Shocking Statistics Don't Look Good for Columbia

The city of Columbia would not be happy to see some statistics that I came across. You'd like to think that you live in a relatively safe city while going to college but these statistics don't fare well. Although the Statisctics are from 2009 they show very bad trends. The city violent crime rate in Cola was higher than the violent crime rate in SC by 55.98%. That is a pretty shocking stat but that's not it. Also, the city property crime rate was higher by 54.84%.

Compared to a National level it doesn't look acceptable for Columbia's rates to be so high. This surely calls for some kind of change in Cola's way of stopping and fighting crime. Since these statistics were from 2009, hopefully they have found ways to crack down and do away with these embarrassing stats.

Holiday Safety Tips

 When ever the holidays roll around, crime can often follow. For example, while being home for Thanksgiving break i came across a story from Fox News that was about a woman who pepper sprayed about 20 people at a Walmart so she could get the half price Xbox 360. Shopping can sometimes bring the best out in people durring the holidays or the absolute worse.

I came across the Columbia Police Department website and on the homepage found a link for some Holiday Safety tips. These tips look very useful and include tips when it comes to things such as shopping, traveling, child safety, ATM's , and home. All of the tips are useful and provide good ways of keeping criminals away from your belongings. It explains how criminals can be more inclined to rob you when they know your carrying money for presents or expensive electronics to give to loved ones.

The link shows just how some people don't have the holiday cheer anymore and are willing to go out of their way to give themselves and yourself a hard time. So remember to take advantage of these tips so you and your family can enjoy the holidays

State Sees Large Increase In Concealed Weapons Permits

Our state is at an all-time high for people who obtain a Concealed Weapons Permit. It's nearly 10,000 more this year as of October than the number of applicants in 2008. The total number of people with the permit is around 100,000 for the whole state.
The current debate on gun control is a matter of opinion. I personally find it terrifying that these numbers are rising given the current economic and societal conditions. It's hard to find a job and people are mad. More people than ever are getting concealed weapon permits meaning they can take their concealed weapons anywhere except churches, hospitals, schools, and government buildings. The process is pretty simple and the actual permit only costs $50.
With the current rates of such high property crime, the last thing we need is more people getting concealed weapons and carrying them around everywhere, in my opinion.
Guns cause far too many accidents and could be prevented if we did not give out permits so easily. However, people wish to pursue their rights to bear arms so it will be.

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Counterfeit Items at Flea Market

Four people have been arrested in West Columbia for selling multiple counterfeit items at the Metro Flea Market on Highway 1. They were trafficking illegal goods such as pirated movies and music, fake designer hand bags, coats, and other apparel. The brands that were forged included Air Jordan, Coogi, Coach, Ecko, Ed Hardy, Gucci, Nascar, NFL, Nike, Prada, and many others. The value of the products are estimated to be around $240,000. They are facing charges for trademark violation and possible charges from the music industry and motion pictures of America for the illegal copying and distributing of music and movies. Two other people are being held in connection to providing some of the trafficked goods. People are very frustrated with the inferior goods that they purchased from the illegal booth.
The bigger issue is the amount of fraud and illegal activity people are willing to do to make money these days. With the current economic condition, people are very frustrated, desperate, and need money. It's not fair that they sold goods to people under deceiful terms, but it's not a total surprise seeing that everyone needs to make money somehow. These people could have done a lot worse things to make money and therefore, I don't really think punishment will improve this. They stole from the "man" (Music Industry, MPAA, and mocked couture brands) and then sold it to the public to make some money. Considering all of those companies/brands have tons of money, I don't think these four deserve to be punished too harshly. They were wrong, but the bigger issue is that with these times where it's so very difficult to get a job, fraud will be abundant as we all need to survive.

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More Crime in Cities Than in Rural Areas

Crime rates are much higher in cities than in rural area but what is the reason for this? First more and more people are inhabiting cities every single day and less and less people are living in rural areas. The more people you have the more likely there is for crime, which begins to explain why cities have more crime. After reading the article i believe the urban cities influence the crime rate. Gangs are growing in numbers in these urban cities and the people joining them seem to be getting younger and younger. I believe that the social influences and family structure play a large part in this. Kids see there friends joining gangs and are influence by the money that they are making being a part of this gang. Also alot of children in Urban areas grow up in single parent households, so kids are looking for something to be a part of and a strong male figure in their life. A way for them to find this is by joining gangs, and leads to more violence that takes place in the urban city

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W. Cotter

3 sentenced for hate crime

Three men were sentenced to prison for forcing an African-American man out of a South Carolina convenience store, threatening him with a chainsaw. The three men who were sentenced to prison were white males who claimed that they thought the African American male was trying to rob the store even though he was just coming in to buy a few things. This shows how racism is a major part of these actions, just because he was an African-American male coming into a store late at night they thought he was trying to rob the store owner. Stereotypes are a major issue today even though, it is not deemed to be that big of deal by many. These white men had no reason what so ever to threaten this man at the store, except for their own pre-concieved notions about African Americans. This is rediculous, something needs to be done in order to change this. I'm not saying it will be easy but people no matter how hard it may be, need to not to judge a book by its cover and stear clear of pre-conceived notions.

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Gangs and Crime in South Carolina

This website was designed to provide criminal activity related to gang violence, victims of gang activity, gang offenders, and to provide estimates of gang population in South Carolina. It tells us that gang violence is on the rise in South Carolina and is becoming a major social issues that is affecting numerous amounts of people and the communities they live in. The rise in gang violence is attributed to the background of the participants and the community they are from. Most inner city kids have been shown to join gangs because of the influence that the gang community puts on them. They are around gangs their whole life so it is almost inevitable for them to get caught up in that mess. I believe if these people lived in a community that had a higher income rate, school systems that were prominent, and job opportunities, there would be less of chance of them joining gangs. In worse of communities they see joining a gang as the only way out and the only chance they have of making a good amount of money for themselves.

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Man Held on Multiple Burglary Charges

Thomas McLean, 43, of Irmo has turned himself in and is currently charged with four counts of second-degree burglary. There are at least four more charges pending and he is believed to have broken into at least eight homes. He stole almost $50,000 worth of items including jewelry, cash, coins, silver flatware, prescriptions, and even a baby stroller. He then took many of the items to pawn shops and sold them. The crimes were committed between June and October. He was able to target this area because he grew up in the neighborhood and therefore knew it well.
The current economic conditions are partly to blame for these types of crimes. When people have no money or jobs, they are more inclined to steal from others. Everyone needs to survive and sometimes this is the only obvious way for people. I think if the job market and economy stabilizes, it may cause a decrease in this type of property crime. Meanwhile, I feel sorry for the victims as they may feel unsafe. It may help the area to have an increase in occasional police surveillance to help reassure their safety.
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Woman Stabbed In Columbia

November 3rd, a woman was stabbed in Columbia while opening her door for strangers.

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Stop.

Re-Read that first statement.

Now I know my first real-life lesson was to never talk to strangers. I know that the woman is seriously injured and may face life threatening injuries, but if someone comes up to my door, their is no way that I'm going to just open it up. Roll down the window or something. I just don't get it. Maybe she thought she knew them?

Lets hope that she is okay!

More Stats on Crime

Looking into more statistics on crime in Columbia, I found a chart from city-data.com. This chart shows the number of crimes and then per 100,000 people.

This graph tends to validate some of the stats according to neighborhoodscout.com. It shows many of the same trends as the other website. Columbia seems to be following the national trend of decreasing crime rates with a spike in 2004.
More information regarding Columbia's crime, demographics, employment, and other data can be found at the website here.

Midlands Crimestoppers

If you have ever witnessed some type of crime but didn't know how to go about passing the information so it got to the right hands, than Midlands Crimestoppers is what you need to learn about. They cover about 14 counties in the midlands of South Carolina and have brought about tons of useful information for authorities.

There are several different ways that you can send a tip. You can call it in, send an anonymous text, or send and online tip. These ways are perfect for people that might not want to give up their identities. This keeps the witness safe and the streets safer. The crimestoppers website also gives the latest news on crime in your areas so civilians can be aware and stay safe. Tips are always anonymous so don't be shy about doing your part for the community.