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It may help to provide the links to the sites where you got your information. Earlier I posted a link to the latest FBI city stats on rape and Sioux Falls was pretty average. What source of stats are you using that are superior in quality?
Smh ... and these are some of South Dakota’s own news stations so I don’t understand how South Dakotans are acting unaware . Just type in highest rape in the nation and dozens will say Alaska#1 and South Dakota#2 ...
lichick101- You are chewing on the wrong bone what with worrying about the crime around here. That will not be your problem. I can tell you having moved from the West Coast that your problem will be boredom. Compared to where you live now, this is a small, quiet, isolated town in the middle of the great plains. We do have great restaurants, sports teams, arts and all that but it can't compete with a large metropolitan area. Also, we don't have mountains or an ocean nearby.
Well if you're coming from NJ, Sioux Falls should be a walk in the park. All the usual statements apply about being aware of your surroundings at all times day or night, and who is around your vehicle as you walk to it. Be alert, look like an ass kicker, or a face full of mace sprayer, you will be fine.
They do allow concealed gun carry here, as well as openly carrying a gun. I have yet to see the latter myself. If you get a permit for concealed carry, don't do crazy awful dance moves with a back flip at the bar. Your gun might fall out and when you go to pick it up, it could go off and shoot someone in the leg. Just saying.
South Dakota also ranks up on the list of vehicle/deer strikes. There have been a few times where I have had to slow for them crossing farm roads. Where you see one cross, others will usually be following behind.
You will more than likely have considerable savings on cost of living here, versus NJ.
Watch out for ATVs, big and small. SD allows them to be licensed here, so you will see them on the roads now and then.
And remember, it's farm country, look both ways, even when turning right at a stop sign, or you might be surprised by a very large piece of machinery coming down the road.
Take a road trip out to Rapid City one weekend. It's a 5 hour drive. Do the Needles highway scenic route. It's worth the trip.
And remember, Bison are not friendly, can move faster than you, and will ram your vehicle if they decide they don't like your red metallic color choice.
Last edited by OKC123; 06-03-2018 at 08:28 PM..
Reason: Grammatical
Smh ... and these are some of South Dakota’s own news stations so I don’t understand how South Dakotans are acting unaware . Just type in highest rape in the nation and dozens will say Alaska#1 and South Dakota#2 ...
As I stated before, EVERYTHING HERE GETS REPORTED unlike large metro areas and high populated states. You're talking "rates" and "percentages" here. When your STATE population is only around 850,000 ANY reported crime makes the RATE jump dramatically.
Like media everywhere in the country, ours isn't any different and is constantly looking for something to dramatize.
Chill out. You're leaving a much more dangerous area to live than where you're coming too. The reservations can be concerning as to safety as are a couple small areas in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Other than that we're more likely to bore you coming from the overpopulated east than to frighten you.
As I stated before, EVERYTHING HERE GETS REPORTED unlike large metro areas and high populated states. You're talking "rates" and "percentages" here. When your STATE population is only around 850,000 ANY reported crime makes the RATE jump dramatically.
Like media everywhere in the country, ours isn't any different and is constantly looking for something to dramatize.
Chill out. You're leaving a much more dangerous area to live than where you're coming too. The reservations can be concerning as to safety as are a couple small areas in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Other than that we're more likely to bore you coming from the overpopulated east than to frighten you.
She ain't gonna chill jmgg. Even if we stand at the MN-SD border with a welcome wagon gift package. Population stands at 859,150 instead of 859,151.
I decided to do some research on this subject myself, so I read the links OP provided, read the FBI statistical reports, and read the Sioux Falls police statistics. It was interesting, and aggravating, that the different types of sources reported different numbers and statistics for the same years. I feel that the Sioux Falls Police Department website is most likely to be the most accurate. Police Department - City of Sioux Falls
The stats about rape and other crimes do look awful. But most interesting to me was this, a quote from the last link OP cited:
“We’ve taken reports days, weeks, even years, after the fact and from our sides, that’s when it gets real challenging when we have the long gap between when it occurred and when that reports made,” said Clemens. Markgraf said getting a rape report is the most difficult part. “Almost all of them are by somebody known, hardly any stranger rapes occur..."
Rape is an awful crime, and I don't want to discount the victims pain. But if someone is looking at rape statistics for Sioux Falls, they really need to understand the two statements highlighted in red above. The statistics include rapes reported a long time after they were committed, and, "HARDLY ANY STRANGER RAPES OCCUR".
Here's the link to the Sioux Falls police 30 day call log: 30 Day Police Call Log If you read it, as I did, you can see that the majority of police calls have to do with disorderly people and intoxication and car accidents and "family disputes". Pretty typical all over the country, I think.
Rape is classified and noted on the call log as "Assault", so we don't see "rape" in the call type column. To law enforcement, many different events are considered assaults. These range from threatening someone with harm to bar fights to rape and etc. In the past 30 days, May 3 - June 3 2018 there were 118 Assault calls to the Sioux Falls police. Since the SF police call log doesn't differentiate between types of assaults, so we don't know which assault calls were rapes, if any. We also don't know which calls to police were determined to be actual crimes. The annual report, however, does report specific numbers of crimes. Here's the link to the 2016 report: Statistics - City of Sioux Falls
For anyone looking at moving to SF, I would think the 30 day call log would be very useful in helping to determine where or where not to rent or buy a home and which areas to avoid in general.
We all know that crime has been increasing in SF with the recent fast increase in population. But given what I've learned from the sources I read, I don't think most of us have much to worry about.
TL;DR Summary:
Violent crime rate for Sioux Falls matches U.S. average.
Sioux Falls rape rate is ~50% higher than average but many cities report even higher rates.
South Dakota has the 8th highest rape rate (2016 FBI data) when compared to other states. Not the second highest!
Longer version:
Thanks for the links lichick101. Some observations and counter-data:
First, technically all your links are secondary sources (this is important) and most fail to list their primary sources. Also, some are about rates or counts for the whole state and some for just the city of Sioux Falls (and sometimes Rapid City.)
It shows 58.5 rapes/100k for SD. The U.S. average is 40.4 per their table 1 (link below.) So yes, worse than average. But other states report higher rates:
Unable to trace back to primary source from the cited "Compass Center".
It says "in Sioux Falls, there were 97 rapes in 2015 and 107 in 2016" yet the FBI source for those years give very different figures (actually much higher - though a footnote on the FBI pages suggests the numbers may include double-counting!):
Unable to trace back to primary source from the cited "Compass Center". This story also had a qualifier: "The rate in Sioux Falls was 65 percent higher than similar sized cities."
That's a story published in 2017 citing a "2013 FBI study." It doesn't say how SD rates relative to other states. But the nearly 60 rapes/100k is consistent with the FBI stats for 2013: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s...state_2013.xls
Finally a story with a link to the primary source!
Fortunately for you, the cited 2016 violent crime rate of 388.1 for Sioux Falls is close to the average 386.3 for the entire U.S.: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s...tables/table-1
Unable to trace back to primary source from the cited "Compass Center". See above.
Quote:
Smh ... and these are some of South Dakota’s own news stations so I don’t understand how South Dakotans are acting unaware . Just type in highest rape in the nation and dozens will say Alaska#1 and South Dakota#2 ...
Well - nobody likes to hear or see bad things about the place they call home. It implies they either made a bad choice in moving there or might in some way be responsible, either implicitly or explicitly, for the bad stuff. The push-back is quite understandable.
But I'm not from South Dakota - I'm in Oregon considering the Rapid City, SD area as one possible place to retire to, hence my browsing the SD forums. I'm a guy, so the rape stats aren't as interesting to me as the other crime stats. The violent crime stats for Rapid City are modestly concerning, but not terribly so.
The streets are dangerous at night. In winter. When there's ice. You could slip and fall if there isn't enough a salt on the roads?
bud dum bum chiiiii
South Dakota does have a small, easily avoidable, undercurrent. Basically meth. Stay away from meth heads and those areas and you're fine. Also, know what you're doing if you go to the Reservations. The rest is very very safe. Seriously...read the police logs in the local papers....they publish them in many local papers...it's all good.
What you've undoubtably noticed is the bigger danger. The towns are small. The culture is established. Before you're accepted, you need to become one of the town. Everyones going to be on edge at any hint that the State is somehow inferior. You have to work to get the acceptance when you move. Best accomplished with helping out the town and volunteering....showing you're actively helping the community, but following. Later, after acceptance, you'll start to see the best way to make things slightly better without offending others.
It's a great place to live, but a lot of people trip on that 2nd paragraph.
Thanks everyone for all your helpful responses !!!! We made the move and boy am I happy !! WE LOVE IT!!!
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