WTF, Minnesota?

[akirlu]

It strikes me ironic, or something, that Minneapolis, infamous epicenter of the Dworkin-McKinnon anti-porn law, now leads the country in forcible rapes per 100K population. (You can sort the cities by individual crime stat -- it's kind of a cool tool, even for Wikipedia. Originally found because I have a cow-orker who periodically moans about how unsafe she feels in downtown Seattle. Seattle. Yah, right. Then again, I would never have guessed about the rape rates in the Sin Twitties.)

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Out of morbid curiosity is her problem all of downtown or specific areas?

I've never really felt uncomfortable anywhere, but I typically don't - but there's some stuff around 2nd & Pike/Pine and bits of Belltown which feel like they've changed in character even since I moved here.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

We've not discussed particulars -- but I'm not sure she distinguishes by neighborhood. Belltown when the clubs get going is supposed to be a bit dodgy, I know, but statistically, I'm not sure its any worse than the University District, which she insists on living as close to as she can manage. The thing is, Seattle is the biggest, most crime-infested city she's ever lived in. The other thing, too, is that like you, I don't typically feel uncomfortable much of anywhere. Not even when we lived in Pacoima. So I persist in thinking she's a big wuss. It's probably at least as much me as it is her. As an undergraduate living in the dorms, I used to wander around campus alone exploring buildings at night on a pretty regular basis and never felt threatened and never came to any harm.

And the thing about Seattle, as I see it, is that after the office workers go home for the night, it's just not a very lively downtown for the most part -- in some parts there's hardly anyone left but the marginal folk who don't have anyplace better to be. I think it's much easier to feel ill at ease when there aren't crowds of sleek burghers around, outnumbering the homeless.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

The closest I'm come to discomfort was walking through Atlanta a few weeks ago to find a particular kind of Chase ATM. The downtown core gives way to sketchy pretty quickly and I could tell M was really unhappy, especially when we took a side street that made things worse. But I suspect that we were probably doing something slightly stupid then but, in the end, it was only slightly worse than walking through certain parts of London where I'd not think twice.

Seattle is the biggest, most crime-infested city she's ever lived in

Ah. Ok, then that makes sense.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Remember, rape rates are notoriously hard to measure because the majority of rapes are never reported to authorities. In cities that are friendlier to rape victims, rape victims are more likely to report.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

That is a good point -- Minneapolis may well have an unusually high reporting rate relative to actual rapes, if they're good about how they handle vicitms. I hadn't thought of that, but it would make a lot of sense.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Being #1 surprises me a bit, and thinking maybe it's because of people being more willing to report makes me feel a bit better -- without actually giving me any idea how bad it really is here compared to various elsewheres.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I'm on the Crime and Drug Committee for our neighborhood, in close cooperation with the Mpls 5th Precinct. In our precinct (and I'm doing this from memory of the last few monthly meetings) aggravated assaults were the only blip on the police radar. Crime in general had by no means disappeared but was down from a few years ago.

The 5th is South of downtown, but encompasses a lot of fairly low income housing.

So I don't know. Count me in with the "Mpls residents are encouraged to report crimes" cohort. We have Crime Prevention Specialists who's job it is to track criminals and report where they are in the system (awaiting trial, in jail, out on bails, still at large, etc) and a lot of neighborhood outreach. I can't say how this compares with other cities, but Mpls tries and often succeeds at making citizens aware of crime prevention efforts, and showing the human faces behind the badge.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

The "first place" Minneapolis number is 25% more than "second place" Anchorage. It's 225 times more than last place San Antonio and 125 times more than second-last Sacramento.
This does not pass the smell test.Significantly different reporting rates are very plausible, but I'm inclined to suspect several additional factors.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

For an explanation from the lieutenant in charge of the Mpls Sex Crimes unit: Minneapolis rape statistics, explained.

Short answer: It wasn't the reporting. Minnesota's definition of 'rape' was much broader than the 2010 definition used for this chart. A broader definition is now used on the federal level.