Why is crime high in Fairbanks? (Anchorage: violent crime, neighborhood, high school)

[squarebanksian]

I agree with what everyone has said so far about the weather and crime in fairbanks...i'm 17 and i've lived there since i was 13, i've seen the ugly side of life in fairbanks...i'm saying this because you say you have kids and i think the peer culture in fairbanks between the teens is pretty negative...i sold drugs for most of my teenage years and i've seen lost of kids with good parents go down the wrong road...I suggest if you do decide to come to fairbanks that you learn what some of the signs are for the beginnings of drug abusing behaviors and keep a close eye on who your kids are hanging out with...i don't want to scare you because i love fairbanks, and believe it's a wonderful place to raise a family, just be careful

[RayinAK]

There is a lot more crime, including murder, in Anchorage than Fairbanks, because more people live there. Also, there is a lot of fighting among students at the high schools in Anchorage than in Fairbanks. There are more gang crimes there, too. In general, crimes such as breaking and entering are common throughout Alaska. There are a lot of sexual-related and domestic abuse crimes, perhaps because of alcohol and drug use, coupled to the long hours darkness.

But in reality it's relatively safe in Fairbanks, except for late a night without people around, and perhaps around the South end of Fairbanks at night. Other than that, most folks are armed up here, so you won't see crimes such as carjacks, and holdups as you see in large cities. I have never seen (with my own eyes) a crime committed since I have been in Alaska, and I have been here since 1979. Maybe because I stay away from trouble as I recognize ahead of time? I lived in some of the worst neighborhoods of the Big Apple long ago.

[siamiam]

this is by far the safest town ive ever lived in honestly. looking at most of the police blogs you'll see that most of the crimes are pretty petty and tame compared to a lot of other places.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by siamiam

this is by far the safest town ive ever lived in honestly. looking at most of the police blogs you'll see that most of the crimes are pretty petty and tame compared to a lot of other places.

I agree with you. I hear about HS students fighting in Anchorage, but I haven't heard of the same happening around Fairbanks. Now, I could attest that quite a lot of drivers only slow down at the full-stop sign, and don't use blinkers

[User 2]

Why is there such a higher incident of crime in Fairbanks than other places?

Desperation, despondency, dependency, destitution, dementia, ...all that comes immediately to mind.

Too many people to sustain high and varied expectations. Too large a portion of population who'd rather not be there, and know they'll not stay. Too many workers with too little work. Cultural and ethnic differences and no wish to change. Greed, avarice, hate, ....immorality and amorality.

A case could be made for any or all of those things.

One can't discount cabin fever, or misty eyed visions of some who believe they still have a right to dispense on their own, what they would call 'frontier justice'.

Does Fairbanks have a higher rate of crime than similarly sized cities?

http://www.ci.fairbanks.ak.us/documents/police/stats/UAF-UCRAnalysis-2005.pdf (broken link)

According to this recent study, the answer appears to be confirmed.

Considering that many rapes go unreported, to note that Alaska and Fairbanks are among places leading the nation in reported rapes, means one can't ignore that rape is a serious problem.

Why is all this so? A better question might be why hasn't the per capita crime rate been going down? Why hasn't the crime rate been able to be lowered?

I hear all this talk of growing our cities, growing our state, and how positive all that growth will be for us, how much better, and better off, we, as a society, will become.

If that's so, why are we seeming to become less and less civilized the more populous we become?

Why is the rate per capita of crime and imprisonment growing? Why isn't it steady, or on the decline?

If I wanted to raise a family in a safe and secure city, I wouldn't move to a place where crime is higher than most other places, and I wouldn't move to a place where crime rates were steadily rising faster than other places.

I'd move to a place where I'd have no need to even begin to wonder if I, or my family, might just be able to get away with avoiding high rates of crime.

You don't weigh the odds of something happening, just to gamble the odds won't apply to you, one weighs the odds, to avoid having the odds catch up to you.

[siamiam]

just take a walk down a typical street in fairbanks and any other town and you will see that is is much safer then most places.

a lot of the crimes that does happen gets reported more offen then they do in other places. lots of other places over look a lot of crime. the community is more keen to knowing other peoples buisness and gossip goes fast.

[RayinAK]

My goodness, User 2

I have been around Fairbanks since 1987, and can tell you that it's NOT like you have said. Yes, there are crazy people, drunks, stupid, depressed, rapists, toilet huggers, and munchkins, etc., but not any more than other places in Alaska.

[User 2]

Let's see if this makes sense.

The statistics weren't invented by me, crime rates per capita are higher in Fairbanks than other places, and those statistics have been studied by the University that's actually based in Fairbanks, their studies of those statistics doesn't say the statistics are in error. ....Ok.

siamian says it' just an anomoly, some kind of quirk having to do with Fairbanksians themselves, .....sure there's all those crimes reported, but it's just reported more in Fairbanks.

Originally Posted by siamian

a lot of the crimes that does happen gets reported more offen then they do in other places. lots of other places over look a lot of crime.

......OK.

And then you tell me Fairbanks has all kinds of undesirable characters, and everywhere else in Alaska has just as many of them.

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Yes, there are crazy people, drunks, stupid, depressed, rapists, toilet huggers, and munchkins, etc., but not any more than other places in Alaska.

OK.....

Put those two posts together and the crime rate is high all over Alaska.

Funny how the people who study those things in their professional capacities can't be as astute as to ascertain what the deal is.

Who knew the whole state would have just as high reported crime rates if those lazy Alaskans in other cities would just get out and report those crimes being committed by all the crazy people, drunks, stupid, depressed, rapists, toilet huggers, and munchkins that live in their cities.

Thanks for the heads up, siamian and ray.....

You've shown me a whole 'nother perspective.

I guess now, we all know why the crime rate is so high in Fairbanks......

[Arcticthaw]

The percieved crime rate in Alaska is bcaues all the outsiders have come up and added to the problem, plus they have brought their version of justice... so we can't take the problem people crabbing, or fishing, or hunting any more.

[RayinAK]

There are two ways to look at the data: If you look at the number of crimes per capita, more crimes are committed in some of the smaller towns than in larger ones.

Just forget about the per capita number for a moment, and match the total number of crimes committed in Fairbanks against the number of crimes in Anchorage, Juneau, etc., and you will notice that the most populated cities in Alaska have the highest number of the same types of crimes committed throughout Alaska. The more people, the more crime. If you look at the per-capita data, then it's possible to have more crimes committed in Fairbanks alone than in Colorado.