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Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,160
Registered: ‎10-04-2010

Re: Remember the "OLD DAYS" When You Could Walk Alone At Night?


@JaneMarple wrote:

Don't forget:

 

Assassinations

McCarthy hearings

Birth control pills

R rated movies

Miranda Rights

Boston strangler

Richard Speck nurse student murders.

 

 

 


How about the bomb shelters in our elementary schools when we heard about that all the time?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Remember the "OLD DAYS" When You Could Walk Alone At Night?


@goldensrbest wrote:

My saying it is not right to just lock them up,is in years past, that is what they did,they took people to mental hospitals , and treated them terribly, some people were not even mental ill,they had disease that made them act differently that the average person, i am not saying that there aren't those that need help, of course there is,i just don't think going back to the way it was is the answer.


So what do you consider to be an acceptable alternative that protects the public from these people who are mentally ill and go to places and shoot up and kill multiple people before committing suicide?

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,560
Registered: ‎12-31-2013

Re: Remember the "OLD DAYS" When You Could Walk Alone At Night?


@Noel7 wrote:

@willdob3 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

 

Re: Crime is worse these days...

 

US Population in 1960:  180.7 million (1960)

 

US Population in 2016   322 million    (2016)


A lot worse! More people, more criminals. And more types of crimes. 

 

 ************************************

 

@willdob3

 

Well, yes.  That was my point.

 

More types?  Yes to that, also.  There was no proliferation of assault guns back in the day.


 


When you look at crimes statistics you have to compare crime rates on a per capita basis.  It isn't meaningful to say there are more people so there is more crime.  That is certainly true, but if the rates per capita have gone down, for example, then you are less likely to be a victim of crime.  

 

 Also it is important to look at stranger on stranger crime versus crimes committed by people who know the victim - spouses, significant others, relatives, gang members, criminals, etc etc or crimes where the victim was considered high risk. For example, if you get in a car with 3 strangers, you are at a higher risk than someone who is more careful.  Doesn't mean you deserve to be a victim just that the chances of something bad happening are higher.  

 

In general, unless you live in a high risk area, then stranger on stranger crime is what we should worry about.  There were seven murders in the last couple of years in the area where I live.  Four persons were killed as part of one drug deal and the other three were killed by spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends.  So the murder rate increase per capita for the county looks high, but in reality it is a very safe place to live. 

 

 I personally don't know if crime rates per capita have increased or not.  I'm sure in some cities they have increased a lot but in others they haven't.  Politicians frequently quote crime rates out of context to get votes or to claim they are responsible for crime going down.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: Remember the "OLD DAYS" When You Could Walk Alone At Night?

Even my very quiet, rural WV neighborhood has never been that safe.  Several locations on my road--a few miles from my home--have been the scene for violent crimes; before I was born, and others within the last few years.   We have never walked on this road after dark.    

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Remember the "OLD DAYS" When You Could Walk Alone At Night?

[ Edited ]

@terrier3 wrote:

@justmyopinion wrote:

Depends on where you live. It was never "safe" walking around NY's Time Square or Central Park at night. Crime in big cities is nothing new. Muggings, rapes, robberies, car-jacks, kidnappings have been around for decades. Smiley Sad


Time's Square is probably now one of the SAFEST places in NYC - even late at night.

At least that has been my expoerience as a tourist. The city is far safer and cleaner than in past decades.


 

Absolutely true!  And the heart of Times Square is usually so brightly lit and crowded at night that it's pretty much like daytime.  :-)