Oregon's Most Dangerous Cities (Portland, Medford: crime rate, home security, law)

[Larry Caldwell]

Well, yeah, Ontario is next to Idaho, so what do you expect? Medford is next to California, Portland is next to Washingon, and Newport is next to ... um ...

10 Most Dangerous Cities in Oregon | Home Security Shield News Report

[urbanlife78]

Newport is next to Killer Whales.

[urbanlife78]

Though in all seriousness, the most dangerous thing about cities in Oregon is the wide range of property crime that happens. That is annoying, but not that dangerous when the violent crime numbers are so low in the state.

[CanuckInPortland]

The stats on that website might be technically true as far as the amount of property crime or violent crime in those cities--however where they state figures like "1 in 12" is your chance of being a victim of crime in Ontario--it's a little misleading. Because property crime includes crimes to businesses(such as shoplifting or store break-ins) or things like bike theft--it doesn't necessarily mean that 1 in 12 people will experience crime at their home or on the street. Some businesses are repeatedly the targets of crime, which can drive up property crime figures.

Also they simply combine property crimes and violent crimes into total reported crimes to report on "danger". A lot of places in have high property crimes(lots of car break-ins if you leave something in your car), but not high violent crime rates.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Well, yeah, Ontario is next to Idaho, so what do you expect?....

Idaho has less crime than Oregon. Ontario's high rate is because of Hispanic gangs. Idaho law enforcement worries about violence spilling over from Ontario.

[oldtrader]

To to FBI crime rate statistics, and you find that Oregon crime rates are actually on the low side compared to the U.S. as a whole.

That article was just someone wanting to get some attention. That article does not really tell you any thing.

[PNW-type-gal]

The (outgoing) police chief here in Medford wrote an op-ed for the local paper when the stats were first released (maybe 6 months ago?), in which he claimed that the problem with the FBI "uniform" crime stats is that aren't - uniform, that is. Different jurisdictions report crimes in different ways and label certain crimes - such as what is and is not a "violent" crime - different ways. He claimed that Medford ranks where it does because the city toes the line on how crimes are reported and a lot of other cities in Oregon don't.

As far as whether that is true or not, I can't actually find that stats to back that up or deny it. Certainly Medford has it's share of crime, much of it related to the drug problems.

[opossum1]

If your property is stolen, you're a victim of a crime: yes, even if it's your bike or your business' inventory.

And property crime always has potential to turn violent--when things go wrong.

[redguard57]

Compared to Washington and California we're better off with the exception of Ontario.

[caliguy92832]

Originally Posted by karlsch

high rate is because of Hispanic gangs

Alot of them are moving to Oregon from California.