The Perception of Crime

[WhoDatInMD]

Originally Posted by pgtvatitans

If you have lived in a dangerous, urban place for most of your life, you may consider something safe that someone, who grew up in a suburban area, to be unsafe.

I believe this. I was born and raised in New Orleans. I was there during all of the high crime and "murder capital of the world" years. I grew up in homes with bars on the windows and doors. I attended Orleans parish public schools from elementary to high school, catching public transportation to and from school. I also spent a lot of time in south-side Chicago and Jackson and north Mississippi where I spent time with family. I experienced a lot during my younger years that gave me a negative perception of life in general.

That being said, I took all my experiences into account and still decided to rent an apt in PG county before moving to the area without knowing much about it. Before deciding, I read countless threads here on city-data and advice from other sources where people talked about how dangerous PG County is. I knew that not all of PG County could be dangerous based on what I perceived as dangerous because there were many nice parts of New Orleans that I wished I could have grown up in at the time . I moved to Bowie, which IMO is one of the nicer parts of PG, and was blown away with how nice it was after moving up here compared to where I came from. I'm glad I didn't fall for the generalizations of PG county as a whole being dangerous. I've also been to other parts of PG county, even some of the "Heights" and never felt uncomfortable. I haven't experienced any type of crime since being up here, but my experience has also taught me things to do and not to do so that I won't make myself a target of crime.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

In with Crime happens everywhere before someone else does.

I firmly believe some of it is what I said in another thread, that people develop a tolerance for crime related to the incidence of it where they grew up/live.

I would give examples from my 30 years working in Prince George's but I don't feel like getting called names.

I see it here, oh Christ, do I see it here. Every month the Sheriff's Department gives a previous month report at the Town Council meeting. Invariably someone will go nuts on one or another type of incident. A few months ago property crimes (car break ins) tripled from one month to another. People at the meeting went nuts until the Deputy explained that all but 1 of the 9 reported incidents stemmed from people not locking their cars and leaving expensive/desirable items (GPS, a couple laptops, a ****ing wallet) in plain view. Only one locked car was broken into and nothing was stolen (my guess, drunk walking home fell into the car, especially since I know the victim's neighbor).

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

I agree. There's a story behind those numbers. Not all crime is random and wonton. A lot of it can be between individuals who are related some way.

And to both of these points, I think it's interesting in light of the "Thug Music" trial, that we have a tremendous difference in reaction to crime and the story behind it. When it came to the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial, there were many who were angry, even to the point that residents across the country, even Prince George's County, began to protest what happened in the Martin/Zimmerman case. But just at the end of last year, people were elated to know that crime in Prince George's County had dropped tremendously and it was celebrated in spite of having 50+ people killed. If one who was not intimate with the community in PG, it would seem as though racially motivated crimes were a bigger problem than intra-racial crimes. The public's reaction to crimes certainly lends to how people see things. Are the 50+ murders that happened in PG last year, less of a concern than one that happened in Florida the year before? How people perceive the importance of crime certainly helps shape a perception of a place as well. The story behind the numbers definitely seems to be important to people.