What is the cause of all the Crime in Jacksonville? (live, most dangerous)

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by dalmain

So is Jacksonville worse than Miami? Here in miami we have murders, robberies and other crimes almost in a daily basis. You just have to be alert and avoid certain areas if possible. I thought Jacksonville was more laid back. Crime is everywhere, but I thought it would be less than flashy miami.

We moved here from Miami 15 years ago. You can think of Jax much like you'd think of Miami. There are awful neighborhoods you don't want to step foot in - medium neighborhoods - and good ones. Even in the good ones - there is a lot more crime now more than 15 years ago - although it is more of the petty theft and vandalism variety than the violent type. Even in my community - upper end and gated - you're warned to keep your doors locked - your garage doors closed - and your car locked when it's in your driveway. I can think of reasons to leave Miami - but getting away from crime isn't one of them. Robyn

[parks71]

FSU I would like to see the site you got the information that crime is down. Not that I dont believe you, just want to check out the statistics. I do think although I have no proof, that crime is down this year but I remember 2 years ago I think that we had a record murder rate in the tripple digits here in jax. I know it has declined since then, but I think that was an all time high but I could be wrong.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by coolyfett

Jacksonville has not always been known for crime. When did this happen?

Jax actually has (at least as of the last 10-15 yrs I'd guess) been known for high crime throughout FL. Jax has a very large AA population and those areas are rough in Jax and accounts for a lot of the crime in Jax. If you stay away from those areas, I'd say it's overall safe; but you still need to lock your doors, etc. and be smart about it.

[Northside904]

The most murders Jacksonville has was 179 in 1991, so you know the murder rate was off the charts at that time because of the drug epidemic. Northside was a battlefield back in that time. People were killed in a hail of gunfire, etc.

[abvavgjoe]

Duval crime down, but crime rate Florida's highest

By LARRY HANNAN
Publication: Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)
Date: Thursday, April 8 2010

The good news is crimes were down locally and statewide for 2009, according to crime statistics released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Moderator cut: copyright issues

[mississippimagnolia]

We just moved to Jacksonville...actually, St. John....from the Northern Virginia/D.C. area. If Jacksonville doesn't have gangs, you are very lucky. And I would guess that within a few years, they will be here. MS-13 was our biggest problem in Northern Virginia. Luckily, they aren't interested in harming anyone but rival gang members most of the time.

People used to ask me how we could live in such a "high crime part of the country" when we lived in the D.C. area. My community in Northern Virginia was every bit as safe as the small neighborhood we lived in in Oxford, Mississippi. We were about 20 miles from Washington D.C., but worlds away in terms of crime. Jacksonville seems to be the same. Of course there are higher crime areas. That's going to be true in any large city. A few dangerous neighborhoods does not make an entire city dangerous.

Why is crime so high? Because we have created an entire group of people who have decided that they shouldn't have to work for the things they want. They either rely on the Government for handouts or they simply steal from those of us who do work. Most of them do a combination of both. That's just the way it is. We have a group of people who believe they are entitled to food, clothing and shelter simply because they breathe.

[fsu813]

parks,

I didn't get those stats from a website.

Sherriff Rutherford provided me a print out of those stats. You can get them through the JSO's Crime Analysis Unit though, if you like.

It takes a couple weeks to get hard data from them though, after you submit a public request.

[fsu813]

Originally Posted by fsu813

There's a disconnect here.

If people are so scared of crime now in Jax, especially violent crime, they must have been absolutely terrified 10, 20 years ago.

Since 1992, when violent crime was at it's peak, about 77k incidents that year, it has plummeted to about 48k incidents last year, in 2009. That's about a 38% drop in violent crime in that last 18 years.

From 2008 to 2009 alone, here are some very impressive stats:

Murder -13.9%
Rape -16.8%
Robbery -19.7%
Agg. Assualt -13.2%
All Violent Crime -15.7%

Police departments used to be very happy with a 5% drop back in the day, now double digit yearly drops have been the norm

Burglary -5.9%
Larceny -8%
Vehicle Theft -32.5%
All Propety Crime -9.6%

As you can see non-violent crimes are also significantly down, just year to year.

JSO, btw, out performs the national average by A LOT.

These are the clearance rates of incidents, meaning the % that they found the suspect and processed him/her:

Murder Jax 78.8% National 53.6%
Rape Jax 69.3% National 41.6%
Robbery Jax 23.7% National 21.5%
Agg. Assualt Jax 55.7% National 47%
All Violent Crime Jax 45.3% National 36.9%

Burglary Jax 12.1% National 9.1%
Larceny Jax 20.3% National 14.1%
Vehicle Theft Jax 19.6% National 8.7%
All Property Crime Jax 18% National 12.3%

Jacksonville Sherriff's Office, is very, very good.

So either everyone was lucky to be alive back then, or people should stop exaggerating and sensationalizing crime (especially the media) now.

By the way, this is a national trend. Crime, especially violent crme, has been coming down, and down, and down for the last 20 years.....but at the same time, people's fear of it has gone up.

Very strange and irrational.

Thought this conversation needed a few facts. =)

You're welcome.

parks71,

I didn't get those stats from a webiste. Sherriff Rutherford provided a print out for me.

However, if you like, you can get them through JSO's Crime Analysis Unit, located Downtown on Bay Street, across from the Berkman Plaza Tower condos. It'll take a couple weeks for them to produce the information though, after you submit a public request.

[FlyiMetro]

Crime is ALWAYS due to bad parenting. Parents not active with their kids will eventually lead to trouble. Women should not be single mothers, they should be married mothers...cause & effect, domino effect of bad choices.

[Keith-n-Jax]

NO being a single parent is not ideal, but having two doesnt always make a difference either. Some single mothers can raise successful law abiding children. Economoics plays a big factor.