Can somebody help me understand this? (Sarasota, Bradenton: crime rate, home, neighborhoods)

[Golfman530]

Hi everyone,

I first want to say that I really hope that nobody takes offense to this post and I honestly do not want anyone to take it the wrong way.

My question is, why are the crime rates in the Bradenton-Sarasota area so much higher than the national average? (For example Sarasota's crime idex is 489 compared to the national average of 266 and Bradenton's crime index is 380 compared the the national average of 266.)

Once again I don't want anyone to take this this wrong way but I am asking just because I really want to know why. I currently live in Michigan and am very interested in moving to Florida in the near future. As I do research on different areas, it is really striking me how the crime statistics are higher in many areas in Florida than the national average. I understand that every place on earth has its problems (Remember I'm from Michigan...home to the most dangerous city in the country, Detroit) but I just don't understand it because from what I have heard about Sarasota and Bradenton for example has been mostly good things and they both look beautiful in pictures.

Could anyone give their thoughts or insight on this?

Thanks so much.

[bbronston]

I don't know the answer but I can guess. If you are looking at a national average, it must take into account vast areas of rural populations, too, where there is likely to be relatively little crime and that would, I expect, tend to skew the national numbers lower. Making the national numbers lower would then make areas with more dense populations relatively higher.

[Golfman530]

Thanks for that answer. That makes sense about the population. I am in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan and I know we have a rather high population because of UofM and it being such a popular school. I was just curious because Ann Arbor's crime index rates are much lower so I was really trying to compare.

[blueherons]

If you look at the cities with the highest crime rates, they will be cities in popular tourist spots.

All crimes are included in these stats so when you have a year round population of 32,000 that gets an additional 200,000 people, the crime rate is divided by 32,000 instead of the 232,000 people actually in the city.

It is based on the number in the census. Those tourists were not around for the census.

[krh6609]

Your concerns are very valid and not taken as an insult. I too had great reservations about Sarasota before moving here because of the stats. I beleive it is because of the high tourism vs population. So far, I have lived here for 3 months, live in a modest/ lower end neighborhood and have seen nothing out of the ordinary. What I have heard about is mostly isolated and petty. Florida does seem to have a pretty serios problem with pill users, but those crimes seem to be petty theft. Overall, I feel safe and feel that the good FAR outweigh the bad.

[Tiger Beer]

Criminals take vacations too, and Florida appeals more than Michigan, for that.

[macyny]

Not enough police. I hardly ever see a police officer anywhere.

[NYtoOsprey]

Originally Posted by macyny

Not enough police. I hardly ever see a police officer anywhere.

This is true!

[PixiStix]

Originally Posted by blueherons

If you look at the cities with the highest crime rates, they will be cities in popular tourist spots.

All crimes are included in these stats so when you have a year round population of 32,000 that gets an additional 200,000 people, the crime rate is divided by 32,000 instead of the 232,000 people actually in the city.

It is based on the number in the census. Those tourists were not around for the census.

This is an excellent point. Tons of people come here for sun & fun. That often includes alcohol & "letting loose". Many of those end up in our county jail because of that stupidity. They eventually go home & we get a notch on our crime statistic peg board.

I remember a couple of weeks ago, some kid from Ohio stole an Ipad from a guy from NY.... just dumb stuff & then it ends up reflecting on Sarasota when none of our residents were even involved.

[gypsychic]

All good points, and one more thing is that Florida tends to report all its crimes better than a lot of other areas.

On paper, the statistics for the area look bad, but in reality this is overall a beautiful safe place to live other than the true "ghetto" neighborhoods where the majority of the violent crimes occur.