Ariz. border towns say violent crime rates are low

Source: Sierra Vista Herald

Assistant Police Chief Roy Bermudez shakes his head and smiles when he hears politicians and pundits declaring that Mexican cartel violence is overrunning his Arizona border town. “We have not, thank God, witnessed any spillover violence from Mexico,” Bermudez says emphatically. “You can look at the crime stats. I think Nogales, Ariz., is one of the safest places to live in all of America.”

Congressional members, including Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and John Shadegg, R-Ariz., sent President Barack Obama a letter asking that National Guard soldiers be sent to the border because “violence in the vicinity of the U.S. Mexico border continues to increase at an alarming rate.”

And last month, as she signed Arizona’s tough new law cracking down on illegal immigrants, Gov. Jan Brewer also called for National Guard troops. The law makes it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally and requires authorities to check documents of people they reasonably suspect to be illegal. Brewer said she signed it to solve what she said is an Arizona “crisis” caused by “border-related violence and crime due to illegal immigration.”

Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff of Pima County, said there always has been crime associated with smuggling in southern Arizona, but today’s rhetoric does not seem to jibe with reality. “This is a media-created event,” Dupnik said. “I hear politicians on TV saying the border has gotten worse. Well, the fact of the matter is that the border has never been more secure.” Cochise County’s crime rate has been “flat” for at least 10 years, the sheriff added. Even in 2000, when record numbers of undocumented immigrants were detained in the area, just 4 percent of the area’s violent crimes were committed by illegal aliens.

Read more: http://www.svherald.com/content/2010/05/08/ariz-border-towns-say-violent-crime-rates-are-low

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If crime in Arizona, and the border area in particular, is down and "illegal immigrants" are committing so little of it, who's stoking the fear? And is it for political purposes or genuine fear of "others"?

In Arizona it's brown people. If they were serious they'd go after the employers - they have a law to enable them to do that. But it's a game and for Sheriff Joe, the Latino gardener or hotel maid is the prey for his big bad sheriff act.

I have been going to the Arizona border for 30 plus years .Once worked in lettuce fields with migrant workers near Wilcox.Was in Nogales two years ago ,it is probably 90% Mexican American.Was in Sierra Vista a few years before.The hard core illegal migrants ,those looking for trouble,are not going to stay around these areas for long.They are going to head for the big cities where the pickings are much better and they can hide a lot better than in a small town.Even those seriously looking for work ,the vast majority,are going to head for Phoenix or Tuscon.I will be in Phoenix in 6 weeks and see what i can see.When I was there 2 years ago it was kinda spooky ,all kinds of very tight rules at the motel 6 and plain clothes security .I drive from Florida to Calif. every year for years.I have not experienced this atmosphere before.If you want to get a taste of what it is like to kinda feel unwanted in your own country go to Presidio Texas,Big Bend Natl Park area.Just sayin.................. n

I don't recall lettuce ever being grown in any real quantity there. Most migrants coming though here (north western Cochise county) are headed out of state, not ultimately to Phx and certainly not to Tucson.

They do head to Phx for safer transportation elsewhere and there are quite a few in that area, but most have been established for years, the newer migrants heading to Colorado, and Illinois for the most part.

There are "temporary" border "security" checkpoints on most roads about 20 to 30 miles THIS SIDE of the border. Including 19 to Nogales, 80 and 90 to Tombstone and Sierra Vista, 191 to Douglas.

What?

but when you consider the thousands of people that were/are crossing, the rates really are pretty low. The deaths of migrants and crimes against them are much higher than anything the locals face.

The killing of Rob Krentz was almost 100% guaranteed to be drug related, not migrants - despite what just about every dam report I read has it worded. That tells me a lot of intentional fear-mongering is going on. It really is as catshrink says scapegoating by the RW (and some others).

:) Your question is sort of a chicken/egg thing. These stories show how distant the public perceptions of AZ residents are from the reality. Many have a pre-existing bias that makes it possible to magnify and exaggerate any individual crime report into much more than it actually is.

People like John McCain and Jan Brewer feed lies and distortions to their constituents both to appeal to biased perceptions AND to stoke them in advance of their own election battles. I think they underestimated the problems this would cause for their state, and even for them. Brewer got a bump in approval/popularity after she signed the new anti-immigrant law, but I wonder if that may not change with the boycott and all the trashing of AZ.

:hi:

I recently read Jason Riley's book |Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders: Six Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They Are Wrong[/i>. Riley's a Wall Street Journal editorial board member. I'd suppose he has some libertarian leanings, probably more than the anti-immigration types he criticizes. Hell, Riley even criticizes the likes of Pat Buchanan and Michelle Malkin by debunking the cliched right-wing talking points of invasion and crime.

The problem is not the Mexicans that come across the border its the old loon thats already here ,most of them are from out of state and most are just the old garden type racist.

Well plural makes it different. Nevermind.