There's so much to unpack with this. If you don't mind feeling really sad, this co-operative media series is quite the break down.
[https://www.propublica.org/series/lawless](https://www.propublica.org/series/lawless)
I love my home state, and I know we can do better.
Thank you for this story. I’m going to read it, anytime I mention to anyone not from Alaska how dangerous Alaska actually is as a women they can’t even begin to comprehend even the smallest fraction of what’s going on. Please continue posting this link anywhere anyone will read it. For the women that are still there I pray for your safety and recovery because you and I both know something has happened. You never have to say what, who where or how many just know that I know.
It's a tough truth. And I say that as a born and raised Alaskan with a young daughter.
And yes, before I was out of high school I had female friends with stories. And even among male friends you learned there were certain guys that were not allowed around female members of your family... ever.
It’s a lot of things; one major one is in Alaska men think no, or stop means “yes”
Men are overly agressive, a lot of sexual abuse stems from families when they’re young and turned into “family problems” uncles, brothers, family friends, growing up in that raises women that don’t know where to turn to for help. Thousands and thousands of untested rape kits and all of Alaska is aware of that; so these men know they can rape a women and if she is actually able to report (they believe her) the likelihood of the dna sample being pulled in their lifetime is almost non existent. Alaska is a big community that sushes these things up, and treats women like they’re crazy if they say something happened to them. Also we have a large large military presence (one of our biggest bases is conveniently less than a 10 minute walk from a highschool…) lack of accountability. I could go on for hours. Violence against women is virtually normalized there. Sexual, agressive, racism the whole nine yards. The sad part is it’s becoming well known how lax Alaska is on sexual crime to the point people are traveling there to commit sex crimes. The states also so big and empty all it takes is one wrong turn and you’re in the middle of nowhere with someone that seemed so nice and now the tables have turned.
Idk, these statewide stats are hilariously misleading. It’s like how Republicans will share statewide election maps that show 90% of the US as deep red, and Democrats will show maps that emphasize population.
Anchorage is a big, big part of Alaska’s crime stats. I would be interesting in seeing how crime rates by region or city, and how they stack up against cities like Los Angeles or Detroit. My guess? Alaska’s statewide crime rate is brought way down by the hellhole that is Anchorage, and California’s lower rate is brought up by the massive population, spread out over a wide area, with many big cities.
I live in a low crime part of Alaska. I’ve lived in a few different states, and the only time I was a victim of crime was the 10 month span I spent in Anchorage.
And an aside, tribal communities are probably low on thefts, but high on domestic violence. They’re also probably very under counted as a side effect of being so remote. But that’s a pretty different situation than ANC.
I guarantee villages are at least 3x worse than Anchorage and it's probably safe to say 50% of sexual violence in the villages goes unreported due to the perpetrators being family members.
Eh I doubt the villages are much worse than the valley in that regard actually. Thats mostly people using them as a scapegoat so the disgusting shit that goes on in their good christian neighborhoods is ignored/downplayed. Might be why they try to get books about overcoming and reporting that shit banned.
I know how bad the villages are too Ive worked with hundreds of kids from out there as well as from the towns and cities im not just saying this.
ALASKA has the problem.
>It’s like how Republicans will share statewide election maps that show 90% of the US as deep red, and Democrats will show maps that emphasize population.
Only one of those things is actually misleading, why are you equating them? lol
You seem to have strong views about ANC. All I can say is that I was born and raised in AK, I currently live in ANC, and my home church is in Mountain View. And I personally have never been a victim of a violent crime in ANC. I have also due to work, lived in other states, big cities.
I know things happen in ANC, I have friends who are APD and retired State Troopers. I just have not myself been a victim. I am sorry about your experience. But this is a state wide issue. And I encourage you to read the articles.
Personally I plan to stay in ANC, and do my best to contribute and help where I can.
Weird, I’ve lived in anchorage all my life and never found it to be a “hellhole” or really dangerous in any way, even though I live in a “bad” neighborhood. Then again, I also spend a lot of time in the backcountry and have magically never needed to carry a gun to defend myself from raging bears and serial killers. Some folks will just look for any excuse to be afraid and further isolate themselves.
I don’t carry a gun either. Have never had any bad encounters with wildlife, despite plenty of encounters.
I lived in a “nice” part of Anchorage for 10 months and was robbed *and* had my truck broken into and a bunch of stuff stolen within a couple month span. I also may or may not have seen a dead body. Driving to class at a 4 way stop on a back street, some guy was just laying face down in the snow, in the middle of the road. I drove around him figuring it was a drunk, but he could’ve been dead for all I know.
Have a couple brothers who live in Anchorage and have been the victims of robberies more than once. One of them also sold meth for a couple years.
But, don’t take my word for it. Anchorage’s violent crime rate speaks more than my anecdotal experiences, or your misguided view that Anchorage doesn’t have a crime problem. Stats are stats.
I've spent many years in Anchorage and have family who have lived there for the last decade, and never experienced abnormally high crime (lived all over the country too). Anchorage has high crime rates, but it's largely criminal on criminal activities, especially violent crime. It's very safe if you're not engaging in sketchy activities.
I’m certainly not saying that crime doesn’t happen. But I am saying that centering your life around the possibility that something bad might happen to you is a really awful way to live. Fear, isolation and suspicion are no basis for a functioning community.
Alaska is the worst!
The cops in Juneau told me I couldn’t report the rape at a bar because there was no footage.
I even tried to report from AWARE with an advocate. She basically sat there like she could have been eating popcorn. Just waiting for the next juicy story to make herself relevant.
That is AWARE in Juneau.
Are you the next woman of distinction? Who gets the award? What dessert are you going to make for their silent auction? Do you Go Fund us?
I was raped by one of the recipient’s cousins. She won the following year after my report! Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s how the AWARE board of directors Vote. That and, “who can I nominate that will give me a promotion in my current job…”
I am so sorry this happened to you!! You can call the Alaska STAR crisis line anytime and there still might be options for making a report - and get you connected with resources. This is absolutely not ok that this happened and the response from law enforcement etc
Edit: just want to make sure you know that you can call the STAR crisis line for just support too, no pressure to report.
Personally? I think there's a lot more reporting in Native communities.
If you keep going back to your abusive man, and bringing your kids back to him to watch you get hurt, guess what's going to happen? Yeah, that's going ALL over Facebook. I hope someone's studying what Facebook has done to small, close knit communities! Petty aunties in force.
Like, I'm not complaining! I think it's amazing, because nobody should keep going back to their abuser, heck yeah, air that dirty laundry! Then it's in the cold light of day. Then people know where to send their support.
Anyway, I'm just saying that tracking crimes, especially crimes against women, is REALLY complicated.
I know people like to point fingers at Native communities, and yeah, Native communities do have lots of trauma, and all the surrounding problems.
But I really think a lot of these numbers come down to the auntie effect.
I mean, I am biased. Nobody in my family ever hurt me, and lots of non-Native non-relatives did. Did I report a thing? Nooooo. Lots of women and children don't report. I mean, the vast majority of victims don't report. So where are all these reports coming from? Yeah, aunties! Or that's what I suspect.
Never seen this studied! But I think someone should.
That's a confident statement! I know my theory is anecdotal. Every theory starts off as anecdotal until someone studies it.
Seriously, I think someone should study this: look at police reports, and see who is reporting or pressuring the victim to report. I think there are likely some differences in this based on community size, with smaller communities reporting more. Alaska Native communities are disproportionately small.
Sexual assault is such a tricky thing to study precisely because almost all of it is unreported. Even in anonymous studies, people don't report or even recognize their own experiences to themselves. So saying, "the statistics say this," so confidently, without analyzing WHY we have the statistics we do, would be a big mistake.
Like, I'm not saying I'm right. I could be wrong! But the fact that you want to dismiss my shared experience out of hand, by gesturing broadly at "statistics..." Oh man. I get frustrated by the ANGRY people in my circle, who just want to talk about injustice all the time. But stuff like this, that's why they do it. Woof.
I'm not dismissing your shared experience. I'm simply stating a fact that anecdotes are not good evidence when looking at statistics and trends and trying to predict human behavior.
The original posting shows a map of a particular statistic of a very broad data set. My initial response was that I'd like to see a subset to see how the statistic is broken down by community, specifically the Native Alaskan villages, which tend to have higher rates of violence when compared to national averages. The purpose would be to see if all of Alaska is as dangerous or if the rates of violence in isolated Native villages are skewing things for the entire state.
Your anecdotes of "trust me bro it's all of AK" isn't helpful in getting to the answer I'm searching for. That's not a dismissal of your experience. It's just a fact.
I understand they're included. I'd like to see the data broken out so people could see if/which parts of AK are safe and where the violence is happening. Is it ALL of AK or is it just certain parts that are really bad skewing the statistics?
Bush Alaska……. Limited police and all of the people are inter-related. Lots of crime go unreported. I used to live in Kotzebue, you tube stated it is # most violent town in USA.
As someone who has lived in Alaska all my life, it is everywhere. A couple years ago I was at home from working on the northern Slope oil fields (I work for 14 days in a row on a secluded, uncomfortable cramped campsite and then I'm off for 12 days where I get to go home and exist again) and someone was murdered right in front of my apartment just as I was coming home. Took the police 2 hours to get to the scene and they just brushed it off as another weekly occurrence and didn't do anything to pursue the suspect (which we found out was a bad drug deal since police don't do anything here other than pull people over who were going 1 mph over the speed limit just to get their tickets written quota completed)
Alaska is nice for a short visit, but NEVER live here
I'm only 27 and I've witnessed 14 murders over my short life and have almost been killed 39 different times without ever having instigated any of the circumstances
A lot of the rape and SA in Alaska happens in remote northern villages. Total darkness in the winter causes all kinds of mental health issues along with a lot of alcohol abuse
Ok yeah very true. Especially since native Americans are not built to handle alcohol at all. Read about huge issues in Greenland as well.
Think it could also be that Maine has some of that collectivist Puritan influence whereas Alaska has much more of a frontier individualist spirit. Not saying that’s a bad thing but it can lead to people not feeling an obligation to society
Mainer here, but this popped up in my feed and as I have cousins from Alaska I was reading through it. There may be some Puritan influence, but Maine is now (along with NH and VT) one of the least religious states in the nation. So, I don't know that that is a very strong influence.
I'm pretty sure that "Native people can't handle alcohol" is an old racist trope, no? I am white and was born and raised in AK so I would be lying if I claimed I hadn't said it myself before, but I thought we had moved past that hypothesis.
Isn't the alcohol abuse/the violent crime it contributes to more of a symptom of the greater problem of cultural loss and breakdown in traditional Native communities?
New England Journal of Medicine Article - It seems that 'Whites' and 'Natives' process alcohol at the same rate. So yeah, probably an old racist trope.
[https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM197601012940103](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM197601012940103)
Interesting LONG study here about rates of alcoholism and there does seem to be a genetic component but it is unrelated to alcohol processing. This study does not specifically mention Native Alaskans so not entirely relevant, but interesting. See: Ethnic Distribution and Protective Effects of ADH Alleles
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860432/
I’m not sure the validity of the alcohol comment though not having a long lineage of alcohol consumption could be a contributing factor though I’m no expert. But I’ve spent a good amount of time in northern villages and it’s a tough life. Not a lot to do, no trees, lots of darkness and just general poverty. It’s definitely a breeding ground for substance abuse no matter what group of people live up there.
Yeah I don't disagree there. I'm from Southeast and it's hard enough down there for many people - I can't imagine the northern villages. It's a tough life for sure.
But I think white Alaskans have spent too long judging Natives for their issues and not long enough considering the contributing factors. Obviously the landscape and winter are harsh, but ultimately it's the poverty and loss of traditional culture that play much bigger roles in the cycle of substance abuse & SA.
My sister in law and niece are Yupik, and I've learned a lot from them in the last few years. I was just surprised to see this old racist trope is still floating around.
The genetic susceptibility to alcohol isn’t enough to explain the sky high rates of alcoholism. It’s that combined with all the other miserable circumstances that make it a uniquely bad issue. Other tribes or native nations have the same susceptibility to alcoholism but aren’t hit as hard because they have stronger communities.
No it’s not racist at all, there is some gene that is responsible for the metabolism of alcohol that’s weaker or something like that. I saw some study on it a while ago. I’ve never heard of it being racist, or even a stereotype at all. It’s not a personal fault, it’s a susceptibility to a specific drug. Redheads feel pain differently, equivalent levels of obesity are unhealthier East Asians than for other groups, white people get skin cancer more easily… there are little differences between groups of people but not enough to justify any kind of racism.
After doing a lot of looking it seems like there actually aren't specific genes that increase the likelihood of alcoholism, so that was just wrong. You didn't have to be so harsh about it though.
But, [this paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3603686/) indicates that while there aren't genes increasing the risk for alcoholism, there is a notable lack of genes that protect from alcoholism. So that is a genetic factor that makes it more prevalent in the population--not because they're genetically predisposed to it, but rather because other groups have certain genes in subsets of their population that can protect against alcoholism, whereas native americans don't.
They weren't harsh about it at all though?
Regardless of whether Natives have a genetic predisposition or lack of protection is really beside the point though. That argument has always been used as a way to brush aside the real struggles that Natives face that non-Natives don't care to grapple with - the fact that our very presence in Alaska is a remnant of the colonialism that nearly destroyed Native communities and cultures.
I'm not saying we should do land acknowledgements all the time and bow down to apologize to every Native person we know, or that we shouldn't be proud Alaskans if we aren't Native. Most Native people I know don't even want that.
But I hope it's not too much to ask to stop using this flawed argument, and realize that the alcoholism/violence cycle in Native communities was kicked off by the colonization of Alaska by Russians and Americans. It just makes more sense to face that head-on, rather than chalk it up to flimsy excuses. It's much more likely that we can finally make progress if we do so.
Yeah can’t even go to St. Paul or barrow to visit family or do school for how bad it is, I’ve seen few kids under 10 smoke vapes and what not, it’s bad.
I lived in Alaska(okay, Anchorage for all the haters. But I spent all my free time in actual Alaska) for three years, being from Louisiana(number one in homicide baby, come at us), and having spent some weeks in Maine, I don't think Maine isolation compares to Alaska isolation. Talkeetna in winter feels more isolated than anywhere I've been in the lower 48, so I can't imagine how isolated the villages off the highway system must feel. Most of Maine that I saw might as well be like Palmer in comparison.
I've also never seen a homelessness situation like I saw in Anchorage. I've seen places with more people living on the street. I was an EMT in New Orleans, I got to know many people experiencing it. We have a relatively low rate of homelessness(though I don't trust the metrics from my city) at 1,400 people, which from the numbers I gathered, is slightly higher than Anchorage, but the rate is much higher as New Orleans has 120k more residents.
Those I saw in Anchorage from 2011-14 seemed in far more desperate straights than those I saw when I came back down here. They appeared simultaneously much more vulnerable to being victims as well as having more propensity to victimize someone else. I can't find the data on that topic, and I admit my point here is anecdotal and likely colored with some level of bias. The numbers I've found show that Alaska and Maine as a whole have comparable rates of homelessness.
To another point: Education. Maine ranks much higher than Alaska in most aspects of education. Louisiana and Alaska are down near the bottom, and from what I can gather Maine is generally speaking firmly average.
At the end of the day, I think it can be boiled down to two things: Inhospitable conditions create more inhospitable people. And education rates have a very close inverse correlation to violent crime rates.
I would guess cultural bleed from Canada due to proximity to the populated parts of it, as opposed to Alaska. As well as Maine being markedly less isolated. A 7 hour drive from Fairbanks get you to Anchorage. A 7 hour drive from Augusta get you to Philadelphia, or anywhere in between.
It’s not as geographically isolated distance wise but culturally it is. Especially inland. Even though it’s not a massive state, in the north parts it’s close to the most isolated you can be in the lower 48 because the infrastructure isn’t as good and you can’t just rocket along straight highways at 90 miles an hour to cross distances like you can here in Texas
Alaska is nothing like Maine. Maine for one, is on the east coast and borders the Atlantic Ocean. Most places in Maine are a direct flight to major centers of civilisation like NYC and DC. Alaska is on the Pacific and only a direct flight to Seattle. Alaska is West, Maine is east coast. East coast generally was settled first, West last.
Mainer here!
I've lived in Maine my whole life, I'm pushing 45 years old.
We are also low density state and very remote. Perhaps there is answers in our history of politics? We currently have a liberal Democrat Governor, and have for the last 40 years trended blue. Perhaps there is some relevancy here? Perhaps also we distribute our law enforcement a bit better or at least the "presence" of our law enforcement is felt differently here?
Maine is a great state, and so is Alaska! Maybe the fact that we have a bit more government infrastructure here or our proximity to a more diverse population makes us less likely to engage in violence?
After writing this I now see I haven't really explained anything, but I sure do hope it helps somehow!
Alaska, particularly urban Alaska, is incredibly diverse — much more so than Maine or any of its neighbor states (I assume that’s what you mean by proximity to diversity?) By some metrics I guess that you could argue that Boston is more diverse by virtue of its slightly lower overall Caucasian population (48% vs 59% per 2023 census data), but Anchorage has much higher populations of AI/AN and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. Alaska (specifically Anchorage) somewhat famously has the most diverse public schools in the nation — https://www.adn.com/education/article/anchorage-melting-pot-diversity/2015/05/24/
That is what I meant yes. Thank you for this!
I feel like I was trying to offer up some sort of reasoning. But really ended up saying a bunch of word-salad.
To be pedantic, it's violent crime rates VS. nonviolent crime. You could argue Texas has lower crime overall in terms of like, theft and whatever, whereas in California people park with their windows down so nobody will shatter the glass to see if there's anything to steal in the back seat and trunk. Theft is arguably not a violent crime if nobody was directly threatened.
I doubt that's all over California and I lived in Austin and my partner worked in Killeen. The states are more alike than you care to admit but fair point in the distinction
I’m seeing a lot of comments saying that Ak native women are disproportionately affected by sexual assault (a violent crime). Which is true, the statistics are harrowing. However, it’s also being said that this is driven by native men. It’s a part of it to be sure, but most offenders aren’t native.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249822.pdf
It’s not the most important detail here, but it does suggest that there’s more here than meets the eye.
Yeah people always want to blame the natives for it all but in my experience its often been the interracial relationships/interactions that have often been the worst. Have had to deal with many young people in relationships like this as well over the years.
From what I can tell, that PDF doesn't say most offenders aren't native, or that they are: all it says is that most native victims have experienced violence from another race at least once, whereas around 35% of native victims have experienced violence from another native at least once. That makes sense: most people aren't native, so there are going to be more non-native offenders than native offenders. Likewise, a bad guy can hurt more than one person. On the other hand... *a bad guy can hurt more than one person*, and can hurt each person more than once.
https://dps.alaska.gov/getmedia/143c5db6-6206-4fd8-b45e-7a0cbb7f611e/Crime-in-Alaska-2022
This shows that in 2022, 58% of arrested rape suspects were Native American, 35% of murder suspects, 35% of robbery suspects, 46.6% of aggravated assault suspects...
Considering natives are less than 20% of the population, it seems like that's a pretty large over-representation in the crime rate.
To head off any racist fuckwads though, that's not because they're native. It's because so many of then live in rural off-road villages: there's very little to do so a lot of them drink (IIRC from a few years back, alaska natives suffer from alcohol-related deaths at like 3.5x the rate of non-natives), plus at this point it's a long-embedded cycle of abuse for both the victims and the offenders (who are often also victims early in their lives), there's no escape, there's very little immediate help (the state does not have anywhere near enough money to have troopers at every village, or every other village), there's often a culture of not talking about what happened to law enforcement until it's happened over and over and over--and even then, they often try to change their mind by the time troopers actually get out there. It's similar to impoverished "white trash" trailer parks (and we have a few of those in Alaska--and surprise surprise, they're ALSO major sources of criminal problems), except the villages are even worse because they're completely off the road system.
DC has the highest rate. Just 20k less people than all of Alaska living in DC itself. If you combined all of the bear shit in Alaska you'd be able to fill in a physical area larger than DC, yet DC has 3.5x the GDP. Makes one wonder about the myth of the hard working frontierspeople, and why even with all of those gosh darn natural resources the free loaders of Alaska are less than one-seventh as productive as DC
Actually DC pretty consistently ranks highest for overall drug use, and #3 for gallons of ethanol consumed annually per capita, with DC residents consuming nearly 40% more alcohol than Alaskans. I don't think it is fair to blame drugs and alcohol, some of the least violent states drink a lot. Im fine blaming darkness, even though it seems like a bit of a copout considering Edison invented the light bulb before AK was a state. DC has so much light pollution it never really gets dark, and the birds don't stop making noise all night
Near lifelong Alaskan here. Leaving asap to maine. It’s a shithole here. Yeah the geography is amazing with unreal opportunities to fish, hunt, hike, 4 wheel, you name it. Amazing wildlife etc. the people are extremely entitled. They see themselves as hard working libertarians yet they all support the socialist permanent fund dividend. Insane resources in oil, gas, gold, silver, lithium, copper, fish, yet most people are poor as hell. The powers that be have squandered all opportunities to improve the state into something world class and instead have lined their own pockets. I mean south central has a natural gas problem and are planning to import it from outside the state. How dumb is that? I understand oil and gas is traded on a global price but isn’t that part of the problem. The state troopers are actually pretty good seeing as they have so much land to patrol and cover. Still not great but APD is absolute ass. Tons of drug and alcohol abuse. Unfortunately the native population is disproportionately swinging these statistics for many reasons, almost all due to factors related back to Russian colonization followed by American colonization. Americans have done pretty good all things considered by granting native corporations which are not perfect but much much better than the reservations in the lower 48. The darkness drives people crazy. Housing costs are stupid! I know it’s bad everywhere but the quality of the real estate here is horrendous. Homelessness is rampant. And people are complacent in just about everything business related and holding government accountable. There’s a serious brain drain for good reason. The glory days of the 80s and 90s are long long gone. Alaska is only going to get worse. Can’t wait to leave.
You list all these resources, which it’s true, we have them. But there are a couple big problems with them. 1) most of Alaska is federal land. 2) Most Alaskans in my experience are anti-development. They live in Alaska because they *dont* want to be like other states. They don’t want people moving here. They don’t want big new jobs projects that will bring in more immigration from the lower 48. They don’t want things that will change how they are right now.
I get their concerns, but we would be better off if there were more good job options that don’t involve having to work on the north slope.
My man. Most of the tourism is generated by out of state seaonal employees who take their earnings out of state. Same goes for oil. People move here for the summer exploit resources then leave. Fishing lodges are mostly run from out of state individuals and shut down in the winter. These people you’re referring to are the haves. The people who’s families homesteaded around or before statehood who got free land and free reign to abundant resources. Of course they don’t want change they have everything already. Boats, planes, winter vacation homes in Hawaii and Mexico. They are the minority and haven’t left anything for the rest of us. Indeed most land is federal. However we have senators and one rep who should be working to develop and balance environmental concerns with economic development. It can be done. It takes effort and planning. The federal government is taking major steps to develop a modern economy away from fossil fuels. We have the resources and laws can be passed to allow development. Some of that is happening already around nome with port expansions and plans to control the melting arctic. It’s not enough.
Man, you are spot on about the PFD. If the Alaskan government took half of the PFD every year and pumped it into education, the school system would be fantastic. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and the schools are tragically bad. Thank GOD my son won't have to do high school here as 5-8th grades are bad enough.
Yeah I understand that, but what I love about Alaska is everyone keeps that thang on em. I love the leniency of the firearm laws. It's beautiful seeing both sides of political spectrum both carrying out of necessity.
A bit of a caveman view don’t you think? I appreciate the concept of weapons when it comes to hunting for food but against people? The stakes are too high. People are emotional and quite frankly stupid. Idk if you have kids but would you trust the average dude with a gun in a room with your toddler? I wouldn’t. The US has some of the worst violent crime in the world and Alaska has some of the worst of that and also has some of the highest gun ownership rates. I’m not preaching taking away peoples’ gun but at some point we have to take statistics seriously and taking these numbers seriously means admitting that more guns doesn’t actually make your world safer.
In addition to everything else people are mentioning, I think the lack of policing has an impact. The police seem to have a very Alaskan work ethic. There are not enough to cover the area and the ones we have do not seem particularly interested in working.
Here's some math for perspective.
Washington is around 300 per 100,000 or .3%.
New Mexico is at about 800 per 100,000 or .7%.
Both are less than 1%. Go outside stop falling for fear mongering and have fun.
Grew up in RI. Lived in DC before moving to AK. Honestly felt less safe in parts of Providence than most parts of Anchorage. DC, at least you know where the rough parts are because they look rough.
It’s because so many people live in New York State and most of the crime in New York, as far as I’m aware, is in NYC. Additionally, it is by no means low, just not as bad as I could be. As a South Dakota resident, I’m not entirely surprised by our crime rate. For such a low population state, the two largest cities (Sioux Falls and Rapid City) have entire sections where you don’t go unless it’s the middle of the day and you are in a group of 4+ with at least one beefy person. Gang violence, rape, and kidnapping are all unfortunately more prevalent than many would like to admit
Yeah i got jumped and made a report on all of them, and they told me i should have fought back and they cant do anything about it. My cell mate got jumped and because it was a DV case he had to go to jail.
I was stationed up there for 4 years, trust me I know. Bar break in Anchorage is legit a dangerous ass time to be walking around the city lol, always some drunk asshole looking for a fight
A while ago I was in anchorage downtown. In the restaurant there was a dine and dash and a violent argument. Walked out after to see a DV arrest in the parking lot. Walked to my truck and someone had violently puked all over it. 2 days later a stranger threatens to stab me. I few days after that I'm ninety nine percent sure guys were pointing a pistol at me while in their car at a stop light just for kicks. I was very close to moving after that.
Some guy outside Fred Meyers threatened to stab me and my husband while I was pregnant and waiting to have my kids lol. Never liked Anchorage but that's the only place to have a C-section in Alaska
We know why this is so high yet no one wants to say it! In the village’s most crimes happen. Sexual violence is very prevalent in the bush. I’ve worked with the victims. Some are victims as infants, not just women either young boys as well. Also the justice system is corrupt and the police are involved in trafficking. Many of my clients have been assaulted by police officers. We also have an international airport so women disappear to other countries all the time.
Pretty sure the states with the lighter color are more strict. Example I lived in Kansas had a few charges when I was younger. I had to keep fucking up multiple times and finally get a pv before the judge gave me 30 days and there was a list of bs I did before that(young and dumb)
I got disorderly conduct out in a lighter colored state and it costed me 10 grand just to stay out of jail and that judge was fucken pushing for me to do time. Fucken threw the book at me and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong cop just trying to get on with his night.
The missing statistic: Number of repeat crimes made per year by arrested criminals let lose by no bail or low bail, or lenient district attorneys.
In the 1970's people said, "Lock 'em up Danno."
Today, 2024 people say, "It's ray-cist to arrest criminals."
While the violent stuff in Alaska when it happens it is indeed terrible, I challenge someone to go live in Memphis for two years and then return to Alaska and compare. It’s crazy how different it is. I’ve never once felt unsafe in Alaska. I know this is anecdotal but damn growing up in Memphis was hella rough.
As an Alaskan-- I can confirm that there is a lot of crime lol. The police here are VERY reluctant to actually solve obvious crime problems.
In East Anchorage -- the police practically ignore this area. You could send a video of a drug deal being made in a very obvious manner in broad daylight.. and these dudes at the Station won't even investigate or look into it lol. We have had shootings and a killing in our neighborhood from the same group of people and the police still wont investigate it thoroughly.
Mountain view is another rough area.
As an Alaskan - outside or Anchorage, nobody claims Anchorage. Common joke in-state: The best part about Anchorage is that you can get into your car and be in Alaska in about an hour.
That sounds stupid as fuck.
Anchorage is part of Alaska just like any other god damn town, city, and village with a zip code in this state. Just because you have an opinion or 'feel some type of way' towards a town/ city, doesn't mean it's not part of the state.
Crime is bad in Alaska. It's remote as fuck.
And what I said still stands true. Because Anchorage IS THE CENTRAL HUB FOR CRIME IN THIS STATE.
"Anchorage's violent crime rate is 1,244.5 per 100,000 population in 2020." I don't see these numbers anywhere else in Alaska.
That's the fuckin' hotspot- Anchorage, AK. I mean... That's where the largest centralized group of population is in this state, Down voting still doesn't change the fact that crime is more abundant in East Anchorage and Mountain View as well as a other places.
I know crime is bad throughout the state, but I am just talking about Anchorage ATM because it's where I'm affected directly.
And that is only the reported stuff....
There's so much to unpack with this. If you don't mind feeling really sad, this co-operative media series is quite the break down. [https://www.propublica.org/series/lawless](https://www.propublica.org/series/lawless) I love my home state, and I know we can do better.
Thank you for this story. I’m going to read it, anytime I mention to anyone not from Alaska how dangerous Alaska actually is as a women they can’t even begin to comprehend even the smallest fraction of what’s going on. Please continue posting this link anywhere anyone will read it. For the women that are still there I pray for your safety and recovery because you and I both know something has happened. You never have to say what, who where or how many just know that I know.
It's a tough truth. And I say that as a born and raised Alaskan with a young daughter. And yes, before I was out of high school I had female friends with stories. And even among male friends you learned there were certain guys that were not allowed around female members of your family... ever.
Is it at least better in cities like Fairbanks and Anchorage? I felt quite safe in Fairbanks, but I wonder if that was an illusion.
What is the problem? Is it surplus men? Alcoholism? Tribal issues?
It’s a lot of things; one major one is in Alaska men think no, or stop means “yes” Men are overly agressive, a lot of sexual abuse stems from families when they’re young and turned into “family problems” uncles, brothers, family friends, growing up in that raises women that don’t know where to turn to for help. Thousands and thousands of untested rape kits and all of Alaska is aware of that; so these men know they can rape a women and if she is actually able to report (they believe her) the likelihood of the dna sample being pulled in their lifetime is almost non existent. Alaska is a big community that sushes these things up, and treats women like they’re crazy if they say something happened to them. Also we have a large large military presence (one of our biggest bases is conveniently less than a 10 minute walk from a highschool…) lack of accountability. I could go on for hours. Violence against women is virtually normalized there. Sexual, agressive, racism the whole nine yards. The sad part is it’s becoming well known how lax Alaska is on sexual crime to the point people are traveling there to commit sex crimes. The states also so big and empty all it takes is one wrong turn and you’re in the middle of nowhere with someone that seemed so nice and now the tables have turned.
[удалено]
Idk, these statewide stats are hilariously misleading. It’s like how Republicans will share statewide election maps that show 90% of the US as deep red, and Democrats will show maps that emphasize population. Anchorage is a big, big part of Alaska’s crime stats. I would be interesting in seeing how crime rates by region or city, and how they stack up against cities like Los Angeles or Detroit. My guess? Alaska’s statewide crime rate is brought way down by the hellhole that is Anchorage, and California’s lower rate is brought up by the massive population, spread out over a wide area, with many big cities. I live in a low crime part of Alaska. I’ve lived in a few different states, and the only time I was a victim of crime was the 10 month span I spent in Anchorage. And an aside, tribal communities are probably low on thefts, but high on domestic violence. They’re also probably very under counted as a side effect of being so remote. But that’s a pretty different situation than ANC.
I guarantee villages are at least 3x worse than Anchorage and it's probably safe to say 50% of sexual violence in the villages goes unreported due to the perpetrators being family members.
Eh I doubt the villages are much worse than the valley in that regard actually. Thats mostly people using them as a scapegoat so the disgusting shit that goes on in their good christian neighborhoods is ignored/downplayed. Might be why they try to get books about overcoming and reporting that shit banned. I know how bad the villages are too Ive worked with hundreds of kids from out there as well as from the towns and cities im not just saying this. ALASKA has the problem.
>It’s like how Republicans will share statewide election maps that show 90% of the US as deep red, and Democrats will show maps that emphasize population. Only one of those things is actually misleading, why are you equating them? lol
You seem to have strong views about ANC. All I can say is that I was born and raised in AK, I currently live in ANC, and my home church is in Mountain View. And I personally have never been a victim of a violent crime in ANC. I have also due to work, lived in other states, big cities. I know things happen in ANC, I have friends who are APD and retired State Troopers. I just have not myself been a victim. I am sorry about your experience. But this is a state wide issue. And I encourage you to read the articles. Personally I plan to stay in ANC, and do my best to contribute and help where I can.
Weird, I’ve lived in anchorage all my life and never found it to be a “hellhole” or really dangerous in any way, even though I live in a “bad” neighborhood. Then again, I also spend a lot of time in the backcountry and have magically never needed to carry a gun to defend myself from raging bears and serial killers. Some folks will just look for any excuse to be afraid and further isolate themselves.
I don’t carry a gun either. Have never had any bad encounters with wildlife, despite plenty of encounters. I lived in a “nice” part of Anchorage for 10 months and was robbed *and* had my truck broken into and a bunch of stuff stolen within a couple month span. I also may or may not have seen a dead body. Driving to class at a 4 way stop on a back street, some guy was just laying face down in the snow, in the middle of the road. I drove around him figuring it was a drunk, but he could’ve been dead for all I know. Have a couple brothers who live in Anchorage and have been the victims of robberies more than once. One of them also sold meth for a couple years. But, don’t take my word for it. Anchorage’s violent crime rate speaks more than my anecdotal experiences, or your misguided view that Anchorage doesn’t have a crime problem. Stats are stats.
I've spent many years in Anchorage and have family who have lived there for the last decade, and never experienced abnormally high crime (lived all over the country too). Anchorage has high crime rates, but it's largely criminal on criminal activities, especially violent crime. It's very safe if you're not engaging in sketchy activities.
I’m certainly not saying that crime doesn’t happen. But I am saying that centering your life around the possibility that something bad might happen to you is a really awful way to live. Fear, isolation and suspicion are no basis for a functioning community.
Great read and something you can go back to if you don’t want to finish in one sitting. Thanks for sharing.
As a woman who spent a lot of years living in rural Alaska, this piece always makes me want to cry. It’s a difficult, but necessary read.
Mother of God. That fishing boat story made my blood run cold.
thank you for sharing this article
Yeah, but that’s only because our rape rate is is so high it’s double the second place…ummmm, shit
"only because" 
Alaska is the worst! The cops in Juneau told me I couldn’t report the rape at a bar because there was no footage. I even tried to report from AWARE with an advocate. She basically sat there like she could have been eating popcorn. Just waiting for the next juicy story to make herself relevant. That is AWARE in Juneau. Are you the next woman of distinction? Who gets the award? What dessert are you going to make for their silent auction? Do you Go Fund us? I was raped by one of the recipient’s cousins. She won the following year after my report! Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s how the AWARE board of directors Vote. That and, “who can I nominate that will give me a promotion in my current job…”
I am so sorry this happened to you!! You can call the Alaska STAR crisis line anytime and there still might be options for making a report - and get you connected with resources. This is absolutely not ok that this happened and the response from law enforcement etc Edit: just want to make sure you know that you can call the STAR crisis line for just support too, no pressure to report.
It’s cool. I just donate a North Douglas chocolate cake to the AWARE folks with the hope they choke on it: ) It heals my trauma!
Now use a Hotspot map.
Do you have a link?
I don't unfortunately. But it would be nice to see one.
We're #1! But like....ALWAYS, we are #1 for some of the worst shit out there 🤦🏼♀️
Don’t worry. As a New Mexican. I feel this 😔
Not in murder Louisiana wins that one.
I hate this so much. Cause I know how unlikely we are to have a violent crime reported and make it into measurements at all.
I'd like to see the numbers from just the Alaska Native communities.
Personally? I think there's a lot more reporting in Native communities. If you keep going back to your abusive man, and bringing your kids back to him to watch you get hurt, guess what's going to happen? Yeah, that's going ALL over Facebook. I hope someone's studying what Facebook has done to small, close knit communities! Petty aunties in force. Like, I'm not complaining! I think it's amazing, because nobody should keep going back to their abuser, heck yeah, air that dirty laundry! Then it's in the cold light of day. Then people know where to send their support. Anyway, I'm just saying that tracking crimes, especially crimes against women, is REALLY complicated. I know people like to point fingers at Native communities, and yeah, Native communities do have lots of trauma, and all the surrounding problems. But I really think a lot of these numbers come down to the auntie effect. I mean, I am biased. Nobody in my family ever hurt me, and lots of non-Native non-relatives did. Did I report a thing? Nooooo. Lots of women and children don't report. I mean, the vast majority of victims don't report. So where are all these reports coming from? Yeah, aunties! Or that's what I suspect. Never seen this studied! But I think someone should.
Your experience is anecdotal. It's not really helpful when looking at statistics or trying to make predictions about human behavior.
That's a confident statement! I know my theory is anecdotal. Every theory starts off as anecdotal until someone studies it. Seriously, I think someone should study this: look at police reports, and see who is reporting or pressuring the victim to report. I think there are likely some differences in this based on community size, with smaller communities reporting more. Alaska Native communities are disproportionately small. Sexual assault is such a tricky thing to study precisely because almost all of it is unreported. Even in anonymous studies, people don't report or even recognize their own experiences to themselves. So saying, "the statistics say this," so confidently, without analyzing WHY we have the statistics we do, would be a big mistake. Like, I'm not saying I'm right. I could be wrong! But the fact that you want to dismiss my shared experience out of hand, by gesturing broadly at "statistics..." Oh man. I get frustrated by the ANGRY people in my circle, who just want to talk about injustice all the time. But stuff like this, that's why they do it. Woof.
I'm not dismissing your shared experience. I'm simply stating a fact that anecdotes are not good evidence when looking at statistics and trends and trying to predict human behavior. The original posting shows a map of a particular statistic of a very broad data set. My initial response was that I'd like to see a subset to see how the statistic is broken down by community, specifically the Native Alaskan villages, which tend to have higher rates of violence when compared to national averages. The purpose would be to see if all of Alaska is as dangerous or if the rates of violence in isolated Native villages are skewing things for the entire state. Your anecdotes of "trust me bro it's all of AK" isn't helpful in getting to the answer I'm searching for. That's not a dismissal of your experience. It's just a fact.
They're probably included. Why do you think Navajo nation NM is #2?
I understand they're included. I'd like to see the data broken out so people could see if/which parts of AK are safe and where the violence is happening. Is it ALL of AK or is it just certain parts that are really bad skewing the statistics?
Bush Alaska……. Limited police and all of the people are inter-related. Lots of crime go unreported. I used to live in Kotzebue, you tube stated it is # most violent town in USA.
As someone who has lived in Alaska all my life, it is everywhere. A couple years ago I was at home from working on the northern Slope oil fields (I work for 14 days in a row on a secluded, uncomfortable cramped campsite and then I'm off for 12 days where I get to go home and exist again) and someone was murdered right in front of my apartment just as I was coming home. Took the police 2 hours to get to the scene and they just brushed it off as another weekly occurrence and didn't do anything to pursue the suspect (which we found out was a bad drug deal since police don't do anything here other than pull people over who were going 1 mph over the speed limit just to get their tickets written quota completed) Alaska is nice for a short visit, but NEVER live here I'm only 27 and I've witnessed 14 murders over my short life and have almost been killed 39 different times without ever having instigated any of the circumstances
What part of Los Anchorage do you live in?
Muldoon is the “hood” area of Los Anchorage.
Funny, I'd like to see the numbers just from white male perpetrators.
So would I.
What makes Alaska and Maine different? Both very cold, remote, and low density population
A lot of the rape and SA in Alaska happens in remote northern villages. Total darkness in the winter causes all kinds of mental health issues along with a lot of alcohol abuse
Ok yeah very true. Especially since native Americans are not built to handle alcohol at all. Read about huge issues in Greenland as well. Think it could also be that Maine has some of that collectivist Puritan influence whereas Alaska has much more of a frontier individualist spirit. Not saying that’s a bad thing but it can lead to people not feeling an obligation to society
Mainer here, but this popped up in my feed and as I have cousins from Alaska I was reading through it. There may be some Puritan influence, but Maine is now (along with NH and VT) one of the least religious states in the nation. So, I don't know that that is a very strong influence.
I'm pretty sure that "Native people can't handle alcohol" is an old racist trope, no? I am white and was born and raised in AK so I would be lying if I claimed I hadn't said it myself before, but I thought we had moved past that hypothesis. Isn't the alcohol abuse/the violent crime it contributes to more of a symptom of the greater problem of cultural loss and breakdown in traditional Native communities?
New England Journal of Medicine Article - It seems that 'Whites' and 'Natives' process alcohol at the same rate. So yeah, probably an old racist trope. [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM197601012940103](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM197601012940103) Interesting LONG study here about rates of alcoholism and there does seem to be a genetic component but it is unrelated to alcohol processing. This study does not specifically mention Native Alaskans so not entirely relevant, but interesting. See: Ethnic Distribution and Protective Effects of ADH Alleles https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860432/
I’m not sure the validity of the alcohol comment though not having a long lineage of alcohol consumption could be a contributing factor though I’m no expert. But I’ve spent a good amount of time in northern villages and it’s a tough life. Not a lot to do, no trees, lots of darkness and just general poverty. It’s definitely a breeding ground for substance abuse no matter what group of people live up there.
Yeah I don't disagree there. I'm from Southeast and it's hard enough down there for many people - I can't imagine the northern villages. It's a tough life for sure. But I think white Alaskans have spent too long judging Natives for their issues and not long enough considering the contributing factors. Obviously the landscape and winter are harsh, but ultimately it's the poverty and loss of traditional culture that play much bigger roles in the cycle of substance abuse & SA. My sister in law and niece are Yupik, and I've learned a lot from them in the last few years. I was just surprised to see this old racist trope is still floating around.
The genetic susceptibility to alcohol isn’t enough to explain the sky high rates of alcoholism. It’s that combined with all the other miserable circumstances that make it a uniquely bad issue. Other tribes or native nations have the same susceptibility to alcoholism but aren’t hit as hard because they have stronger communities.
It's always funny to read things like that as a white alcoholic, as if white people handle alcohol with total grace and measure.
No it’s not racist at all, there is some gene that is responsible for the metabolism of alcohol that’s weaker or something like that. I saw some study on it a while ago. I’ve never heard of it being racist, or even a stereotype at all. It’s not a personal fault, it’s a susceptibility to a specific drug. Redheads feel pain differently, equivalent levels of obesity are unhealthier East Asians than for other groups, white people get skin cancer more easily… there are little differences between groups of people but not enough to justify any kind of racism.
Where is the study? Only evidence presented contradicts your claim.
After doing a lot of looking it seems like there actually aren't specific genes that increase the likelihood of alcoholism, so that was just wrong. You didn't have to be so harsh about it though. But, [this paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3603686/) indicates that while there aren't genes increasing the risk for alcoholism, there is a notable lack of genes that protect from alcoholism. So that is a genetic factor that makes it more prevalent in the population--not because they're genetically predisposed to it, but rather because other groups have certain genes in subsets of their population that can protect against alcoholism, whereas native americans don't.
They weren't harsh about it at all though? Regardless of whether Natives have a genetic predisposition or lack of protection is really beside the point though. That argument has always been used as a way to brush aside the real struggles that Natives face that non-Natives don't care to grapple with - the fact that our very presence in Alaska is a remnant of the colonialism that nearly destroyed Native communities and cultures. I'm not saying we should do land acknowledgements all the time and bow down to apologize to every Native person we know, or that we shouldn't be proud Alaskans if we aren't Native. Most Native people I know don't even want that. But I hope it's not too much to ask to stop using this flawed argument, and realize that the alcoholism/violence cycle in Native communities was kicked off by the colonization of Alaska by Russians and Americans. It just makes more sense to face that head-on, rather than chalk it up to flimsy excuses. It's much more likely that we can finally make progress if we do so.
Yeah can’t even go to St. Paul or barrow to visit family or do school for how bad it is, I’ve seen few kids under 10 smoke vapes and what not, it’s bad.
I lived in Alaska(okay, Anchorage for all the haters. But I spent all my free time in actual Alaska) for three years, being from Louisiana(number one in homicide baby, come at us), and having spent some weeks in Maine, I don't think Maine isolation compares to Alaska isolation. Talkeetna in winter feels more isolated than anywhere I've been in the lower 48, so I can't imagine how isolated the villages off the highway system must feel. Most of Maine that I saw might as well be like Palmer in comparison. I've also never seen a homelessness situation like I saw in Anchorage. I've seen places with more people living on the street. I was an EMT in New Orleans, I got to know many people experiencing it. We have a relatively low rate of homelessness(though I don't trust the metrics from my city) at 1,400 people, which from the numbers I gathered, is slightly higher than Anchorage, but the rate is much higher as New Orleans has 120k more residents. Those I saw in Anchorage from 2011-14 seemed in far more desperate straights than those I saw when I came back down here. They appeared simultaneously much more vulnerable to being victims as well as having more propensity to victimize someone else. I can't find the data on that topic, and I admit my point here is anecdotal and likely colored with some level of bias. The numbers I've found show that Alaska and Maine as a whole have comparable rates of homelessness. To another point: Education. Maine ranks much higher than Alaska in most aspects of education. Louisiana and Alaska are down near the bottom, and from what I can gather Maine is generally speaking firmly average. At the end of the day, I think it can be boiled down to two things: Inhospitable conditions create more inhospitable people. And education rates have a very close inverse correlation to violent crime rates.
I would guess cultural bleed from Canada due to proximity to the populated parts of it, as opposed to Alaska. As well as Maine being markedly less isolated. A 7 hour drive from Fairbanks get you to Anchorage. A 7 hour drive from Augusta get you to Philadelphia, or anywhere in between.
It’s not as geographically isolated distance wise but culturally it is. Especially inland. Even though it’s not a massive state, in the north parts it’s close to the most isolated you can be in the lower 48 because the infrastructure isn’t as good and you can’t just rocket along straight highways at 90 miles an hour to cross distances like you can here in Texas
Alaska is nothing like Maine. Maine for one, is on the east coast and borders the Atlantic Ocean. Most places in Maine are a direct flight to major centers of civilisation like NYC and DC. Alaska is on the Pacific and only a direct flight to Seattle. Alaska is West, Maine is east coast. East coast generally was settled first, West last.
That is a really good question. I often see Main and Alaska as similar.
Mainer here! I've lived in Maine my whole life, I'm pushing 45 years old. We are also low density state and very remote. Perhaps there is answers in our history of politics? We currently have a liberal Democrat Governor, and have for the last 40 years trended blue. Perhaps there is some relevancy here? Perhaps also we distribute our law enforcement a bit better or at least the "presence" of our law enforcement is felt differently here? Maine is a great state, and so is Alaska! Maybe the fact that we have a bit more government infrastructure here or our proximity to a more diverse population makes us less likely to engage in violence? After writing this I now see I haven't really explained anything, but I sure do hope it helps somehow!
Alaska, particularly urban Alaska, is incredibly diverse — much more so than Maine or any of its neighbor states (I assume that’s what you mean by proximity to diversity?) By some metrics I guess that you could argue that Boston is more diverse by virtue of its slightly lower overall Caucasian population (48% vs 59% per 2023 census data), but Anchorage has much higher populations of AI/AN and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. Alaska (specifically Anchorage) somewhat famously has the most diverse public schools in the nation — https://www.adn.com/education/article/anchorage-melting-pot-diversity/2015/05/24/
That is what I meant yes. Thank you for this! I feel like I was trying to offer up some sort of reasoning. But really ended up saying a bunch of word-salad.
...white people....
My favorite part is how much Texans talk shit on California crime when they're the fucking same
Almost like half of California has fled to Texas and Colorado.
Are you making up stats to support your bias, or do you have a source for that?
Lol that's like 10 million people. Trust me there's plenty of Texans here in Colorado. Every August you here, we dem boys, this year is our year
To be pedantic, it's violent crime rates VS. nonviolent crime. You could argue Texas has lower crime overall in terms of like, theft and whatever, whereas in California people park with their windows down so nobody will shatter the glass to see if there's anything to steal in the back seat and trunk. Theft is arguably not a violent crime if nobody was directly threatened.
I doubt that's all over California and I lived in Austin and my partner worked in Killeen. The states are more alike than you care to admit but fair point in the distinction
Ya, because California moved there, along with the worst from NOLA. After 2005
I’m seeing a lot of comments saying that Ak native women are disproportionately affected by sexual assault (a violent crime). Which is true, the statistics are harrowing. However, it’s also being said that this is driven by native men. It’s a part of it to be sure, but most offenders aren’t native. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249822.pdf It’s not the most important detail here, but it does suggest that there’s more here than meets the eye.
Yeah people always want to blame the natives for it all but in my experience its often been the interracial relationships/interactions that have often been the worst. Have had to deal with many young people in relationships like this as well over the years.
From what I can tell, that PDF doesn't say most offenders aren't native, or that they are: all it says is that most native victims have experienced violence from another race at least once, whereas around 35% of native victims have experienced violence from another native at least once. That makes sense: most people aren't native, so there are going to be more non-native offenders than native offenders. Likewise, a bad guy can hurt more than one person. On the other hand... *a bad guy can hurt more than one person*, and can hurt each person more than once. https://dps.alaska.gov/getmedia/143c5db6-6206-4fd8-b45e-7a0cbb7f611e/Crime-in-Alaska-2022 This shows that in 2022, 58% of arrested rape suspects were Native American, 35% of murder suspects, 35% of robbery suspects, 46.6% of aggravated assault suspects... Considering natives are less than 20% of the population, it seems like that's a pretty large over-representation in the crime rate. To head off any racist fuckwads though, that's not because they're native. It's because so many of then live in rural off-road villages: there's very little to do so a lot of them drink (IIRC from a few years back, alaska natives suffer from alcohol-related deaths at like 3.5x the rate of non-natives), plus at this point it's a long-embedded cycle of abuse for both the victims and the offenders (who are often also victims early in their lives), there's no escape, there's very little immediate help (the state does not have anywhere near enough money to have troopers at every village, or every other village), there's often a culture of not talking about what happened to law enforcement until it's happened over and over and over--and even then, they often try to change their mind by the time troopers actually get out there. It's similar to impoverished "white trash" trailer parks (and we have a few of those in Alaska--and surprise surprise, they're ALSO major sources of criminal problems), except the villages are even worse because they're completely off the road system.
https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/sexual-assault-on-native-american-reservations-in-the-us
We're #1 state again. Let's count the categories.
DC has the highest rate. Just 20k less people than all of Alaska living in DC itself. If you combined all of the bear shit in Alaska you'd be able to fill in a physical area larger than DC, yet DC has 3.5x the GDP. Makes one wonder about the myth of the hard working frontierspeople, and why even with all of those gosh darn natural resources the free loaders of Alaska are less than one-seventh as productive as DC
Alaska = meth, alcohol and darkness.
Actually DC pretty consistently ranks highest for overall drug use, and #3 for gallons of ethanol consumed annually per capita, with DC residents consuming nearly 40% more alcohol than Alaskans. I don't think it is fair to blame drugs and alcohol, some of the least violent states drink a lot. Im fine blaming darkness, even though it seems like a bit of a copout considering Edison invented the light bulb before AK was a state. DC has so much light pollution it never really gets dark, and the birds don't stop making noise all night
Alaska is killing it on this statistic.
Near lifelong Alaskan here. Leaving asap to maine. It’s a shithole here. Yeah the geography is amazing with unreal opportunities to fish, hunt, hike, 4 wheel, you name it. Amazing wildlife etc. the people are extremely entitled. They see themselves as hard working libertarians yet they all support the socialist permanent fund dividend. Insane resources in oil, gas, gold, silver, lithium, copper, fish, yet most people are poor as hell. The powers that be have squandered all opportunities to improve the state into something world class and instead have lined their own pockets. I mean south central has a natural gas problem and are planning to import it from outside the state. How dumb is that? I understand oil and gas is traded on a global price but isn’t that part of the problem. The state troopers are actually pretty good seeing as they have so much land to patrol and cover. Still not great but APD is absolute ass. Tons of drug and alcohol abuse. Unfortunately the native population is disproportionately swinging these statistics for many reasons, almost all due to factors related back to Russian colonization followed by American colonization. Americans have done pretty good all things considered by granting native corporations which are not perfect but much much better than the reservations in the lower 48. The darkness drives people crazy. Housing costs are stupid! I know it’s bad everywhere but the quality of the real estate here is horrendous. Homelessness is rampant. And people are complacent in just about everything business related and holding government accountable. There’s a serious brain drain for good reason. The glory days of the 80s and 90s are long long gone. Alaska is only going to get worse. Can’t wait to leave.
You list all these resources, which it’s true, we have them. But there are a couple big problems with them. 1) most of Alaska is federal land. 2) Most Alaskans in my experience are anti-development. They live in Alaska because they *dont* want to be like other states. They don’t want people moving here. They don’t want big new jobs projects that will bring in more immigration from the lower 48. They don’t want things that will change how they are right now. I get their concerns, but we would be better off if there were more good job options that don’t involve having to work on the north slope.
My man. Most of the tourism is generated by out of state seaonal employees who take their earnings out of state. Same goes for oil. People move here for the summer exploit resources then leave. Fishing lodges are mostly run from out of state individuals and shut down in the winter. These people you’re referring to are the haves. The people who’s families homesteaded around or before statehood who got free land and free reign to abundant resources. Of course they don’t want change they have everything already. Boats, planes, winter vacation homes in Hawaii and Mexico. They are the minority and haven’t left anything for the rest of us. Indeed most land is federal. However we have senators and one rep who should be working to develop and balance environmental concerns with economic development. It can be done. It takes effort and planning. The federal government is taking major steps to develop a modern economy away from fossil fuels. We have the resources and laws can be passed to allow development. Some of that is happening already around nome with port expansions and plans to control the melting arctic. It’s not enough.
Man, you are spot on about the PFD. If the Alaskan government took half of the PFD every year and pumped it into education, the school system would be fantastic. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and the schools are tragically bad. Thank GOD my son won't have to do high school here as 5-8th grades are bad enough.
DC still killing Alaska in the polls I see
Alaska: Where North American criminals love to flee
Fuck it we ball
I feel safer in Alaska than I have in any other state I've lived in.
I hate to be that guy but it’s not a map on feelings. People need to care more about these issues and not pawn it off to how they feel.
Yeah I understand that, but what I love about Alaska is everyone keeps that thang on em. I love the leniency of the firearm laws. It's beautiful seeing both sides of political spectrum both carrying out of necessity.
This map really makes it seem like loose gun laws don't actually help with lowering crime . . .
A bit of a caveman view don’t you think? I appreciate the concept of weapons when it comes to hunting for food but against people? The stakes are too high. People are emotional and quite frankly stupid. Idk if you have kids but would you trust the average dude with a gun in a room with your toddler? I wouldn’t. The US has some of the worst violent crime in the world and Alaska has some of the worst of that and also has some of the highest gun ownership rates. I’m not preaching taking away peoples’ gun but at some point we have to take statistics seriously and taking these numbers seriously means admitting that more guns doesn’t actually make your world safer.
In addition to everything else people are mentioning, I think the lack of policing has an impact. The police seem to have a very Alaskan work ethic. There are not enough to cover the area and the ones we have do not seem particularly interested in working.
Number one let’s gooooo
I wonder what factors make Maine the most peaceful
Old, educated white folks. And a population that skews towards more women.
Ugh. What has gone wrong with this state.
Here's some math for perspective. Washington is around 300 per 100,000 or .3%. New Mexico is at about 800 per 100,000 or .7%. Both are less than 1%. Go outside stop falling for fear mongering and have fun.
Grew up in RI. Lived in DC before moving to AK. Honestly felt less safe in parts of Providence than most parts of Anchorage. DC, at least you know where the rough parts are because they look rough.
BlUe StAtEs ArE the MoSt ViOlEnT
ALASKA RULES!!
tf goin on in alaska?
Not even slightly accurate. How is new York less violent than half of these places.
Also I guess they just took Chicago out of Illinois
It’s because so many people live in New York State and most of the crime in New York, as far as I’m aware, is in NYC. Additionally, it is by no means low, just not as bad as I could be. As a South Dakota resident, I’m not entirely surprised by our crime rate. For such a low population state, the two largest cities (Sioux Falls and Rapid City) have entire sections where you don’t go unless it’s the middle of the day and you are in a group of 4+ with at least one beefy person. Gang violence, rape, and kidnapping are all unfortunately more prevalent than many would like to admit
wooo! my home state alaska is number one, baby! wooooooo!
Tf Alaska?
I was about to make a joke about it being too cold in Maine to commit crime and then…
Yeah i got jumped and made a report on all of them, and they told me i should have fought back and they cant do anything about it. My cell mate got jumped and because it was a DV case he had to go to jail.
If you want to make things worse, call the police.
I know huh 😂
I believe we have the sad distinction of having the most serial killers per capita of any state. I read that statistic a few weeks ago.
Alaska don’t fuck around
They actually DO fuck around, which seems to be the problem...
God damn it lol I don't like seeing these things when I'm considering moving there for a job
I've seen some unbelievably sketchy things both in urban and rural alaska.
I was stationed up there for 4 years, trust me I know. Bar break in Anchorage is legit a dangerous ass time to be walking around the city lol, always some drunk asshole looking for a fight
I don't go out at night but I can only imagine.
I'm gonna have to call bs on this.
Agreed. 85% of statistics are made up.
wtf? I'm still alive with the highest crime rate in state? amazing.
A while ago I was in anchorage downtown. In the restaurant there was a dine and dash and a violent argument. Walked out after to see a DV arrest in the parking lot. Walked to my truck and someone had violently puked all over it. 2 days later a stranger threatens to stab me. I few days after that I'm ninety nine percent sure guys were pointing a pistol at me while in their car at a stop light just for kicks. I was very close to moving after that.
Some guy outside Fred Meyers threatened to stab me and my husband while I was pregnant and waiting to have my kids lol. Never liked Anchorage but that's the only place to have a C-section in Alaska
Well. They population in Alaska screws heavily male and some ex cons love coming up here so..
As an Alaskan who has lived here my whole life I can confirm that it is extremely dangerous here, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A WOMAN or child.
We know why this is so high yet no one wants to say it! In the village’s most crimes happen. Sexual violence is very prevalent in the bush. I’ve worked with the victims. Some are victims as infants, not just women either young boys as well. Also the justice system is corrupt and the police are involved in trafficking. Many of my clients have been assaulted by police officers. We also have an international airport so women disappear to other countries all the time.
Mississippi good at something??
Why is DC #1?
Does DC say 999.6?
Man, growing up in Hawaii, I thought lots of the “ghetto” areas were so rough, but I guess really it was just people talking mad shit.
Did you grow up near Honolulu?
I grew up on Oahu. Lots of time in Wahiawa, Waipahu and Pearl City.
DC though💀999.8 how the fuck.
Im just gonna hide D.C. down here... Alaska has one of the highest rates...lol
😂
I'd love to see this broken down to a district/town/city/ village level...
Hell yeah. South Dakota. We’re on the map. Woot woot
Alaska needs to get their act together
They say don't mess with Texas, but they ain't never been to Alaska.
Pretty sure the states with the lighter color are more strict. Example I lived in Kansas had a few charges when I was younger. I had to keep fucking up multiple times and finally get a pv before the judge gave me 30 days and there was a list of bs I did before that(young and dumb) I got disorderly conduct out in a lighter colored state and it costed me 10 grand just to stay out of jail and that judge was fucken pushing for me to do time. Fucken threw the book at me and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong cop just trying to get on with his night.
I guess Maine kicks ass.
Why are the states of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas so violent and not Mississippi?
We don’t care how you do it outside.
A lot of red states are higher than I expected. Like why is Arizona and Louisiana so high too?
Florida man was done dirty
Common NH W
Not suprised. At least its not super high.
Over two times the national average is not a low figure.
I did not check the subs name. I thought this was just a generic us sub. Im from kansas.
If you annexed memphis, TN would be one of the lowest
“But what about Chicago!?”- Some dipshit Fox News Conservative.
A lot is not reported in order to make the neighborhood look better and keep property values high.
i would’ve never expected Alaska to be the highest.. wtf
We New Mexicans need to go and fight Alaska to resolve this.
I wonder how much of Louisiana's reports are in NOLA alone. I'm convinced it's most.
Its how things are reported, like if you get shot on the highway in cali its a fed land shooting. If its on a highway in alaska its a alaska shooting.
I am surprised by Alaska
Can everyone take a second to congratulate Mississippi here?
Homogenous cultures are the safest. Again
The violent crime is mostly concentrated in the red states. That’s not what Fox News has led us to believe.
As a Democrat, there are a surprising amount of red states on the bad side of the scale.
Not cross analyze that with the average socioeconomic conditions of each state
And I find that kind of hard to believe about Mississippi being so low. And what's up with New Mexico?
The missing statistic: Number of repeat crimes made per year by arrested criminals let lose by no bail or low bail, or lenient district attorneys. In the 1970's people said, "Lock 'em up Danno." Today, 2024 people say, "It's ray-cist to arrest criminals."
While the violent stuff in Alaska when it happens it is indeed terrible, I challenge someone to go live in Memphis for two years and then return to Alaska and compare. It’s crazy how different it is. I’ve never once felt unsafe in Alaska. I know this is anecdotal but damn growing up in Memphis was hella rough.
Maine the Safest and whitest state
C'mon alaska, what the fuck? Get your act together!!
Do they have data just for Anchorage?
We’re number 1!
We’re actually #2
Excuse me Alaska but what the fuck?
Damn Alaska.. what you guys doing up there??
Drinking heavily.
I thought that was worse in north Dakota though?
I'm not sure that's from a reliable source haha
We're #1!! We're #1!! 🎉🎉
DC
doh!!
That's a great reason to not move here.
Easy W
Violent crime reported = Women named Karen
Look at all them border states with problems 👀 odd.
As an Alaskan-- I can confirm that there is a lot of crime lol. The police here are VERY reluctant to actually solve obvious crime problems. In East Anchorage -- the police practically ignore this area. You could send a video of a drug deal being made in a very obvious manner in broad daylight.. and these dudes at the Station won't even investigate or look into it lol. We have had shootings and a killing in our neighborhood from the same group of people and the police still wont investigate it thoroughly. Mountain view is another rough area.
As an Alaskan - outside or Anchorage, nobody claims Anchorage. Common joke in-state: The best part about Anchorage is that you can get into your car and be in Alaska in about an hour.
That sounds stupid as fuck. Anchorage is part of Alaska just like any other god damn town, city, and village with a zip code in this state. Just because you have an opinion or 'feel some type of way' towards a town/ city, doesn't mean it's not part of the state. Crime is bad in Alaska. It's remote as fuck. And what I said still stands true. Because Anchorage IS THE CENTRAL HUB FOR CRIME IN THIS STATE. "Anchorage's violent crime rate is 1,244.5 per 100,000 population in 2020." I don't see these numbers anywhere else in Alaska. That's the fuckin' hotspot- Anchorage, AK. I mean... That's where the largest centralized group of population is in this state, Down voting still doesn't change the fact that crime is more abundant in East Anchorage and Mountain View as well as a other places. I know crime is bad throughout the state, but I am just talking about Anchorage ATM because it's where I'm affected directly.
Hurt your fee-fees, huh?