Anyone having problems or trouble with break ins? (Tampa, Boynton Beach: condo, violent crime)

[MilesAhead]

Just wondering since scouring various other states threads, Tampa keeps coming up as a crime-stricken city. I want people from Tampa to give their opinion about Tampa since it seems like it's the only one that should matter. Thanks~

[tampaguy03]

Have been in Tampa for nearly 20 years, transplant from Long Island, NY. Not once have I been victim, nor seen or know anyone who has been victim. Thats not to say i doesnt happen(just watch the news), i think as in any city, you need to be aware of your surroundings, who you keep company with, and where you work, play, live, etc. In my opinion, it is a reletively safe city.

[Need_affordable_home]

I dont consider much of Florida safe. Crime is insane in south Florida. Yes one of my neighboors had a burglary(break in) and we are gated! My moms car got broken into once but the thief fled before he had time to hotwire the car and drive off. City-data shows a crime index of 900! Theres so many other reasons to leave Florida.

[helix139]

I routinely leave my house open and almost never lock the doors! I live in (should I tell anyone?) original carrollwood. Mostly teenager breaking stuff in this neighboorhood.

[kristimc25]

I am a criminologist, so please take this to heart. No crime in general is not a huge problem in Tampa as compared to other cities throughout Florida and throughout the country. There seems to be a lot of people who have been mislead by the media or others, so it is time to nip those myths now.

For violent crime, Tampa is well below the rest of the country. While other cities nationwide are seeing soaring increases in their murder rates, Hillsborough county has not witnessed that trend with less than a few percentage points of an increase. Other violent crimes fell quite significantly. For sex crimes, they are overreported. Every sex related offense makes the news for the entire region of nearly 4 million people, so I can understand why that is misconstrued.

Now property crime is tricky. It has gone down for some crimes in the double digits and remained high for others. Tampa has always been a hot bed for auto burglary; however, it has decreased over the past 3 years. The problem is that people still refuse to protect their belongings. They leave their doors unlocked or they leave valuables in their vehicles. Most property crime is preventable. Close garage doors, leave valuables out of your car, etc. Every major city has these problems.

So, do I feel safe. I moved here from a place where the entire state only has a population of 2.7 million, which is the size of Hills, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Hernando combined, yet their crime problem is four times that of Tampa's or Hillsborough county. One reasons is the lack of law enforcement presence in my previous state. You cannot drive more than 5 miles in Tampa without seeing an officer. So, to answer your question: I do feel safe. I feel safe because I am cognitive of the risks and aware of my surroundings. I refuse to be victimized, so I take precautions such as shutting my garage door, keeping my doors locked, setting my alarm, leaving valuables out of my car, locking my car, etc. These are simple steps to take to feel safe and secure.

best wishes

[bungalowbuck]

i have lived in several old neighborhoods close to downtown st. petersburg for quite a number of years. i have never experienced a break-in. that being said, i take certain preventive measures, such as having a monitored burglar alarm with motion detectors, putting locks on backyard gates and parking my car in my garage overnight.

[onryou]

This is good advice and it is amazing how many people do not use common sense. Take your keys out of the car when you're not in it. I dunno, lock your doors... Pick up your iPhone or wallet and stick it in your pocket... Do the small things and you won't become a statistic.

Originally Posted by kristimc25

I am a criminologist, so please take this to heart. No crime in general is not a huge problem in Tampa as compared to other cities throughout Florida and throughout the country. There seems to be a lot of people who have been mislead by the media or others, so it is time to nip those myths now.

For violent crime, Tampa is well below the rest of the country. While other cities nationwide are seeing soaring increases in their murder rates, Hillsborough county has not witnessed that trend with less than a few percentage points of an increase. Other violent crimes fell quite significantly. For sex crimes, they are overreported. Every sex related offense makes the news for the entire region of nearly 4 million people, so I can understand why that is misconstrued.

Now property crime is tricky. It has gone down for some crimes in the double digits and remained high for others. Tampa has always been a hot bed for auto burglary; however, it has decreased over the past 3 years. The problem is that people still refuse to protect their belongings. They leave their doors unlocked or they leave valuables in their vehicles. Most property crime is preventable. Close garage doors, leave valuables out of your car, etc. Every major city has these problems.

So, do I feel safe. I moved here from a place where the entire state only has a population of 2.7 million, which is the size of Hills, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Hernando combined, yet their crime problem is four times that of Tampa's or Hillsborough county. One reasons is the lack of law enforcement presence in my previous state. You cannot drive more than 5 miles in Tampa without seeing an officer. So, to answer your question: I do feel safe. I feel safe because I am cognitive of the risks and aware of my surroundings. I refuse to be victimized, so I take precautions such as shutting my garage door, keeping my doors locked, setting my alarm, leaving valuables out of my car, locking my car, etc. These are simple steps to take to feel safe and secure.

best wishes

[jackacc]

My company was based in Ybor city just beside downtown Tampa and it was really run down and unsafe in my opinion. In fact, my coworkers saw a person get shot in the chest 20 feet from our door one morning. Isolated incident over an ex-boyfriend or something...but it still happened.

Now we were really in the dregs of the industrial area down there and most of Tampa is not like that. There are some bad blocks in that area and I have a feeling most of the crime takes place in those blocks, but you can go enjoy yourself at the channelside area or even downtown Ybor with little thought of worry.

The thing that worries me a little bit is that alot of people cally guns in FL since it is legal to conceal a weapon with a permit. This can escalate an already bad situation and a few of my friends have had guns pulled on them for driving related incidents. That scares the hell out of me.

I must say that I will never feel as safe in FL as I have in NJ or PA. There is just something about it, I can't put my finger on it, but I think there are just too many people, too many different types of people, living too close together. At least this is how I felt in Boynton Beach in south FL.

I just heard last year in Boynton that there was a gang shooting in the mall my wife and I shopped at weekly...some guy blasted another guy in the chest then ran through the mall firing his gun behind him wildly as the cops chased him down. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MALL!! Thank goodness noone was hurt but seriously...what a piece of trash. This was 4 blocks from my house! This is the kind of stuff my friend tells me about happening in Johannesburg South Africa, not in Florida!! We don't need that!

I am hoping when we move to the Odessa, Lutz area, I will feel differently.

[stpeteguy]

Living in Florida is not like living in the country. There are a lot of bad types out there and many prey on innocent people who they think will not fight back.
You have to ask yourself, what kind of person are you going to be?
Doesn't matter where you live. Either you will arm yourself and be as prepared as you know how to be or you will just "hope" that trouble passes you by.
One choice puts the outcome in your hands, the other puts the outcome in the criminals hands.

Being smart about home safety is not something you should be consumed with either. Lock your doors, lock your windows, keep valuables out of sight. Buy a dog(they never really sleep like we do, and they hear better than us).
And above all, get a gun and learn how to use it. Even if you hate guns, just learn how to use the thing, keep it in a place where you can get to it in an emergency.

Better to be smart and prepared than to be a victim.

[Trabbz]

I believe that most random acts of violent crime are rare. More common are the drug related crimes and preventable crimes such as leaving valuables in your car. I think people overreact around here with crime and with common sense you will be ok. Most of it is media propaganda intended to scare people. Thats all it does. Of course people want to know what is going on in their community, but all of it seems to be every little crime and wrong doing that happens in Tampa Bay. If everyone follows a few rules the chances of being victim to any crime around here drops dramatically.

1. Always lock your car, everywhere.
2. Always lock your house, all the time.
3. Don't keep valuables in your car to tempt thieves.
4. Drive carefully, you never know what psycho is in the car next to you waiting for a reason to rage.
5. Know your surroundings.
6. Know your neighbors.

Of course random acts of crime do happen, but use common sense and you will be ok. As a sign in the Bahamas says about condom use, "Protect ya tings mon".