Montana has a high violent crime rate, why is that? (Billings: places to live, storage)

[VikingsToValhalla]

Montana's overall violent crime rate is worse than New York state, California or Florida!
It was quite shocking to learn about that while I was looking for a possible next location to relocate to...

https://worldpopulationreview.com/st...-rate-by-state

I verified this via multiple sources, not just the link above.

What's your experience, if any, with violent crime in Montana?
I've always had this perception of Montana as being friendly, with small townish type vibes.

Is that more of a myth than reality?

[SilverBear]

Montana is a huge state with a tiny population. We just hit 1,000,000 not long ago.
So, our crime per hundred thousand is magnified because of that. If you live in a state where there are 40 million people, and there are a hundred violent crimes, the number per 100,000 population is tiny, but 40 violent crimes when there's only a million people makes it look like there's a lot more crime proportionally.

We do have 7 Indian reservations that do have a lot of crime, and some cities where the reservations and drug trade overlap where there seems to be a lot of crime, but are actually very nice places to live for the most part.

Because of our vast unpopulated areas with little LE coverage we've always had drug traffickers use the state as a storage site and for moving drugs between population centers with less chance of detection. And the manufacture drugs like meth here for the same reason.

Just like everywhere else, drugs = violence.

99% of the state rarely sees violent crime. Property crimes, yes, but not violent crimes.

Along the I-90 corridor there's crime, truckers or travelers mugged or assaulted at rest stops or travel centers, but that's common along any highway.

We do have a lot of bars and alcohol abuse, so bar fights, but the average Montanan in an average town could go their whole life with the worst crime they see is someone trespassing on their property, or getting a parking lot dent where the perp doesn't take responsibility.

Montana has the highest gun owner number per capita in the country, so citizens are very polite, and towns are very safe away from the cities and some reservations.

Montana is a very safe place to live because we take care of ourselves and crimes are punished here.

[Zulu Kono]

Gambling.

[Threerun]

There's quite a bit of meth/opioid use and abuse in Montana, and yes more reported in the larger areas but certainly not restricted to it. Also a lot of domestic abuse- at least from what I read in the local rags crime blotter pages.

My take on it- most of that crime is dependent on the circles in which one travels.

[Mathguy]

The way that source (and others) present their data needs to be taken with a grain of salt and a pinched nose.

There are a couple reasons and if you carefully read the OP's link you can spot 2 reasons...and then there is a third.

1. A lot of these lists include suicide, especially when trying to show "gun violence" is bad in rural areas.

category of violent crime include: aggravated assault, robbery, homicide, whether intentional or accidental, and rape.

2. There are A LOT of places that are not reporting their data.

40% of local law enforcement agencies did not report data to the federal government, while more than 7,700 agencies reported data at all. year for the FBI and nearly 4,000 agencies reporting partial data. The gap includes the nation's two largest cities by population, New York and Los Angeles, as well as most agencies in five of the six most populous states: California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

3. In many major metro areas, you don't even bother reporting thefts, minor assaults etc. because the police aren't going to do anything. A number of those areas have decriminalized lower level theft and will also greatly reduce or drop charges.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

...

1. A lot of these lists include suicide..

This could explain to a large degree why Montana is high on the list of violent crime.

It has a very high suicide rate, similar to Alaska.

A sign of problems, for sure, but if you're mostly worried about getting killed by someone else then perhaps "good news"?

[SilverBear]

Montana is a big, sparsely populated state. My nearest neighbor is about 4 miles away. I can go weeks without seeing a car or truck on the road, winter even fewer. Lots of traffic during hunting season, the rest of the year not so much.

Lots of alcoholism, loneliness, poor phone, tv and radio coverage mean if you don't like yourself and enjoy being by yourself, depression and seasonal deffective disorder during the long, dark and cold winter can wreck havoc on people's psyche.

Some of us thrive on being on our own, but most people need human contact.
Maybe that's why coffee klatches at the local cafes and the bars do so well.

Still, we don't take it out on each other, which is a good thing.

[KSinmyrearviewmirror]

Originally Posted by SilverBear

Montana has the highest gun owner number per capita in the country, so citizens are very polite, and towns are very safe away from the cities and some reservations.

Montana is a very safe place to live because we take care of ourselves and crimes are punished here.

In '75, I spent a couple of months W of Gallatin Gateway @ a friend's ranch house. We went to GG bar, just E of the river. I mentioned the # of sidearms in view. Friend said he was there recently, when one guy pulled his & fired a couple of shots into the ceiling over another guy's head. "You leave my wife alone!"
Just taking care of property & a polite warning, MT-style.

[Leona Valley]

Indian reservations in any state typically have high violent crime rates and prefer to do their own policing.

Billings has plenty of homeless, etc.

[Seguinite]

Originally Posted by Zulu Kono

Gambling.

Drinking?