Medford Gang Related Crime Up 62% In 2011 (home, employment, high school)

[theoregonterritory]

Months ago I moved from gang-infested Victorville, California to Medford, Oregon to get away from the fast growing gang activity. I chose Medford because on the surface it appeared to have little to no gang activity that I could see during the first week I stayed there to look the city over.

I must admit I was hesitant however because Medford, though geographically isolated, is still located only 30 miles north of the California border and that's still very close to California.

Just yesterday the local Medford TV news ran a story where the Medford police department stated gang related crime is up 62% in the Medford area with there being 642 gang related crimes in 2011 compared to 400 in 2010. They mentioned that graffiti is now regularly appearing in even the nicer parts of Medford near N. Medford high school.

The police said the two main gangs in Medford are hispanic gangs out of California and police have identified a total of 12 known gangs operating in the Medford area.

So for those of you considering a move to the Medford area you might want to take into consideration that the California gangs are already established here and based on crime stats released by the Medford police department there presence and criminal activity is growing at an alarming rate!!

[hamellr]

Gangs have been pretty much been up and down the I-5 corridor for years. This isn't really news. Keep in mind that gang related crimes also include non-victim crimes such as graffiti.

[theoregonterritory]

Originally Posted by hamellr

Gangs have been pretty much been up and down the I-5 corridor for years. This isn't really news. Keep in mind that gang related crimes also include non-victim crimes such as graffiti.

The "news" is that it has increased 62% in just one year. This tells us that the gang activity, whatever the degree, is increasing and spreading at a very fast pace. The same thing happened in Victorville, Ca. The gang activity started off slow, then picked up speed and within 7 to 10 years it completely engulfed an entire city.

They are like cockroaches...you either catch,contain or kill them in their infancy or they will spread and overwhelm your home and make it unliveable.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by theoregonterritory

The "news" is that it has increased 62% in just one year. This tells us that the gang activity, whatever the degree, is increasing and spreading at a very fast pace. The same thing happened in Victorville, Ca. The gang activity started off slow, then picked up speed and within 7 to 10 years it completely engulfed an entire city.

They are like cockroaches...you either catch,contain or kill them in their infancy or they will spread and overwhelm your home and make it unliveable.

I think gang activity has increased in many cities as teenagers/young adults are unable to get work these days.

[Leisesturm]

Half again as many new crimes in 2011. Hmmm. Wonder what else has increased by that amount. Medford... couldn't happen to a nicer place... I mean... I joined this forum in 2007 or thereabouts and you guy's were calling it Methford. You didn't know it was someplace to avoid? Parts of it, anyway. Is this where I get grumpy and call troll on this thread? I'm no prude, but post is beyond the pale and should be reported.

H

[hamellr]

As police departments feel budget crunches, unknown and victimless crimes have a tendency to get recategorized as gang related so the departments can get more funding directly from the Feds. Formerly innocent groups of people get categorized as gangs for the same reason.

My point being that Medford didn't get engulfed by Gangs in the 1980's, and it's not about to be again. These are wanna-be gang members, loosely affiliated with with the gangs in LA pretty much in name only. Most of them are bored kids with little to no education or employment prospects who spend all their time in destruction of property.

You see this same cycle every time we have a dip in the economy. When the economy starts turning around, you'll see less and less of this activity.

[theoregonterritory]

Originally Posted by hamellr

As police departments feel budget crunches, unknown and victimless crimes have a tendency to get recategorized as gang related so the departments can get more funding directly from the Feds. Formerly innocent groups of people get categorized as gangs for the same reason.

My point being that Medford didn't get engulfed by Gangs in the 1980's, and it's not about to be again. These are wanna-be gang members, loosely affiliated with with the gangs in LA pretty much in name only. Most of them are bored kids with little to no education or employment prospects who spend all their time in destruction of property.

You see this same cycle every time we have a dip in the economy. When the economy starts turning around, you'll see less and less of this activity.

I hope you are correct hamellr because the Medford area does have a lot to offer.

[kadylady]

Originally Posted by hamellr

As police departments feel budget crunches, unknown and victimless crimes have a tendency to get recategorized as gang related so the departments can get more funding directly from the Feds. Formerly innocent groups of people get categorized as gangs for the same reason.

My point being that Medford didn't get engulfed by Gangs in the 1980's, and it's not about to be again. These are wanna-be gang members, loosely affiliated with with the gangs in LA pretty much in name only. Most of them are bored kids with little to no education or employment prospects who spend all their time in destruction of property.

You see this same cycle every time we have a dip in the economy. When the economy starts turning around, you'll see less and less of this activity.

I have to agree with your post. I doubt that Medford is a prime destination for gangbangers.

[Smiled]

The "news" is that it has increased 62% in just one year. This tells us that the gang activity, whatever the degree, is increasing and spreading at a very fast pace. The same thing happened in Victorville, Ca. The gang activity started off slow, then picked up speed and within 7 to 10 years it completely engulfed an entire city.


Maybe those folks will come to the realization that property taxes aren't evil. The area is full of people just like you, who want low taxes and high living.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Smiled

The "news" is that it has increased 62% in just one year.

Mostly property damage in the way of graffiti. That's a long step from drug deals on the corner, high noon gun fights with fully automatic weapons, and schools burning down.

It was only an additional 200 reports over the year. A couple of prolific artists could account for that by themselves.

This is another case of the media, most likely pushed by the local police department looking to increase their budgets for next year, blowing non-news out of proportion.