Home invasions (Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Springfield: crime rate, houses, safe area)

[anothertntony]

Is it just me, or has Knoxville (and surrounding areas) had a pretty alarming number of home invasions in the past couple of years? Many of these have resulted in fatalities. I check knoxnews.com every few days and it seems that home invasions are becoming an almost weekly event. If you google "Knoxville home invasions" there are quite a few incidents that pop up for May, June, and July.

Here was the most recent story, resulting in three deaths:

Homeowner: Intruder dead after fiancee, son killed » Knoxville News Sentinel

and another from a few days before:

Florida couple become victims of Knoxville home invasion

and yet another from a few days before:

WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | Woman tied up during Blount County home invasion

They extend back for quite a while with pretty similar frequency. What's the deal? Many seem drug related, but I haven't noticed similar spikes elsewhere.

[weisgarber1]

Originally Posted by anothertntony

Is it just me, or has Knoxville (and surrounding areas) had a pretty alarming number of home invasions in the past couple of years? Many of these have resulted in fatalities. I check knoxnews.com every few days and it seems that home invasions are becoming an almost weekly event. If you google "Knoxville home invasions" there are quite a few incidents that pop up for May, June, and July.

Here was the most recent story, resulting in three deaths:

Homeowner: Intruder dead after fiancee, son killed » Knoxville News Sentinel

and another from a few days before:

Florida couple become victims of Knoxville home invasion

and yet another from a few days before:

WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | Woman tied up during Blount County home invasion

They extend back for quite a while with pretty similar frequency. What's the deal? Many seem drug related, but I haven't noticed similar spikes elsewhere.

According to KPD spokesman Debusk, most home invasions are drug related.

Police: Home invasion suspects were looking for drugs

According to Wik, home invasions have been increasing since 1995.

Home invasion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TedTLPN]

What I don't get is why home invaders think they can do it and not get shot AROUND HERE. I mean this is one of the REDDEST states on the planet, even liberal minded people like me pack heat and these morons think robbing houses with people in them at the time is a good idea? Oh wait, I forgot how bad the education is here

[creeksitter]

The ones from last year I'm "familiar" * with with were both drug related.

* having once lived nearby - not socially involved with the folks. The ironic thing is - otherwise they were and still are either fairly safe or extremely safe areas. Needless to say the troublemakers are gone. Nothing turns up the heat quicker than a shooting in one's driveway.

[Kitties of Domination]

One word: Oxycontin. Its not just here, your thread pulled up 5 other threads on the exact same topic in Charlotte, Florida, Colorado Springs, and Springfield, Mo.

[hondaguy83]

I would agree..3/4ths of all home invasions are probably drug related...Oxy is def the drug of choice for alot of people now...Mainly cause its somewhat easy to get from doctors and walk in pain clinics...Its a very addictive pill and really hard to get off of from what i've heard...I've seen and known people who were on Oxys..It really messes a person up in more ways than one...The latest home invasion in South Knox was a 20 yr old marine...That right there tells me that it was probably Oxy that he was looking for..Being in the Miltary takes alot out of you mentally and physically and he probably turned all that into an Oxy addiction...It really is the cause of the overall crime rate to go up around here...It is a real problem in East Tn,Especially in Oak Ridge and up in Greene Co...I heard it was really really bad down in Florida and it shows in Florida's crime rating...Florida is always in the top 10 of most dangerous states year after year,So go figure...Its a pretty easy drug to push as well...Oxy sells for a dollar a gram,So that means the 80 mg Oxys go for 80 bucks a pill...90% of addicts around here don't have the money to support there Oxy addictions,So they rob and steal for it

[Kitties of Domination]

Originally Posted by hondaguy83

I would agree..3/4ths of all home invasions are probably drug related...Oxy is def the drug of choice for alot of people now...Mainly cause its somewhat easy to get from doctors and walk in pain clinics...Its a very addictive pill and really hard to get off of from what i've heard...I've seen and known people who were on Oxys..It really messes a person up in more ways than one...The latest home invasion in South Knox was a 20 yr old marine...That right there tells me that it was probably Oxy that he was looking for..Being in the Miltary takes alot out of you mentally and physically and he probably turned all that into an Oxy addiction...It really is the cause of the overall crime rate to go up around here...It is a real problem in East Tn,Especially in Oak Ridge and up in Greene Co...I heard it was really really bad down in Florida and it shows in Florida's crime rating...Florida is always in the top 10 of most dangerous states year after year,So go figure...Its a pretty easy drug to push as well...Oxy sells for a dollar a gram,So that means the 80 mg Oxys go for 80 bucks a pill...90% of addicts around here don't have the money to support there Oxy addictions,So they rob and steal for it

There is a well-known Oxy route that goes from central Florida to east TN. There is reportedly widespread corruption in Florida pain clinics. I knew of one girl that once told me that she made a trip to Tampa monthly. You basically pay for whatever scrips you want (cash only, of course). Can anyone from Florida verify this?

[TedTLPN]

Originally Posted by Kitties of Domination

Can anyone from Florida verify this?

Factually, no. But I wouldn't blink twice, especially if it was South Florida or Latin owned anywhere else in FL. They simply don't believe in 'scripts there, and that's because of their experience outside this country where there is VERY little of the control you see here.

[weisgarber1]

Originally Posted by Kitties of Domination

There is a well-known Oxy route that goes from central Florida to east TN. There is reportedly widespread corruption in Florida pain clinics. I knew of one girl that once told me that she made a trip to Tampa monthly. You basically pay for whatever scrips you want (cash only, of course). Can anyone from Florida verify this?

WATE TV had a one-hour special on the Oxycontin problems last Wednesday night at 8 p.m., and interviewed several professional people who had to deal with the situation on a continual basis, including law enforcement, and directors of withdrawal clinics. Florida and its "pain clinics" seems to be the real problem as far as the epidemic spreading, not only here, but elsewhere. "IF" and when Florida gets their Oxycontin problem under control, the addicts will simply be provided with other avenues of supply, Latin America comes to mind. This isn't a local problem only, it is nationwide.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Kitties of Domination

There is a well-known Oxy route that goes from central Florida to east TN. There is reportedly widespread corruption in Florida pain clinics. I knew of one girl that once told me that she made a trip to Tampa monthly. You basically pay for whatever scrips you want (cash only, of course). Can anyone from Florida verify this?

I don't know about a "route" but drugs in Florida are CRAZY. When I first moved down there in the 90s it was crack. Little old ladies were on it. I never saw such evil in my life. I lived in Orlando and swFlorida and it started to seem like every fourth or fifth person was on it or touched by someone on it. You could live in a beautiful neighborhood and the folks next door were suddenly selling the applicances for crack.

Then yes, it became pills. I worked in a pharmacy so I saw some of the addicts. And yes, they find a slime doc (in abundance down there) and they pay cash. Oxys were just becoming the "thing" when I left, five years ago.

One of those links was a home invasion where they stole oxys from a couple from Florida that seemed to have a lot of them. hmmmm.

Oddly enough, as much as I read about meth, I've never run across anyone that was on it or knew of anyone on it. It's usually a friend of a friend but no, I've heard of no one on that. I'm guessing it hadn't hit Florida when I was there and it is way out in the country around here.