am saying. I don't care who your relatives and friends are. You can't deny the stats.