[Prichard]

I've lived in Central Florida most of my life. So have much of my family. I've lived in the Tampa St. Pete area for several years, and have spent much time in Atlanta.

The only crime that I've personally experienced in my entire life is having my car broken into and stereo stolen. No one in my family has had any crime committed against them, except while in Atlanta (car stolen while at a convenience store). And, I can't even name even one friend that has been a victim of a burglary or violent crime. I have been all over Orlando, including west Orlando, Pine Hills, Azalia Park, and Bithlo (when Bithlo was more or less just old junk yards). I've never felt threatened by anyone.

The only thing that I witnessed that was a little scary was a full blown riot that occurred in St. Petersburg in 1988 on July 4th. I was in the middle of a huge traffic jam in central St. Pete. There was a pick-up truck with 4 white girls in the back. 4 black men/teens got out of a 4 door sedan, jumped the girls in the truck and pulled them out into the street. Suddenly, there were white guys with ax handles beating the black guys and it turned into a very short lived race riot. Lasted all but 5-10 minutes, and then disbursed. No cops. Never made it into the news, and I got out of there as quick as I could.

That's the worst thing I've seen happen anywhere in Florida in the decades that I've lived here.

The problem that I have with the reporting of "crime statistics" and the way that crime is treated in the news, is that they tend to blow things way out of proportion. First, Central Florida is a very large area, and most of the violent crimes take place in west-downtown Orlando, Pine Hills, and a couple of the poorer areas of some of the outlying towns. Even people who live in these areas don't feel that they live in any kind of "war zone".

If you eliminate car break-ins, and the trouble spots, I'd say that Central Florida's crime is pretty low. Low enought to where I don't generally worry about it at all.

For example, I knew an older gentleman, from Manhattan, who was staying in a hotell in downtown Orlando. He was scared to walk outside of his hotell at night to go down the street to get a bite to eat. In reality, I had to explain to him that Orlando was not like Manhattan. He couldn't wonder off into a bad area, and I was certain that no one would ever bother him.

I can't speak for Miami. But, as long as you're not looking for trouble in the rough areas of town, most cities in Florida in general are not full of crazed violent people looking to attack you.

[pslOldTimer]

Since so many people say that crime is bad in Florida, so bad that people are considering whether or not to move here, I guess it must be true.

REMINDER TO SELF: Keep looking for those lost housekeys. If you don't find them in a reasonable time, get a locksmith to rekey them and this time, try not to lose them. NOTE TO SELF: What's a reasonable time? Well, certainly less than the 7 years they've been lost...

[seeriously]

Is anywhere safe in Florida? Nope, apparently not. Here's a story that appeared in the Florida papers recently...

UNEXPECTED GUEST

A 9-foot alligator banged against the door of a home on Beacon Square Drive in Holiday at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The homeowner called Pasco County deputies, who found the reptile on the home's front porch. However, it then crawled to neighbor Jeff Akins' backyard.

"The sheriff tells me he needs to get into my backyard because they're chasing a giant alligator," said Akins. "This is the largest gator I've ever seen in my life."

The apparently hungry gator appeared to be going after Akins' neighbors' cat, Alabaster, who was unharmed.

"It was aggressive in the backyard," said Akins. "It was trying to climb the fence trying to find a way out. Its size, when he put himself up against the 6-foot fence, his snout was pretty close to the top of the fence."

Deputies called a trapper, who brought the raging reptile under control with a lasso, much to the amusement of Akins' 7-year-old son, Devin.

"I had to go wake him up because he's crazy about alligators," said Akins. "I went to his room. I said, 'You gotta come see this. I don't care if you miss school.' And he saw it and he was thrilled to death."

The trapper said residents should expect more alligator sightings around town due to all the recent heavy rain.

[mk1116]

I live in the Village of Wellington, PBC. I feel VERY SAFE. There are area's in PBC where there are problems but they are not places the normal middle class person would go.

[seeriously]

I have a friend who was mugged by an armed and masked alligator. The reptile grabbed him by his ankle and wrestled him to the ground and took his wallet. When he saw that the wallet was alligator skin he bit off his leg in revenge.

[tallrick]

Really Florida is not unsafe, I have never been a victim of crime and have lived here 38 years. But I drive a rusty old car, my house is deliberately run down and I have cameras everywhere and several guns. If you make yourself a target you are going to be a victim. Use common sense and you'll do fine in Florida. Besides it's the government that's the biggest criminal here, not the low life on the street. Also if you get a lot of work done to your home , contractors hire the cheapest rif-raf labor to work for them. They often return, of their associates do at a later date to liberate some of your stuff. I do all my own repairs so no one knows what I have in here. Avoid the obvious darker "high crime" areas, they look the same here as anywhere else and you will not be a victim.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

I need to ask the ones that say that Florida is not safe.

Questions: How many times has someone broke in your home?

How many people kill in your block?

How many rapes with 5 miles?

How many times was your car stolen?

Now I live in Northwest Florida, town of Navarre for 8 years and have not had a problem. I lived in Satellite Beach for 4 years and did leave the door open and nothing ever happen (off base housing). Moved to Homestead and this was a bit strange town, but Hurricane Andrew got me a one way ticket to San Antonio Tx.

Florida is a safe state, all depend on your location within a town/city. Nothing different from NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Antonio, Vegas or LA. Crime is found in the whole country, but my fellow members need to answer my questions. Can something happen to YOU? YES, what are your chances, depend on your location, due your research and evaluate your options. Waiting on your replies....

I have not received a reply to my questions. We can criticize but we can’t answer the questions

[pslOldTimer]

I think you can safely assume the answer everyone had to your questions was "None", or surely someone would have come blasting with both barrels...

[bamboosmom]

Have you taken a funny pill recently? LOL

[SunshineState]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

I need to ask the ones that say that Florida is not safe.

Questions: How many times has someone broke in your home?

How many people kill in your block?

How many rapes with 5 miles?

How many times was your car stolen?

Now I live in Northwest Florida, town of Navarre for 8 years and have not had a problem. I lived in Satellite Beach for 4 years and did leave the door open and nothing ever happen (off base housing). Moved to Homestead and this was a bit strange town, but Hurricane Andrew got me a one way ticket to San Antonio Tx.

Florida is a safe state, all depend on your location within a town/city. Nothing different from NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Antonio, Vegas or LA. Crime is found in the whole country, but my fellow members need to answer my questions. Can something happen to YOU? YES, what are your chances, depend on your location, due your research and evaluate your options. Waiting on your replies....

On your post.....Have you ever looked at the FDLE Sex Offenders List? Look up how many are within 5 miles of where you live and I am sure you will be shocked....good neighborhood or not!

http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/homepage.do

Within 5 mils of my zipcode: Total Sexual Offender(s)/Predator(s) Found: 180 within 5.0 miles ......what's yours?

Florida has murders on the rise and is crawling with Sexual Offenders! I live in a pretty affluent subdivision and just last week a woman was murdered less than one mile from my home. My car hasn't gotten stolen because it is in a "locked" garage and has a security system but my husbands work truck was broken into a few years ago.