I can’t find that data, but here is another source that supports my earlier contention:
… and the fewer crimes per capita means that one’s likelihood of being a crime victim is lower, regardless of population. I’m sorry that you don’t seem to understand this concept.
Test your theory. Had you rather camp out a week in the streets of LA (or Memphis, or New Orleans, or NYC) or camp out in the streets of some rural town in any one of those states? Where do you think you’re more likely to find trouble? Areas of higher population
I understand the concept completely. Thanks
Little comfort if your the victim in an area with a high population density. Oh well, per capita, it’s not that bad.
I’m sure I could camp out in my front yard in Dallas and have no problem. Camp out on a downtown city street? How does that have anything to do with anything? I’m sure there are high crime areas in all cities, that has nothing to do with the risk of crime for the population as a whole.
Or the many victims, proportionately, in some (not all) of the low population density states.
There are high crime areas in all large cities. There are no large cities, or relatively few of them in some states. There is less total crime in those states.
So you’d rather live out in the country where you’d have a 50% chance of being a victim, just because there are fewer total crimes, compared a city with 1% chance of being a victim?
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I have been in some scary places. There are random acts of violence almost anywhere. I remember a few scary places, getting off on the wrong subway stop in a bad neighborhood, Going into a biker bar, had a seat at the bar but some guy the bikers did not like for some reason came and sat at the bar, he was lucky to get out alive, sleeping off a night of partying jacket tie on a street bench in Chicago, playing Tae Kwan do with a street gang as I was approached, I challenged to fight one on them 1 on one, then did not hurt anyone but after the first guy went down, series of no hit punches and kicks he fell down backing up, and I had the opportunity to knock him out but kneeling over him pulled the punch, Fake stroke within an inch of his nose the other guys surrounded me and we had some fun, me on defense no one hurt and I walked away unscathed.
… and… somehow… I’ve been able to survive in this area for 74 years without ever being the victim of any type of crime. And, that record includes my younger (and more naïve) days when I commonly walked around Manhattan in the wee hours of the morning.
In another forum that I frequent, we get occasional inquiries from out-of-staters who are worried about the “high crime rate in NJ”. 
After providing them with accurate information, rather than preconceived notions that are based on… God only knows what… they are invariably forced to concede that NJ–overall–is far safer than the Southern State where they currently reside.
Yes, the rate of violent crime in a few urban areas of NJ is far above the state average, but that could be said for every state.
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It’s a numbers game. Look at FL. They’re number 3 as far as number of crimes. Yet FL appears safer than AL. Only because of population density.
I agree 100%. That’s the point. For any individual, Florida is safer, on average.
I lived in Alaska, one of the most dangerous states. Lots of crime, not a lot of people.
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Many years ago, my brother and SIL were visiting Chicago, and because they were NJ residents, they weren’t prepared for what they might face in that type of urban area. They were trying to get somewhere on public transportation, proceeded to make some serious navigation errors, and were left standing on a street corner in a really scary neighborhood.
Because my brother is a quick-thinking person, he instructed my SIL to start acting truly bizarre, and they both stood there shouting at nothing, twitching, and cursing at the air. His strategy apparently worked because nobody dared to come anywhere near them during the 20 minutes or so that it took for a bus to arrive.
Even criminals are scared of crazy people, and my brother and SIL were successful in their attempt at appearing completely crazy.
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I’m going to reply to my own post to provide a real world example. I was visiting friends in Louisiana. They took me to a honkey tonk in a rural area. As usual, when I walk into a bar, I scan the place for any obvious threats. I didn’t see any. I did however, see a very attractive, provocatively dressed young woman who captured my gaze. One of my hosts whispers in my ear to stop looking at her, as she’s with a guy that “looks like he’s looking for a fight”. I didn’t have any confidence that the goobers in the sheriff’s office would provide any protection in the event of a fight.
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Per capita, they were just as safe there as they would be in AL. What might they face in Chicago? I haven’t seen many people act insane to ward off a possible attack in AL. That is my point. I understand yours, but it’s a numbers game. There is no gang unit, or a need for one, in rural AL (or IL). But I’m sure Chicago has one and needs it.
Hence the validity of measuring the incidence of crime on a per capita basis, rather than on absolute numbers.
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Yes, if you go to a honkey tonk in Louisiana and hit on some guy’s girlfriend, you’ll probably be in a violent situation pretty quick. That doesn’t happen at a club in NYC?
My advice, stay out of honkey tonks. The crime rate goes up thousands of percents in there!
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If there were 10 times more people living on my block and 5 times the violent crime, I would be safer, statistically.
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Exactly. You stated my thoughts better than I could word it.