Is crime a big problem where you are?If yes, what kind?
Have you ever been a victim of crime?
Do you feel afraid when you go out or on your guard?
What would you do if you noticed a crime being committed?
What are the police like where you live? Do you trust them?
© 2026 – SoulSequel
9 responses to “Crime”
I think my state, Louisiana, has the most murders. I’m kind of on guard wherever I go regardless because I’m kind of paranoid, but I’m not THAT on guard. I don’t trust the police where I live. Some showed up at my house because they noticed my cousin who was on parole and came in and stole money right out of his wallet. The other cops then threatened us if we told someone. I probably would have reported it regardless of threats if my cousin would have been fine with it, but he would have caught hell for it. We have a ton of corruption here. Murder and corruption. We had like 13 sheriffs arrested in two years, and that is just the ones we know about. I haven’t been a victim of a major crime. Some people stole a few things of mine, but I don’t think they were worth enough to be that concerned about.
@yin ugh, that is terrible! Ya, I am on guard pretty much all the time, but I think a lot of it is because of PTSD. Whenever I go out and walk, if someone slows down or looks at me, I get paranoid. I try to stay close to well lighted areas, and close to public places so I can flag someone down if needed. That is scary about the murders, though. I had a cousin who was a victim of a serial killer on her 18th bday.
@Scarlett2 Damn, I’m sorry about that. While I don’t think I have anything like PTSD, I just don’t trust people that much (or often I guess would be more correct.) I was walking home from school one day (my aunt had made a mistake that day) and there was a house I passed where three people came out and walking behind me. They may have had a legit reason to be walking there, but I just didn’t like it. My aunt pulled up on the side of the road soon after that so we luckily will never know. While I know most people are fine to be around in public, I just know all it takes is one or two people to ruin everything. It bothers me.
Arizona is a right to carry state and most everyone owns a gun and it can be carried in plane sight. Anyone thinking of committing a crime here knows that there are guns everywhere there are people. So, not much goes on here. Someone will stop the crime and hold the criminal until the police get there to handle the situation. Just because we own guns and can stop a crime in less than a minute does not mean that there is going to be a shooting. A gun can hold a criminal in place until the police arrive, but I have not heard of anybody actually shooting the criminal. There have not been any shoot-outs or any “wild west” cowboy craziness.
One night I went to Taco Bell and passed a crowd in front of the grocery store gathered around someone that was sitting on the ground. Several guns were aimed at that person. They were waiting for the Police to show up. I am sure that whatever that sitting person did inside the grocery store that he stopped real fast when he heard the clatter-click-click-click-click-click-click-click of maybe 20 guns being pulled out and the safety clicking. It would make him stop in his tracks and give up. He might be able to run from one gun, but not a crowd of armed people.
There was one shooting in my neighborhood in 2012. I was sleeping and heard the bam-bam-bam of gun shots. A mother had just put her 2 year old daughter in her car child seat and she was shot in a drive-by shooting. Her ex-boyfriend killed her and then he kept on driving right out of town — and he went to Las Vegas, to blend in with gambling crowds. He thought that would be his alibi. Kids walking to school saw the mother’s body in the garage and the police were called. The little 2 year old girl saw her mother shot and could do nothing. She was strapped in by the seat belt.
When we heard about it, we realized that we had just talked to that mother on Halloween. Her daughter was dressed like a little pirate and Immortal Pirate gave her a big double handful of chocolate gold coins. It was now heartbreaking!!!
Our Police Department was on top of that case right away. There are cameras on the 10 freeway and the shooter’s car was spotted. As anyone drives into Las Vegas their car is photographed and in all of the parking lots there are cameras filming. There are cameras in every casino. Every camera has a time stamp on the filming. The police knew by the time stamps that he had just enough time to speed to Las Vegas. They photographed his car in the parking lot. They had him on film entering the casino and had his every move filmed and timed. He was arrested that same day.
Our neighborhood was stunned and in grief. The little girl went to live with her grandparents.
Last year there was a circling helicopter in the next neighborhood because of some drug-thing going on. Other than that, we are very safe and peaceful here. I feel safe wherever I go because I know that in any crowd the people are armed with guns. No one is going to let some fool commit a crime and get away with it.
I was raised in Los Angeles where there were street gangs and drive-by shootings. I have been robbed at gunpoint. There were robberies in my neighborhood every few months. Vivi and I always watched out for one another. When one of us went out to water the lawn, the other stood watch, just to be safe. There was a drive-by shooting in 2006 on our block. Several boys were playing ping pong in their closed garage. A gang from Compton drove by and shot several rounds into the garage door. Several of the kids were wounded, one 9 year old died on the garage floor in my arms.
Once there was a robbery where houses were broken into. The robber had credit cards from several houses in a bag when he jumped into my neighbors back yard and the pit bull dog made him drop the bag. He jumped into my yard and was hiding in my garage. I came home from work and saw the police searching all around and the police car road block. I saw the garage door at the back of my garage was opened. Stupidly, I looked inside my garage and suddenly felt a creepy feeling. I backed out and ran to alert the police. They pulled the armed suspect out of my garage and arrested him on my lawn.
In Los Angeles, if the police need to talk to you and they want to handcuff you, you let them cuff you. It makes the officers feel safe. If you are innocent, they will remove the handcuffs. I don’t fear the police. I respect them. I don’t break the laws. I have been handcuffed by the police several times. I don’t let it worry me because they take them off after they are sure that they are unneeded.
Once there was a suspicious man sitting beside me in a bar where my roommate, Vivi, was the bar tender. He was watching Vivi and when she walked near the cash register he pulled a gun out of his pocket. I said, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” and I got up. I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him backwards to the floor. I put my knee on his neck and cut his air supply off. He wrestled me, but I put my weight on my knee on his neck. Other customers saw the gun and got it away from him. They held the would-be robber until the police arrived. The thing is —- he did not rob Vivi. He did not commit a crime. However, I nearly got arrested for battering him and initializing an attack on him. I would have gone to jail, but my friends stuck up for me and …, well, the guy was carrying a gun. I am lucky that he did not sue me for assault and battery.
When Immortal Pirate goes outside to get the mail, or even go to his truck in the driveway, I go outside and watch over him. There is no real reason to do that. It is habit because I used to live in a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles. Vivi and I would watch out for one another and now I keep doing it here in the safety of Arizona.
@ladybarbara oh my goodness. it sounds like you have seen your fair share of crime. Sometimes I think it is good that we are on alert because things do happen, and maybe we have prevented something by being on alert. Where I live, there is a fair amount of crime in the city, but not so much around me. However, one night someone did get into our car.
@Scarlett2 One time in 2011, I heard a noise in the night. I did not hesitate to get out of bed to investigate. Being that I was the protector of my own house in Los Angeles, I am used to searching for the source of a crunch-in-the-night without even thinking of asking a man to back me up. Being new to Arizona, I was still on alert to night noises. I was walking through the hall hearing the garage door rattle. I suddenly flung the laundry room door open to investigate the garage —— nothing. I turned to see a silent Immortal Pirate behind me pointing his glock upwards —like James Bond. He was covering me. Oh, how comforting that was!!! Perhaps it was the wind, or a cat at the door, but it was nothing. I went back to bed in a comfortable rapture —- that I was sleeping with a man who would protect me.
Immortal Pirate was a prison Correctional Officer. He was trained and it is ingrained in him to watch people and surroundings for anything not right. He watches people when we go out together. I have come to feel so safe and secure when I am with him. Once, while at a theater, there was a man acting crazy and talking to himself in a very insane way. Immortal Pirate cautioned me to keep distance, don’t engage him, and we calmly walked up to a couple of policemen and clued them in to the guy —– who was now getting loud and taking some of his clothing off. The police handled it.
There was a time at a crowded party, I was following Immortal Pirate through a thick crowd. Some jerk reached up and snatched Immortal Pirate’s hat from his head. It took a half of a second and the man was down and handing the hat back. Lightening fast, Immortal Pirate bent the man’s hand in a direction it is not supposed to go and brought him to the ground. He was apologizing and sorry he had mis-judged the old man in the fancy pirate hat. It happened so fast!!! I was so proud of my protective man. It is nice that he is trained to bring a prison inmate to the floor in a split second.
I am getting used to the safe feeling of not having to be on guard. Arizona feels safe. I am living more relaxed. In fact, crime, when it happens, is more relaxed here. A man came into the CVS store and grabbed something and ran out the door, got in his car and drove away. The store Manager said it was all on camera and the cameras in the parking lot had his license plate on film. One call and the police were on to him, knowing where he lives. Even though the Manager had a gun, guns do not always have to be used.
@ladybarbara
YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT WITH YOUR STORIES
I am not a victim, I am always on alert when we go out. I don’t always carry my firearm, I don’t have to. When I DO carry, I tend to avoid places where having it on me would be needed. I do not take it into bars…but then again, I don’t go to bars very often. I have a fully stocked liqueur cabinet and I very rarely drink any of it.
The most prevalent crimes are stoners smoking pot and cops nearly running over pedestrians without flashers or any reason for speeding.
I think most people are having their needs met well enough that most violent crime is abstained from in my town. Anomie manifests here in drug use, not crimes with direct victims outside the self.