7 ms·

People in New York disproportionately don't report crime, because there's so much, and so little chance of effective investigation/prosecution/recovery, they ha

by gojomo 4y ago

People in New York disproportionately don't report crime, because there's so much, and so little chance of effective investigation/prosecution/recovery, they have better things to do. It's just a cost of the city's other benefits.

woodruffw 4y ago
It would be fantastic to have evidence that substantiates this claim.
- gojomo 4y ago
  Indeed. But do those most responsible, such as local officials, really want to know, if a sort of learned-helplessness in residents has created an illusion of being safer than reality?
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    You can be absolutely positive that the NYPD knows that it's in their best interest for crime rates to appear as high as possible.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- notch656a 4y ago
  I realize you have the scientific high ground here but from a pragmatic viewpoint of anyone who's lived in both the country and the city, it almost sounds comical to hear someone say this. Edit: And in no time someone chimes in about their safe life they currently live in Tokyo, Japan -- probably the safest large city in in the entire world and one if if not the safest country in the world. Hope y'all have your visas ready. Of course we know this is in bad faith, because the Japanese analogy would be to compare Tokyo to rural Japan not to small town America.
  - ryan_lane 4y ago
    Except that it's not comical. I've lived in both, and I've experienced way more crime in my life in the country than in the city. In the country, we didn't report neighbor disputes because we didn't want them to murder us in our sleep, because we ratted them out to the police. We have a neighbor kill one of our dogs (by feeding it antifreeze), we had them threaten us with guns on our own property (which, obviously is why we were worried they'd kill us in our sleep). We had property stolen numerous times. There were always trespassers in our woods. There was a hit and run on the street in front of us (we did actually report that). We had constant problems with meth heads. This wasn't in some crazy backwoods filled with trailer parks. It was relatively affluent (for the country). My brother lives in a small town, and kids in his neighborhood shot their kids with BB guns. They have issues with neighbors leaving their dogs off leash and attacking their dogs. They've had people from the neighborhood try to run them off the road. None of these things get reported to the police, because the police won't do anything, and you'll start a crazy feud with the neighbors. You don't hear about family feuds in the city, but they're a constant in small towns and can last generations. I've lived in New Orleans, NYC, SF, and Tokyo, and other than New Orleans, I'd say every place has felt safer than when I lived in small towns or the country when I was growing up.
    - notch656a 4y ago
      Sounds like a single day in the city. Rather than people just threatening with guns, they just actually pointed guns at my head and tried to rob me. At least in the country it was legal for me to carry and point back. If that's all you got from a lifetime in the country it sound like a joke to time spent in the city.
      - ryan_lane 4y ago
        I've never been robbed in the city (I have in the suburbs). I've never been burglarized in the city (I have in a small town). I've never had a gun pointed at me in the city (I have in a small town). Most cities, especially nowadays, are quite safe. I think small towns are generally also safe, but from my personal experience, I've found the country to be less safe than cities because you're effectively on your own.
- ceeplusplus 4y ago
  Here's an experiment you should try, since you claimed to never have anything stolen. Buy a bike, any bike, and one of those cable locks. Lock it on a public street and leave it for 8 hours during the day. Then see if it's still there at the end of the day. I guarantee you it won't.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    I'm sorry, but what? Do you seriously believe that there's some kind of omnipotent bike theft ring in NYC, poaching bikes as soon as they're locked up? I rode my bike to high school (in a "bad" neighborhood) regularly, and locked it outside with a regular cable lock. It was never stolen. When I got a job, I locked my bike up with the same cable lock for months, until I got access to the bike room. Never stolen. Bike theft does happen here; I know people who have had bikes stolen. But it's not particularly common, even given the rise in expensive e-bikes.
    - teakettle42 4y ago
      You’re either woefully confused, blatantly lying, or have lived an incredibly and uniquely sheltered existence in some sort of enclave of wealth and privilege. > Do you seriously believe that there's some kind of omnipotent bike theft ring in NYC, poaching bikes as soon as they're locked up? Literally yes. Do you even actually live in NYC?
      - woodruffw 4y ago
        Does Bloomingdale count as an “enclave of wealth and privilege”? It wasn’t considered the safest neighborhood when I was growing up, but it’s considered very safe now. I don’t know what to tell you: I went to public schools here, have rode my bike my whole life, have rode the subway independently my entire life, &c. &c.. The “worst” thing that’s happened to me is being bugged for money on the street. I’m not blind to some advantages I have: I’m tall, have a large frame, and a deep voice. But I was also a little kid for the first 18 years I was here, and nothing bad ever happened to me. Yes, I really do live here. And yes, there are bike theft rings. But they’re not omnipotent, and they’re fundamentally opportunistic; I’ve never had any issues with any bike I’ve owned being stolen, and neither has anybody else in my family.
- exabrial 4y ago
  Ok. Leave your cellphone outside in NYC for 4 hours tomorrow during the day. I'll do the same in my small midwestern town. We can repeat this experiment until you run out of money.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    This is a ridiculous sampling error. If as many people passed by your phone in your small midwestern town as do in my densely populated neighborhood, I suspect it would be stolen. That's why we use per capita statics.
    - exabrial 4y ago
      At the end of your day: your cell phone will be stolen. My cell phone: will be returned by my neighbor. I'll take the "bias" in the numbers all day lol
jjav 4y ago
> People in New York disproportionately don't report crime, How do you know it is disproportionately? I live in a suburb (not in NY) and I've never reported petty theft. What would be the point? Police isn't going to do anything about it.

by gojomo 4y ago

woodruffw 4y ago

It would be fantastic to have evidence that substantiates this claim.

gojomo 4y ago
Indeed. But do those most responsible, such as local officials, really want to know, if a sort of learned-helplessness in residents has created an illusion of being safer than reality?
- woodruffw 4y ago
  You can be absolutely positive that the NYPD knows that it's in their best interest for crime rates to appear as high as possible.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
notch656a 4y ago
I realize you have the scientific high ground here but from a pragmatic viewpoint of anyone who's lived in both the country and the city, it almost sounds comical to hear someone say this. Edit: And in no time someone chimes in about their safe life they currently live in Tokyo, Japan -- probably the safest large city in in the entire world and one if if not the safest country in the world. Hope y'all have your visas ready. Of course we know this is in bad faith, because the Japanese analogy would be to compare Tokyo to rural Japan not to small town America.
- ryan_lane 4y ago
  Except that it's not comical. I've lived in both, and I've experienced way more crime in my life in the country than in the city. In the country, we didn't report neighbor disputes because we didn't want them to murder us in our sleep, because we ratted them out to the police. We have a neighbor kill one of our dogs (by feeding it antifreeze), we had them threaten us with guns on our own property (which, obviously is why we were worried they'd kill us in our sleep). We had property stolen numerous times. There were always trespassers in our woods. There was a hit and run on the street in front of us (we did actually report that). We had constant problems with meth heads. This wasn't in some crazy backwoods filled with trailer parks. It was relatively affluent (for the country). My brother lives in a small town, and kids in his neighborhood shot their kids with BB guns. They have issues with neighbors leaving their dogs off leash and attacking their dogs. They've had people from the neighborhood try to run them off the road. None of these things get reported to the police, because the police won't do anything, and you'll start a crazy feud with the neighbors. You don't hear about family feuds in the city, but they're a constant in small towns and can last generations. I've lived in New Orleans, NYC, SF, and Tokyo, and other than New Orleans, I'd say every place has felt safer than when I lived in small towns or the country when I was growing up.
  - notch656a 4y ago
    Sounds like a single day in the city. Rather than people just threatening with guns, they just actually pointed guns at my head and tried to rob me. At least in the country it was legal for me to carry and point back. If that's all you got from a lifetime in the country it sound like a joke to time spent in the city.
    - ryan_lane 4y ago
      I've never been robbed in the city (I have in the suburbs). I've never been burglarized in the city (I have in a small town). I've never had a gun pointed at me in the city (I have in a small town). Most cities, especially nowadays, are quite safe. I think small towns are generally also safe, but from my personal experience, I've found the country to be less safe than cities because you're effectively on your own.
ceeplusplus 4y ago
Here's an experiment you should try, since you claimed to never have anything stolen. Buy a bike, any bike, and one of those cable locks. Lock it on a public street and leave it for 8 hours during the day. Then see if it's still there at the end of the day. I guarantee you it won't.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  I'm sorry, but what? Do you seriously believe that there's some kind of omnipotent bike theft ring in NYC, poaching bikes as soon as they're locked up? I rode my bike to high school (in a "bad" neighborhood) regularly, and locked it outside with a regular cable lock. It was never stolen. When I got a job, I locked my bike up with the same cable lock for months, until I got access to the bike room. Never stolen. Bike theft does happen here; I know people who have had bikes stolen. But it's not particularly common, even given the rise in expensive e-bikes.
  - teakettle42 4y ago
    You’re either woefully confused, blatantly lying, or have lived an incredibly and uniquely sheltered existence in some sort of enclave of wealth and privilege. > Do you seriously believe that there's some kind of omnipotent bike theft ring in NYC, poaching bikes as soon as they're locked up? Literally yes. Do you even actually live in NYC?
    - woodruffw 4y ago
      Does Bloomingdale count as an “enclave of wealth and privilege”? It wasn’t considered the safest neighborhood when I was growing up, but it’s considered very safe now. I don’t know what to tell you: I went to public schools here, have rode my bike my whole life, have rode the subway independently my entire life, &c. &c.. The “worst” thing that’s happened to me is being bugged for money on the street. I’m not blind to some advantages I have: I’m tall, have a large frame, and a deep voice. But I was also a little kid for the first 18 years I was here, and nothing bad ever happened to me. Yes, I really do live here. And yes, there are bike theft rings. But they’re not omnipotent, and they’re fundamentally opportunistic; I’ve never had any issues with any bike I’ve owned being stolen, and neither has anybody else in my family.
exabrial 4y ago
Ok. Leave your cellphone outside in NYC for 4 hours tomorrow during the day. I'll do the same in my small midwestern town. We can repeat this experiment until you run out of money.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  This is a ridiculous sampling error. If as many people passed by your phone in your small midwestern town as do in my densely populated neighborhood, I suspect it would be stolen. That's why we use per capita statics.
  - exabrial 4y ago
    At the end of your day: your cell phone will be stolen. My cell phone: will be returned by my neighbor. I'll take the "bias" in the numbers all day lol

jjav 4y ago

> People in New York disproportionately don't report crime, How do you know it is disproportionately? I live in a suburb (not in NY) and I've never reported petty theft. What would be the point? Police isn't going to do anything about it.