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Yes, that's a lot different than around here. We have to pretty much lock our cars anywhere we go and our houses are locked at night/when we leave. Especially a month or two back when there were some break in's. It's not a bad neighborhood here, in fact, it's pretty nice. But still, we have our crime, which I'd also like to get away from. (I realize I can't totally escape it, but it would be nice to live in a place where I don't have to worry AS much)
Mystique,
yes, it's very different. If you want a good WY writer's perspective, read Annie Proulx's "Man Crawling Out of Trees" in Bad Dirt. It will tell you so much about the difference in values and concerns between East and West in this country.
I'm highly considering moving to Wyoming at this point within the year, and I've heard a mixed variety on violence and diversity within the state. Is it pretty much the same as most big cities or suburban areas? Or is it worse? Better?
2006 is the latest I could find on violent crime. We must have been having a bad year which can happen more easily with a small population. A small increase in incidents can cause a dramatic rise in the rate. We were forty-third highest instead of our usual forty-sixth.
The criminal subculture here is very small. Even so, that's where most of the crime is. As far as seeing fights, it's difficult unless you look for bars that are known for it. Street crime is virtually unknown in Wyoming.
Wyoming is not "diverse". The states with the least diversity have the lowest crime rates. C-D lists the racial makeup of all the cities and counties in this and every other state. Unfortunately, they only show specific crime rates and overall crime rates. As a tourist state we do have more theft from stores and related crimes. But that's not a concern for the average person.
Here are the rankings and rates of violent crime of the states.
Yes, you are over romanticizing the state and under estimating its imperfections. There are plenty of selfish people in Wyoming who don't care about anyone else, or anyone who doesn't attend their church, or is different from them in some way. There is a lot that I love about Wyoming, but people are just as imperfect there as anyplace else. Growing up in Wyoming I witnessed more physical violence, fist fights, assaults, drunken brawls and viciousness, then I ever have in the numerous other states I have lived in. Wyoming can be a hard place, don't fool yourself.
That was my experience growing up in Wyoming. It was rare for there to be a dance on a weekend without some drunken yahoo's getting in a fight. If kids from another town showed up, especially wearing high school letter jackets from a rival team, fights would be picked and they would often be run out of town. This was true in Lovell, Powell, Cody, Greybull, Thermopolis, Lander, Riverton, Laramie, Rock Springs, all places that I lived or spent a fair amount of time. When I was in high school I managed a rock and roll band, we traveled all over the state. It was so common for us to be subjected to insults and attacks, when visiting another town, that we started carrying weapons with us and had more then one altercation. As a young adult, if you had long hair or different colored skin, you were putting yourself at risk going into a bar as odds were someone would try to pick a fight with you. A couple of indian kids were put in the hospital by drunk cowboys who tried to scalp them when I was in high school in Lander. The same thing happened to a red headed kid I went to high school with, who had long hair, a couple of cowboys caught him out alone and beat him up, cutting huge chunks of his hair out with a pocket knife.
Hispanic and indian kids and adults were frequently picked on, insulted and assaulted by drunk cowboys if they were caught in small numbers in town on a Friday or Saturday night. One night I saw a couple of cowboys kicking a drunk indian who had passed out on the street. We called the cops on them, who put the indian in jail and let the cowboys go. The police were part of the problem. I once saw the Lander police mace an indian who had passed out in his car while parked at the Tastee-Freeze, he had ordered some food and fallen asleep while waiting for it. Then they stood around laughing about it before they hauled him off to jail. The indian man wasn't causing any trouble, or a threat to anyone, why did they have to mace him? Most minorities in the area never bothered calling the cops about crime they experienced, because they knew the cops were part of the problem.
A couple years after high school, several off duty cops who had been out drinking one night, decided to drive out to a small ranch just outside of town and teach those dirty long haired hippies a lesson. These so called hippies were just long haired college kids who had pooled their money to buy a small ranch and live the country life. The front gate was locked so the cops tried to shoot the padlock off. There were several friends of mine out on the ranch when this happened, they grabbed a couple rifles when they heard the shots and walked up the hill side in the dark towards the front gate to see what was going on. They recognized the cops when they got up near the fence. When one of my friends hollered out, "What the hell are you doing?" Two of the cops turned and fired their guns into the dark towards the sound of the voice. One of my friends fired his gun into the air in return, which frightened the cops, who jumped in their car and speed off. The next day my friends went into town to ask the County Sheriff to press charges against the officers, and he refused, saying there was no way he was going to press charges against any police officers for five dirty hippies.
One of my good friends when I was a senior in High School was an older indian kid who had been in Viet Nam. He was a sniper for most of his tour, until he got shot up pretty bad and put in the hospital. After he recovered and was discharged he came back to Lander where I met him as we both worked at the Texaco gas station. We hung around together until he moved back out to the reservation. It was an eye opener to me when we were out dragging main at night how much verbal abuse and insults this "purple heart" veteran was subjected to, just for being an indian.
Some people claim that Wyoming has changed and its not like that anymore. Maybe some of those hateful people I grew up around have learned to keep their mouths shut these day and not express their hatred so openly. But I doubt all of them have really changed inside and become peace loving adults who have given up their hatred towards anyone who is different from them. They have just learned to hide it better.
Statistically the records show that Wyoming has very little violent crime. But I'm sure most of the violence I witnessed never made its way onto any official reports. Those records would have made the local police look bad.
Yes, if you live out on a farm or ranch, and rarely spend much time in town except to go buy supplies and go to church, you probably won't encounter those kinds of problems and will think you live in a wonderful, peaceful bucolic state. If you read this forum very often, you will sometimes see the hatred rear its ugly head.
That is not to say Wyoming is any worse then anyplace else, but its no "Garden of Eden" either.
Mystique,
yes, it's very different. If you want a good WY writer's perspective, read Annie Proulx's "Man Crawling Out of Trees" in Bad Dirt. It will tell you so much about the difference in values and concerns between East and West in this country.
I have read Annie Proulx before in one of my classes in the past, but I don't think I ever read "Man Crawling Out of Trees." We had to read "Brokeback Mountain." I know in one of my classes in the past I read "The Laramie Project." Most of the stuff I've read about Wyoming have been events that happened in the past though. Nothing really too recent.
Thank you all so much for your wonderful help so far. So, would you all suggest I look to visit a place that's more out in the open or closer to a more populated town? Keep in mind, I spent most of my life in a more populated area. I'm really trying hard to get away from "city life" and go somewhere where I can be around more nature and the outdoors.
well our house was broke into , the door was unllocked, it was some people in thier 20s looking for perscription drugs. they too the cheap jewlery which we never got back. But they also took a new electric grease gun and 3 shot guns that were cased up ready to go to State 4-H shoot. All the other guns were left alone. We borowed some shot guns , while at the State Shoot we got a call that the Cops had found our shot guns and grease gun. The grease gun was a piece of junk should have bought a Lincoln
The cities where oil and gas are the main sources of income are a little rougher around the edges and there are things that happen occassionaly in Cheyenne and Casper but as far as violence of the kind I believe you are speaking of as in random acts there really aren't any. I wouldn't be afraid to walk through either of those bigger cities or any small ones for that matter in the middle of the night by myself. The violent acts that do happen such as a shooting, which are few and far between, are between people who know one another.
That was my experience growing up in Wyoming. It was rare for there to be a dance on a weekend without some drunken yahoo's getting in a fight. If kids from another town showed up, especially wearing high school letter jackets from a rival team, fights would be picked and they would often be run out of town. This was true in Lovell, Powell, Cody, Greybull, Thermopolis, Lander, Riverton, Laramie, Rock Springs, all places that I lived or spent a fair amount of time. When I was in high school I managed a rock and roll band, we traveled all over the state. It was so common for us to be subjected to insults and attacks, when visiting another town, that we started carrying weapons with us and had more then one altercation. As a young adult, if you had long hair or different colored skin, you were putting yourself at risk going into a bar as odds were someone would try to pick a fight with you. A couple of indian kids were put in the hospital by drunk cowboys who tried to scalp them when I was in high school in Lander. The same thing happened to a red headed kid I went to high school with, who had long hair, a couple of cowboys caught him out alone and beat him up, cutting huge chunks of his hair out with a pocket knife.
Hispanic and indian kids and adults were frequently picked on, insulted and assaulted by drunk cowboys if they were caught in small numbers in town on a Friday or Saturday night. One night I saw a couple of cowboys kicking a drunk indian who had passed out on the street. We called the cops on them, who put the indian in jail and let the cowboys go. The police were part of the problem. I once saw the Lander police mace an indian who had passed out in his car while parked at the Tastee-Freeze, he had ordered some food and fallen asleep while waiting for it. Then they stood around laughing about it before they hauled him off to jail. The indian man wasn't causing any trouble, or a threat to anyone, why did they have to mace him? Most minorities in the area never bothered calling the cops about crime they experienced, because they knew the cops were part of the problem.
A couple years after high school, several off duty cops who had been out drinking one night, decided to drive out to a small ranch just outside of town and teach those dirty long haired hippies a lesson. These so called hippies were just long haired college kids who had pooled their money to buy a small ranch and live the country life. The front gate was locked so the cops tried to shoot the padlock off. There were several friends of mine out on the ranch when this happened, they grabbed a couple rifles when they heard the shots and walked up the hill side in the dark towards the front gate to see what was going on. They recognized the cops when they got up near the fence. When one of my friends hollered out, "What the hell are you doing?" Two of the cops turned and fired their guns into the dark towards the sound of the voice. One of my friends fired his gun into the air in return, which frightened the cops, who jumped in their car and speed off. The next day my friends went into town to ask the County Sheriff to press charges against the officers, and he refused, saying there was no way he was going to press charges against any police officers for five dirty hippies.
One of my good friends when I was a senior in High School was an older indian kid who had been in Viet Nam. He was a sniper for most of his tour, until he got shot up pretty bad and put in the hospital. After he recovered and was discharged he came back to Lander where I met him as we both worked at the Texaco gas station. We hung around together until he moved back out to the reservation. It was an eye opener to me when we were out dragging main at night how much verbal abuse and insults this "purple heart" veteran was subjected to, just for being an indian.
Some people claim that Wyoming has changed and its not like that anymore. Maybe some of those hateful people I grew up around have learned to keep their mouths shut these day and not express their hatred so openly. But I doubt all of them have really changed inside and become peace loving adults who have given up their hatred towards anyone who is different from them. They have just learned to hide it better.
Statistically the records show that Wyoming has very little violent crime. But I'm sure most of the violence I witnessed never made its way onto any official reports. Those records would have made the local police look bad.
Yes, if you live out on a farm or ranch, and rarely spend much time in town except to go buy supplies and go to church, you probably won't encounter those kinds of problems and will think you live in a wonderful, peaceful bucolic state. If you read this forum very often, you will sometimes see the hatred rear its ugly head.
That is not to say Wyoming is any worse then anyplace else, but its no "Garden of Eden" either.
Okay it's not the 70's anymore, things like this would be extremely rare now in the 20th century, good grief!
Okay it's not the 70's anymore, things like this would be extremely rare now in the 20th century, good grief!
You think things have changed so much in only 40 years? Most of those people are still alive today. I have not see any evidence that their opinions have changed, other then they have learned to be less open in expressing them.
Statistically there is more violent crime in Wyoming now then there was 40 years ago. And again, that is only the crime that gets reported. I doubt that has changed much.
Most people, even in cities where there is a lot more of it, don't personally experience much violent crime. You can avoid the parts of town that tend to attract most of that activity.
But in a small community it can be harder to avoid it. There are very few places you can go to celebrate, dance or recreate that don't attract everyone else in the community. There are few alternatives. There is usually only one dance in town, one basketball or football game, only one rodeo or carnival. So, if you want to go to those events, you will find yourself mingling with people you might normally prefer to avoid.
Even hanging out with only the "better" people in town, is no guarantee of safety.
I attended my senior year of high school with these kids. Read this case, it is interesting, especially the jail house confession he made to a fellow inmate.
Craig E. SIMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee.
Craig E. Sims, defendant, was charged with two counts of murder in the first degree in connection with the death of two teenage girls. The victims had been killed by stabbing and their bodies partially buried or hidden near Lander, Wyoming. Sims was 17 years of age at the time the killings took place.
Craig was a 17 year old from a highly regarded, affluent family in town, the two girls were murdered with a knife, killed with numerous stab wounds; they were a year or two younger from middle class families. Sims was seen with the two girls the night they disappeared, Nov. 68, but in typical fashion for Lander, the police dismissed their disappearance as "runaways". After all, Craig was from a good family, his father was one of the leading business men in town. That is the way law enforcement works in Wyoming.
They dismissed the girls as runaways, until the following April, 1969, when the snow melted and the bodies were found along a gravel road just North of town. It was a popular place for teenagers to go park and make out. People I knew back then reported that Craig took them out there to smoke pot occasionally between the time they disappeared and the bodies were found.
As I recall, the expensive Sim's family lawyers got Craig committed to a mental institution. I believe I saw a news blurb a couple of years ago saying he had served his time and was back out now.
That was the Wyoming I grew up in. But I don't think it has changed all that much.
Here is a current example of the favored treatment that is granted to local law enforcement officers and prominent citizens in the state.
Charges of attempted murder were dropped Friday against Wyoming Parole Board member and former Thermopolis Police Chief Jim Weisbeck, court records show. Weisbeck, 66, was arrested June 15 and accused of attempted second-degree murder in connection with allegations that he fired a gun at his girlfriend during an argument. But Hot Springs County Attorney Jerry Williams dropped that charge, along with a second charge of attempting to influence a witness, according to the Hot Springs County Circuit Court. The latter charge came because officials had claimed that after Weisbeck fired the gun inside of his home west of Thermopolis, he threatened to kill the 51-year-old woman if she contacted law enforcement.
Hot Springs County Attorney Jerry Williams said Monday that ethics rules prevented him from publicly discussing details about why the charges were dropped. "I guess all I can say is I felt it was in the best interests of justice to do so," Williams said. Williams dropped the charges even though they had been made by local law enforcement officials against the former Thermopolis Police Chief, Jim Weisbeck.
Ethics rules prevented the County Attorney from discussing why he dropped the charges? What a load of crap! How ethical is it to let a violent perpetrator walk, just because he is a prominent member of the community? What ever happened to "Justice for all"?
All of that is sad, but the obvious favoritism in Wyoming never made me fearful. Growing up there I rarely felt that there was any need to go anywhere carrying a gun, unless I was going hunting or back packing in the wilderness. But I do carry a gun when I visit there now, because things have changed.
It concerns me greatly to read about all the militant extremist, mentally ill, gun totting fanatics who are moving to Wyoming because they are so enamored with their gun rights and the lack of government regulation that they now consider it some kind of promised land. It is not Wyoming's fault that some of the people moving there are too crazy to fit into society any other place, but they do find refuge in the sparsely populated and poorly regulated places in the state. This was a bigger problem in the past, in places like Sandpoint, Idaho, but the state put a major effort into cleaning those areas up. As a result many of those people moved on to Montana and parts of Wyoming. In my opinion, those kinds of fanatics are a bigger threat to peace and civility in Wyoming then the corrupt public officials who run the state.
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