Crime in Jacksonville (Mayo, Raiford: transplants, job, home)

[riveree]

Originally Posted by MzNeekie

The crime rate in Jacksonville has risen to ridiculous amounts as of 2007. We weren't the city of saints before 2007 but, the increase is amazing. I believe that at least in part, this is due to alot of hurricane Katrina evacuees moving here. Based on the reputation (merely word of mouth) of places like New Orleans and other areas that were hit ALONG with the attitudes of these Duval cats, I can definitely see how the mix would be a recipe for disaster. It may not be the entire cause but it definitely contributed to the number of murders in my opinion. Any other people from Jax have views on this?

There's been nothing to show any correlation between Hurricane Katrina evacuees and any increase in crime.

I was here in Jax before and after Hurricane Katrina and I've seen nothing to make me believe the evacuees increased our crime rate, I think Jacksonville is pretty good at increasing its' own crime rate, we don't need any outside help.

[HIF]

Walking my dog a few hours ago to beat the rain, I stumbled upon five guys, dressed in black, scoping out the neighborhood....AGAIN. This happened a few months ago.

I approached them this time- I'm sick of being afraid- and asked "Where are you fellas headed?" They said to their house. Well, I know the house they were going to has no kids, so I followed them. They got into a pickup and I stood behind the truck as they were getting in and pretended to take a pix of their license plate with my phone (I will have to get my son to show me how to use the camera feature).

These were white boys and sounded local from their accents. One nervously said, "What a nice doggy". The last time it happened, I didn't engage them in conversation, so don't know if they were local or not.

My adult son's armed robbery earlier this month was by a local, as well. The guy my teenaged son and his friends saw last Friday had his finger on the trigger of a handgun and was driving by a high school. He was driving a nice SUV with Florida tags.

So, results may vary, but my personal crime index the past few months is- 1 local black, 5 local whites and five whites of unknown origin!

[steventiff]

i have lived in jax 2 yrs and i hate it. it is the weirdest place i have ever lived. it is one extreme or the other. Ghetto or redneck. It is so big yet it is so small. Everything closes at nine. No night life. and it is so dangerous. There is really nowhere you can avoid the crime. The beach isnt even that great. There are no waves and it is a trashy dirty beach with dirty water. And there are tons of bums everywhere. Not safe at night. Jacksonville is rated in the top 3 highest murder rates in the us and also rated to have the worst drivers, which believe me is true! you cant even run to the grocery store without getting cut off or almost hit. The police are also rediculous. they are never here when you need them and are so hateful and mean. They will give you a ticket just for looking at them the wrong way. The malls are generally unsafe except the new town center area which is actually very nice. And stay away from the regency or arlington area. More cars get stollen out of the regency mall than any other mall in fl or something. and the roads are terrible traffic is awful. there is always construction going on the the detours are awful. jacksonville is the worst place i have ever lived. do yourself a favor and dont move here.

[Alphaman]

jacksonville from what I have read is not 3rd for worst murder rate show me the link you found this at.

[LA-VA-FL]

I just wanted to add that i have read a couple different posts as well as news articles stating that Jax does not have any "real" gangs- now im not trying to say there is a major gang problem here because I truly dont know, However, i was downtown the other day and saw a huge wall graffiti mural for MS 13, which is one of the most notorious gangs in the world. ( i just watched a whole special on the gang on the History channel) so i am positive it was a tag for them claiming territory- so basically that has proven to me that there are "real" gangs here

[Alphaman]

Does the Jacksonville PD have a gang unit? if they do then there are gangs there. A city isn`t going to waste money on a gang unit if they don't exist.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by LA-VA-FL

I just wanted to add that i have read a couple different posts as well as news articles stating that Jax does not have any "real" gangs- now im not trying to say there is a major gang problem here because I truly dont know, However, i was downtown the other day and saw a huge wall graffiti mural for MS 13, which is one of the most notorious gangs in the world. ( i just watched a whole special on the gang on the History channel) so i am positive it was a tag for them claiming territory- so basically that has proven to me that there are "real" gangs here

JSO has a Gang Unit and they have stated that Jax has no real gangs to speak of. What we do have are kids trying to act tough who tag ("spraypaint") real gang logos, but they themselves are not members of the gang.

[Alphaman]

Read this link maybe you change your mind.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...22392118.shtml

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

Read this link maybe you change your mind.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...22392118.shtml

That article is primarily speaking about gang activity in the state of Florida......this is a big state - what is happening in Miami is not necessarily happening in Jacksonville.

Then, the article speaks of a shooting at Orange Park high school and quotes The Clay county Sherrif's office who says nothing more than 'we're keeping an eye on some people' - yet - the author of the article wants us to make a mental connection between these 2 things?

The author does it again when quoting the Jax Sheriff's office. Even after JSO says that most of our crime is drug-related and these are not gangs, the author of the article refers us to an incident with some local young girls who made gang poses in pics on MySpace.....what are we supposed to believe this is proof of?

I think the author of the article is a hack posing as a journalist.

[HIF]

I agree with Riveree. I worked closely with JSO related to at-risk teens and have been told that gangs are not a problem here, but that some teens will use the symbols and bandana colors to project that they are members of a gang.

I also took part in JCCI's 17 week murder study a year and half ago. Gangs were not considered a contributing factor to violence in Jacksonville. Twenty nine risk factors were identified and gangs were not considered to be an issue in Duval.

The article cited above was from the summer of 2006. If gangs were an issue, there would be more current hard data to substantiate the allegation that there is any real gang activity here.