Most dangerous states to live in

[quaoar]

http://www.governmentguide.com/community_and_home/where_i_live/dangerstates.adp

1 Nevada -- violent crime up 18 percent
2 Louisiana -- murder rate very high
3 New Mexico -- high rates of rape and assault
4 Arizona -- great place to get a car stolen
5 Maryland -- highest rate of robbery in America
6 South Carolina -- highest rate of aggravated assault
7 Florida -- high rates of robbery and aggravated assault
8 Tennessee -- burglary and aggravated assault
9 Alaska -- said to have triple the national average for rape.
10 California -- car theft, robberies and murder

http://money.aol.com/special/dangerousstates06

The safest state in America is North Dakota, followed by Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Wyoming.

[NVMojo]

1. yep, that's my state alright ...but alot of it is in the Las Vegas area

which is 8 hours south of where I live. However, we've even seen a rise in violent crime in this rural city with increaseed transient mining populations.

[NYC]

2. I couldn't find New York.

It wouldn't load for me. Can anyone tell me what New York is? Thanks in advance.

[Nite Owl]

4. NY is ranked

31, below MA above NJ

[NYC]

5. Not bad.

I guess I can sleep soundly tonight. :) Thanks for letting me know.

[AndyTiedye]

3. But Are North Dakota and Wyoming Safe for BLUE PEOPLE?

Vermont and Maine are beautiful and blue, but BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
New Hampshire has turned blueish, but still BRRRRRRRRRRRR!

North Dakota is DOUBLE BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! and very RED to boot.
Will they try to ban abortion like South Dakota?

Wyoming is very red too, and has the same concerns.

[Qanisqineq]

17. ND should be safe for blue people

I grew up there, my parents and grandparents live there and they are democrats. Most of the farmers in the area they live in (except the BIG farmers) are or lean democrat. People may argue with you about politics but it's usually good-natured. But it may depend on what part of the state. Just watch out for my grandma if you are a republican and she finds out -- she gets so pissed if she finds out someone she knows likes Bush or the republicans.

As for the abortion issue, I hope not. I believe there is only one abortion clinic in the state in Fargo. I find it strange that Bismarck, Minot, and Grand Forks don't offer that service.

[JeffR]

6. State of confusion

[Sugarcoated]

7. Sorry to point out

But did anyone else notice most of the red states south of the border are up there in the ranking? That and divorce.

[Clark2008]

13. I knew we couldn't get through the thread without that.

Geesch.

And, no, I noticed that four were Southern states, which isn't "most" in a list of 10 (Maryland's not exactly "Southern," even if it's below the Mason-Dixon Line. Neither is Florida, culturally, except for the panhandle, if you want to get technical about it).

[FellowDemocrat]

8. Arizona

I live in Tempe, AZ. My truck was broken into once and my cd's were stolen. Bastards. Oh yeah and someone keyed the same truck.

[newyawker99]

11. Hi FellowDemocrat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Awsi Dooger]

9. My best friend was murdered here in Las Vegas two years ago

Still unsolved. It was day to day normalcy, then he disappeared. Body found in the desert more than a month later, a gunshot victim and so badly decomposed it took a DNA match via his mother to verify identity. Really impacted me, big loss of energy and staying away from areas I used to frequent.

Definitely a noticeable uptick in violence, especially just east of the Strip where I used to live. Many large businesses have moved away from that area. leaving big empty structures.

[snowbear]

10. The numbers for Alaska should be explained a little...

Most people have heard about cities in Alaska like Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau.

But the state is MASSIVE in size and has literally HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of what are referred to as "rural bush villages"



The "rural bush" means any village not accessable to a road system. If you look at a map of Alaska, that includes MOST villages.

Within most of those villages (aside from the larger ones like Nome, Bethel, Barrow, etc.) the only law enforcement available --- IF the village is lucky enough to have the position filled -- are "Village Public Safety Officers" (VPSO's)

The reason villages have a tough time keeping those jobs filled are they are UN-ARMED !!! You seriously have to be crazy to take a VPSO job I think.

When a VPSO finds themself in an emergency (which is daily), they have to call a town or city with state troopers to fly in for backup. Even in murder cases, because of adverse weather, that can sometimes take a day or two.

In most of the rural villages, the main employment (for villagers) is fighting wildfires in the summer time, so unemployment out there is HIGH. Positions like health aides, teachers, etc. are the exception.

The villages here are either "wet, dry, or damp". wet = alcohol is sold, dry = alcohol is illegal, damp = alcohol can be flown in from the city for personal use, but cannot be sold in the village.

Regardless of their status, most of the villages in the state have a SEVERE problem with alcohol and alcohol-related violence.

Because Alaska has such a unique layout with extremely remote native villages, barely any law-enforcement, and unfortunately, very heavy alcohol problems (LOTS of bootlegging), crimes like rape are commonplace.

Crime rates are usually figured on a per-capita basis, and because Alaska has so many remote villages that deal with such unusual circumstances.. the state will always come in near the top in a LOT of alcohol and domestic violence problems.

I suppose if you're in the lower-48 and you read the stats, you might automatically relate them to Anchorage.. not the case though.

This state definitely needs to figure out a way to provide the remote villages with REAL law enforcement.. but it's very tough getting VPSO's to stay in those jobs..

[WestSeattle2]

14. very interesting....

never realized that about Alaska, and I've lived in Seattle my whole life. Learn something new everyday! Can certainly understand how alcohol-related issues would be huge though, that's a tough nut to crack when there may be so little to do much of the year.

So unarmed VPSO's are expected to confront law breakers who may be intoxicated and armed. Hmmmmm, yeah, I can see a problem filling those positions.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. You explained that very well, Larissa...

...but it should also be said that there is a fairly high rape rate here in Anchorage, too, especially directed toward Native women. My job is transcribing court trials, and I have typed several that have involved mainly Caucasian males preying on inebriated Native women, who may be homeless or visiting from the villages. You may remember John Hunter from a while back who had at least four female Native victims, whom he tried to pass off as disgruntled prostitutes.

[American Tragedy]

21. Why the hell are the VPSOs unarmed?

That defies common sense, especially if there are such serious problems as you've described.

[Montauk6]

12. It's not a red state/blue state thing, is it?

[Theide]

15. Hey, South Carolina ain't so bad!

Notice that we led in aggravated assault, basically meaning someone kept running his or her mouth long and nasty enough to cause the other person to commit assault.

Sounds pretty normal to me.

[liberaltrucker]

16. I can't believe Alabama isn't listed

Especially for libs. I've had many confrontations with,
uh, those whose necks deflect light in the low visible
wavelengths.

Upon realization that I'm in possession of a Glock 9mm,
locked and loaded, they "somehow" realize the even liberals
know that "gun control" means hitting what you aim at.

:rofl:

[justabob]

19. I thought for sure Texas would be on the list

We are usually at the top of all things bad and the bottom of lists for all things good. I am glad to see we are somewhere in the middle on this one. :)

on edit: lol... I just looked... Texas is #11, not exactly "the middle"

[Blue_In_AK]

18. I believe that's correct about Alaska

sadly. It goes hand in hand with our high rate of alcoholism.

[cboy4]

22. Ohio and Florida. Lots of cheating power in puting repuke presidents

in office and that seems pretty dangerous and criminal to me.

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. I figured the safest state is wherever Cheney isn't!

:hide: