What is the cause of all the Crime in Jacksonville? (Miami: condos, neighborhoods)

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by coolyfett

So what do you think is the cause for all the crime in the city? There is no wrong answer.

Criminals.

[dalmain]

Is Jacksonville really that bad? It's a place I'm really considering moving to. I live in Miami and we have our bad areas and high crime. But Jacksonville sounds like it's worst from some of the post I've read here. I want a change of scenery and a place that is more calm.

[BabyBoomers2]

Parts of Jax can be/are that bad, but we very seldom hear police sirens in the area where we live.....closest intersection is Southside and Baymeadows.

Originally Posted by dalmain

Is Jacksonville really that bad? It's a place I'm really considering moving to. I live in Miami and we have our bad areas and high crime. But Jacksonville sounds like it's worst from some of the post I've read here. I want a change of scenery and a place that is more calm.

[dspenc8888]

The Jacksonville Metro Area as a whole is great. There are some undesirable areas and just like anywhere, you have to be careful and pay attention to what's going on around you. In all areas of the city and surrounding area, there are great places to live and raise a family.

As far as causes of increases in crime. Underfunded public service, lack of community investment in downtown, poor parenting and lack of daily activities available in low income neighborhoods, etc. There will always be criminals, education and high income don't eliminate greed and unethical people from harming others, look at Madoff, and even here in Jax the Wayne McLeod and many others have duped innocent investors. I think those criminals are worse.

[IndigoLight]

Originally Posted by coolyfett

How long has Rutherford been in? I don't remember Jax being this bad when Nat Glover was in the streets.

You are joking, right? There were more crimes committed by police officers on his watch than ever before, his own son included. Here are just a couple of examples:
Murder on a Sunday Morning - DVD Movie Central
Jury Selection Begins In Karl Waldon Trial - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville (http://www.news4jax.com/news/1695667/detail.html - broken link)
Rutherford is trying to clean up what what was left for him by his predecessor and can't for many reasons.

I agree with many posters who mentioned lack of education, poverty, no sense of community, no parks, nothing to do for youth, etc, etc. It is a problem in many large cities, not just Jacksonville.
In addition to that, I also think it was a bad idea to create income restricted apartments all over the city. While I am sure it was done with best intentions, to give people a chance, an opportunity for a better life and so on, and while I hope that some people did take advantage of geographical change, it looks as if it also backfired as it spread the crime all over the city, where before it was pretty much confined to a couple of rough areas.
I am not rich by any means and do not look down on people who have little, but I do believe that people should work for what they have, otherwise they don't appreciate it enough.
(And I am not talking about helping out/giving to children, elderly and disabled).

Jax is also unique in a way that we have only one police department.
In most metro areas of such size there are city and county police departments, thus, double police force.

P.S. Mayor is proposing to cut salaries of city employees, which would include police force.
With the crime being so high, instead of hiring more police officers, let's encourage them to look for another job

[luvingme23]

Criminals.

Is Jacksonville really that bad? It's a place I'm really considering moving to. I live in Miami and we have our bad areas and high crime. But Jacksonville sounds like it's worst from some of the post I've read here. I want a change of scenery and a place that is more calm.

crime in jacksonville gets blown out of proportion. that's actually surprising because all you hear on the news is sports and weather. but for some reason this forum makes jville out to be a war zone. the reality is that even in the so called high crime areas of which there aren't many it's rather boring. the average concern you would have to worry about is stupid stuff like theft and vandalism. it's no where near the issues that they have in miami where alot of stuff doesn't even get reported. they don't even have gangs here. i've heard the claims and it's just so exaggerated that it's unreal. jville residents and very superficial. if they see an area that is old, run down, and has a high number of residents that are of color then they automatically assume that it's high crime there. since jville keeps expanding without reinvesting in already developed areas then more of those places exist. thus, people keep assuming that crime is growing. then they take a few stats out of a handful of stories to "support" their claims. it's so tame here compared to most growing cities that's is rather boring let alone dangerous.

You are joking, right? There were more crimes committed by police officers on his watch than ever before, his own son included.

dude, that's only if you consider the ones where police were actually found guilty of something. under Rutherford cops get free and walk. these cops shot a toddler and just got extra training for a penalty. as far as i'm concerned both aren't worth 2 cents.


ps. this thread is old. it needs to die.

[parks71]

Originally Posted by luvingme23

crime in jacksonville gets blown out of proportion. that's actually surprising because all you hear on the news is sports and weather. but for some reason this forum makes jville out to be a war zone. the reality is that even in the so called high crime areas of which there aren't many it's rather boring. the average concern you would have to worry about is stupid stuff like theft and vandalism. it's no where near the issues that they have in miami where alot of stuff doesn't even get reported. they don't even have gangs here. i've heard the claims and it's just so exaggerated that it's unreal. jville residents and very superficial. if they see an area that is old, run down, and has a high number of residents that are of color then they automatically assume that it's high crime there. since jville keeps expanding without reinvesting in already developed areas then more of those places exist. thus, people keep assuming that crime is growing. then they take a few stats out of a handful of stories to "support" their claims. it's so tame here compared to most growing cities that's is rather boring let alone dangerous.


dude, that's only if you consider the ones where police were actually found guilty of something. under Rutherford cops get free and walk. these cops shot a toddler and just got extra training for a penalty. as far as i'm concerned both aren't worth 2 cents.


ps. this thread is old. it needs to die.

I'm a little confused how crime is overplayed here in Jax when it is a statistical fact that we have led the state in crime per capita for the past TEN years, what more do you need? While I do think the majority of crime is in pockets through out the city, it sure is spreading to more areas. My coworker who was working during the day and had a gun stuck to his head will disagree with you that its boring here and not dangerous but this has not happened to you so therefor it does not exist right?

I know several people who have had their houses broken into including myself and in the middle of the day. While you call that just theft, it is until your kid comes home while the burglar is still in the house which also happened. Thats when the situation becomes dangerous. I am not saying its not safe to go anywhere but I am saying you need to be aware of where you are in town and it's no disney world like you make it sound out to be everywhere. Jax crime rate is much higher than many major cities and there is plenty of room for improvment.

[dalmain]

So is Jacksonville worse than Miami? Here in miami we have murders, robberies and other crimes almost in a daily basis. You just have to be alert and avoid certain areas if possible. I thought Jacksonville was more laid back. Crime is everywhere, but I thought it would be less than flashy miami.

[fsu813]

There's a disconnect here.

If people are so scared of crime now in Jax, especially violent crime, they must have been absolutely terrified 10, 20 years ago.

Since 1992, when violent crime was at it's peak, about 77k incidents that year, it has plummeted to about 48k incidents last year, in 2009. That's about a 38% drop in violent crime in that last 18 years.

From 2008 to 2009 alone, here are some very impressive stats:

Murder -13.9%
Rape -16.8%
Robbery -19.7%
Agg. Assualt -13.2%
All Violent Crime -15.7%

Police departments used to be very happy with a 5% drop back in the day, now double digit yearly drops have been the norm

Burglary -5.9%
Larceny -8%
Vehicle Theft -32.5%
All Propety Crime -9.6%

As you can see non-violent crimes are also significantly down, just year to year.

JSO, btw, out performs the national average by A LOT.

These are the clearance rates of incidents, meaning the % that they found the suspect and processed him/her:

Murder Jax 78.8% National 53.6%
Rape Jax 69.3% National 41.6%
Robbery Jax 23.7% National 21.5%
Agg. Assualt Jax 55.7% National 47%
All Violent Crime Jax 45.3% National 36.9%

Burglary Jax 12.1% National 9.1%
Larceny Jax 20.3% National 14.1%
Vehicle Theft Jax 19.6% National 8.7%
All Property Crime Jax 18% National 12.3%

Jacksonville Sherriff's Office, is very, very good.

So either everyone was lucky to be alive back then, or people should stop exaggerating and sensationalizing crime (especially the media) now.

By the way, this is a national trend. Crime, especially violent crme, has been coming down, and down, and down for the last 20 years.....but at the same time, people's fear of it has gone up.

Very strange and irrational.

Thought this conversation needed a few facts. =)

You're welcome.

[abvavgjoe]

luvingme23 said

...out of a handful of stories to "support" their claims. it's so tame here compared to most growing cities that's is rather boring let alone dangerous.

fsu813 said

violent crime..... has plummeted to about 48k incidents last year, in 2009.

Um,...48,000 incidents of violent crime doesn't sound "safe" and "boring" to me.