For those of you who think Seattle Crime is getting bad... (Vancouver: low crime, home)

[pw72]

Originally Posted by NorthwestRepublic

what unreal about it 5 people out of 2 million in the seattle area died violent deaths. i bet a least 4 times that many died in the same area today of old age.

Yes, I just lost my mother due to old age. But this is different. These were people who had many years left. How unfortunate that you compare the two. It isn't the same.

[ghoulie13]

for a good crime website. www.burgersub.org

i live here.

its a mid-atlantic murder map.

feel safe seattle.

[green_mariner]

It is all a matter of perspective. I live in the Atlanta area, and it has been a violent city for a long time. When people often think of violent cities, places like Detroit, New York(particularly the 80s), and Chicago often come to mind, especially in the 70s and 80s. Few people mention that in 1979, Atlanta was the murder capital of the USA, or even know that at all. With the tragedies that have happened in Seattle this year, this is can be viewed in two ways. In 1994, Seattle had 69 murders. This is considered a record high for Seattle. Atlanta had 87 murders in 2011. This is actually the lowest Atlanta has ever seen since 1963. Yes, Atlanta has been a violent city for a long time. In 1974, Atlanta had 263 murders. If you look at it from that perspective, Seattle indeed has less violent crime than Atlanta.

On the other hand, it is still a tragedy when anyone gets murdered.

[evergraystate]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

On the other hand, it is still a tragedy when anyone gets murdered.

And thats the only point that matters to anyone touched by this tragedy. Everything else is just noise.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by evergraystate

And thats the only point that matters to anyone touched by this tragedy. Everything else is just noise.

I've learned something about statistics. Statistics can be used to portray a situation in any way. For instance, last year, Seattle only had 24 murders. Considering the city's population, and how many murders other cities have, Seattle looks really good. However, it is also a question of "What is the statistic you are working with"? If you are a family member of one of the victims, it doesn't matter to you that Seattle only had 24 murders. What matters to you is that YOUR family member is dead, so the statistic doesn't serve you.

Real life example. I live in Kennesaw, a suburb of Atlanta. Kennesaw is often lauded as being one of the safest suburbs in metropolitan Atlanta. Well, that didn't matter to me when three men mugged me and stole my money one night. It didn't matter because I was a crime victim. I didn't think about that because for me, on that night, Kennesaw wasn't safe anymore. I was out of money I worked for, I was scared. It was the statistic I was working with. It was the one that affects me. It didn't matter that crime is low according to written statistics. I was one of those persons who became a statistic.

I will leave you with this. Statistics can be used in any way possible, to paint any picture. On paper it is truth, in reality it is somewhat true. However, you have to consider a third category: It is true for YOU?

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

I've learned something about statistics. Statistics can be used to portray a situation in any way. For instance, last year, Seattle only had 24 murders. Considering the city's population, and how many murders other cities have, Seattle looks really good. However, it is also a question of "What is the statistic you are working with"? If you are a family member of one of the victims, it doesn't matter to you that Seattle only had 24 murders. What matters to you is that YOUR family member is dead, so the statistic doesn't serve you.

Real life example. I live in Kennesaw, a suburb of Atlanta. Kennesaw is often lauded as being one of the safest suburbs in metropolitan Atlanta. Well, that didn't matter to me when three men mugged me and stole my money one night. It didn't matter because I was a crime victim. I didn't think about that because for me, on that night, Kennesaw wasn't safe anymore. I was out of money I worked for, I was scared. It was the statistic I was working with. It was the one that affects me. It didn't matter that crime is low according to written statistics. I was one of those persons who became a statistic.

I will leave you with this. Statistics can be used in any way possible, to paint any picture. On paper it is truth, in reality it is somewhat true. However, you have to consider a third category: It is true for YOU?

Last year it had 21. The last time it even reached 30 was in the 2006. Our murder rate has been low comparatively speaking... it was even better than the 90s. How many homicides has Seattle had in the last decades? | Seattle 911 — A Police and Crime Blog - seattlepi.com

The only issue I have with these people who come in and say well, yours not so bad, Look at STL, look at Chicago, look at xxx. Its like on one hand we're not even allowed to talk about what's going on here because its not as bad as anywhere else and so therefore we shouldn't be alarmed. On the other, its also branding everyone as histrionics who overstates the seriousness of this issue-- and they must be "corrected". That's equally as annoying.

[MPLS_TC]

i agree that just because another city has more homicides doesn't take away the seriousness of whats going on in the town being discussed. you could say yeah Chicago had 500 murders but hey its really no big deal because Juarez had 3500.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Last year it had 21. The last time it even reached 30 was in the 2006. Our murder rate has been low comparatively speaking... it was even better than the 90s. How many homicides has Seattle had in the last decades? | Seattle 911 — A Police and Crime Blog - seattlepi.com

The only issue I have with these people who come in and say well, yours not so bad, Look at STL, look at Chicago, look at xxx. Its like on one hand we're not even allowed to talk about what's going on here because its not as bad as anywhere else and so therefore we shouldn't be alarmed. On the other, its also branding everyone as histrionics who overstates the seriousness of this issue-- and they must be "corrected". That's equally as annoying.

This is why I'm trying to put this in a proper perspective.

On paper, Seattle looks very good in terms of its murder rate. I'll take it over Atlanta,GA.

On the other hand, one has to look deeper to the statistics. 30 murders for a city of 600,000 sounds very tame. However, what if a family member was among the murdered? 30 murders in a year isn't going to look so good to you. It would be nice for Seattle to have NO murders.

[Beenhere4ever]

last year, Seattle only had 24 murders.

Same as St Paul MN with more than twice the population. I think when murders are rare, they stir up more controversy. Plus living in such a nice area, I think people start to fear a "trend" even if it is not there.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

Same as St Paul MN with more than twice the population. I think when murders are rare, they stir up more controversy. Plus living in such a nice area, I think people start to fear a "trend" even if it is not there.

Funny you mention St. Paul,MN. You also have a point about places where murders are rarer, it stirs up more controversy.

Traditionally, the Twin Cities have been among the safest cities in the USA. When Minneapolis hit 97 murders in 1995, a record for the city, people were scared. Minneapolis was called Murderapolis by the New York Times. No one had seen the city get that scary, and what was more interesting, is that much of the crime was being committed by people who migrated from other Midwestern cities.

It puts alot into perspective.