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Anecdotal evidence is NOT reliable evidence. A newspaper story with a drug bust means nothing - zero -zilch. In fact in some towns the newspapers won't print many crime stories because its bad for tourism.
Why would one New Mexico town have a "domestic violence " problem and another not? Do you have any numbers to back that up ? Even if you did it might mean some places had better recording keeping than others. Is AQlamogordo so boring that spouse beating is about the only entertainment? Is the weather so hot that people are too lazy to leave the house and raather get beat up?
Generalizations from a new article .. or even two or three are WORTHLESS.
Anecdotal evidence is NOT reliable evidence. A newspaper story with a drug bust means nothing - zero -zilch. In fact in some towns the newspapers won't print many crime stories because its bad for tourism.
Why would one New Mexico town have a "domestic violence " problem and another not? Do you have any numbers to back that up ? Even if you did it might mean some places had better recording keeping than others. Is AQlamogordo so boring that spouse beating is about the only entertainment? Is the weather so hot that people are too lazy to leave the house and raather get beat up?
Generalizations from a new article .. or even two or three are WORTHLESS.
I can't speak for any of those towns not having lived in any. I would say some places would be more prone to domestic violence than others however. While I can't support it with facts my guess is the poorer an area is the more likely stress, unemployment, alcohol, drugs etc come into play. Mix any of those items and crimes in general rise. That's not hard to see or figure out.
Anecdotal evidence is NOT reliable evidence. A newspaper story with a drug bust means nothing - zero -zilch. In fact in some towns the newspapers won't print many crime stories because its bad for tourism.
Why would one New Mexico town have a "domestic violence " problem and another not?
I'm not sure anyone said that other towns don't have a domestic violence problem. Domestic violence occurs at a high rate in New Mexico, period. In 2003 New Mexico ranked 3rd among states in reports of domestic violence-I'm not sure about more recently. I haven't seen statistics that break it down town by town or county by county, but the latter are probably there since reporting is probably done on a county basis.
A little knowledge is dangerous. When a person examines statistics they need a basic understanding of methodology. Once can't always compare different states because crimes are classified differently and reporting records are not maintained uniformly in across all states.
In some places they have automatic arrest for domestic fighting because they don't want to risk the people being alone together . Other places don't do that. Some departments have aggressive programs vs domestic violence, others use their resources for career criminals. Some places have County Attorneys who only focus on misdemeanors while in other places all crimes are prosecuted by one agency.
This is not the same as throwing a coin in the air and knowing the more times you do that the more likely it will end up 50% heads and 50% tails. There are INDEPENDENT VARIABLES and they skew the results. Each one -- police departments, prosecutor schemes, criminal classifications, grants depending on Domestic violence arrests, makes it more like apples and oranges than apples w apples.
In all these posts there is no scientific or reliable evidence that Alamogordo is any different than any other palce. nothing. Not only is there no evidence but there are no intelligent explanations. An example of the latter would be -- "Alamogordo has a big cocaine problem perhaps because coca trees grow all over the place.."
Not to bad talk the cities/towns on the list, per se, just the ordering of towns in New Mexico from better to worse is impossible at best, unfair at worst.
After taking the time to compare statistics from the City Data site (see excerpt below), I have to give Alamogordo its due since it does indeed come out looking like #1 on that list for lowest crime rate. My reaction initially was based on personal knowledge of the problems in Alamogordo that caused me to challenge the idea that it is a low crime area. As others have mentioned in this thread, it's all relative and comparisons imply that each town uses the same criteria when reporting crimes.
Example: Alamogordo area enforcement includes: ICE/Border Patrol, Military MP, ATF, Forest Service Police, State HP, County Sheriff, and Alamo PD.
They never end. The Best Cities to live articles. They constantly change. Just change a parameter in your statistics, and you get new results. Why move to the best place? Buy the time you get there and unpack it will no longer be the "Best City" to live in. But they are still fun to read, sometimes...
10 Best Cities to Live in New Mexico:
10. Hobbs
9. Artesia
8. Roswell
7. Carlsbad
6. Las Cruces
5. Rio Rancho
4. Santa Fe
3. Farmington
2. Silver City
1. Alamogordo
You have to go with the best place FOR YOU to live in. None of these listed have any large percentage of Native Americans like Gallup. You know, though, I'm glad the world thinks what it does of Gallup. MORE FOR ME, thank you.
Joqua - With that many cops on the payroll they must have arrested nearly everyone by now. Every town has its share of criminals. The numbers seem to be inversely proportional to the poverty rate. Just read the "Police blotter" in your local newspaper for a good example of your local crime scene. Even our prosperous little town has, by these standards, a drug problem.
Of the towns listed I would put Rio Rancho at the top, Alamogordo second and Silver third. If we ever move or snowbird I would prefer Socorro (not listed).
Joqua - With that many cops on the payroll they must have arrested nearly everyone by now. Every town has its share of criminals. The numbers seem to be inversely proportional to the poverty rate. Just read the "Police blotter" in your local newspaper for a good example of your local crime scene. Even our prosperous little town has, by these standards, a drug problem.
I live in Londonderry, New Hampshire. This is a prosperous semi rural community within the commuting range of Boston and the industrial areas in the ring roads. In the last 20+ years the population more than doubled.
Our police blotter (police call record) is predominantly auto speed violations, domestic violence and drugs.
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