Typically zero. Never think about it where I live, work, or frequent.
About a 6 if I am in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arizona, and certain parts of Texas.
At home, 0.5. I live in one of the three states (NH, ME, VT) always voted safest in the nation for as long as they’ve voted on such a thing.
If I’m wandering around Boston, at night, that might rise to a 1.
My fear of being a victim of an inattentive driver, on the other hand, is about 5.
Someone here once accused me of being paranoid and living in fear. I don’t think so. I keep my door locked. There are people who go around looking for unlocked doors to enter. One of my neighbors foiled an intruder who tried this. Another did not have her door locked but her boyfriend was there and the man ran away. A third woman wasn’t so lucky; she was assaulted. And another one was murdered. Turned out the guy was also a neighbor who killed himself a few days later. That was one time I was actively afraid. Outside of that, I’m not really afraid. So maybe a 2. I have no problem walking to the store (2-3 blocks) at night by myself. This is a busy neighborhood with lots of foot traffic day and night.
I’m a middle aged woman in Austin.
1, I guess, during my normal life. I have bigger things to worry about than violent crime.
If I decided to travel/take a vacation in a high crime area and/or a war zone, that would change.
- I’m more afraid of the people who are paid to protect me, than the people they are paid to protect me from.
Agreed – apparently there is a perception that if commonsense precautions are enough, then it need be no greater than 1. I’m not sure about that.
In the last decade a neighbor was badly hurt in a home invasion robbery, and less than two years ago I was within a couple of minutes of coinciding with a shootout at the corner where I turn to head home. I don’t interrupt my regular business and leisure but am aware that things may go down and that on the one hand usually the risk factor varies situationally, but OTOH you can run into really random violence. So instinctively I’d put myself at a 2-3 but it seems I’d be like a one and a half by the standard of the posters so far.
Somehow I think that if your concern about violent crime necessitates having a firearm nearby, then your rating should at least be a “2” on the scale. Locking doors, though, is an impediment to crime in general–not just violent crime–and only works effectively if done habitually.
Zero here. Perhaps I’m actually naive. I live in a gated apartment complex, yes, but the front pedestrian gate is often out of commission. And about a year ago, the DEA shut down one of the units in the complex (and its associated garage) until it had all been certified as decontaminated after a meth lab had been shut down.
And yet, I never bother locking my front door, whether there’s anyone home or not.
I do lock my car whenever it’s parked anywhere.
I confess to being somewhat curious about the OP’s choice of scale.
1.5, up from a 1 five years ago. It could happen. It’s not very likely, and I don’t worry beyond normal door-locking, but crime has gone up quite a bit around here in the last few years. Still, the best protection against local crime is to avoid keeping large amounts of pot in the house and letting everyone and their grandmother know about it.
I have family members in a much larger city that has more problems, and I’d say they’re at an 8 or 9. I consider them to be paranoid, though with more reason to worry than I have.
Even though I rate my worry level at zero, that doesn’t mean I’m not vigilant, I make sure I’m situationally aware at all times, constantly analyzing my environment for possible threats, and ready to respond appropriately
I keep a bugout bag in the car, and have at least one blade capable of being used defensively (currently a Buck 110) in addition to my normal carry gear
I also avoid risky areas in the first place, easy as I HATE cities, first rule of avoiding danger? Don’t be there in the first place.
I normally have on me the following;
Fisher space pen
Case Peanut pocketknife
Victorinox Alox Farmer
Zippo Armor series lighter
A couple pocket flashlights
Buck 110 pocketknife
I’ve been a victim of violent crime, which is probably enough to prevent me from ever being a 0. And I take basic precautions. I dunno; a 2 maybe?
I think I actually spend more time thinking about how I might defend others against violence than on my own behalf.
I don’t worry at all. So, zero.
However, I do take precautions.
It’s a lot like the risk of housefire. I don’t worry about that, either, but I have taken steps to reduce the chances and minimize damage if it does happen.
I have been the ‘victim’ of a violent crime (an attempted armed robbery) but the perps were caught and went to prison for it. I wasn’t shaken up by it except for the night that it happened. Most members of my family have been the victim of violent crimes ranging from kidnapping to attempted murder through some statistical fluke and all of them made it through it with no damage but with the aggressors in prison.
It isn’t something I worry about but I am aware of it. I live in the statistically safest city in the U.S. so you don’t need a lot of street smarts to stay out of trouble but things can happen anywhere very quickly and unpredictably. I am much more worried about my long high-speed commute to work because I have seen some horrific things along that route and have had some close calls myself.
1 or 2.
I don’t know anyone who has been the victim of a violent crime. That is, s person has been injured or come close to injury as a victim. I know one person who was held up at gunpoint, but I make the assumption that as long as it is a simple stick-up, cooperation makes violence very unlikely so I don’t count that as a violent crime.
Zero.
Americans are ruled by fear. They brag about it, revel in it, and can’t seem to live without it. They seek out things to make them afraid, and latch upon the slightest excuse to claim they are terrified or have nightmares about it. Facebook clickbait routinely promises frightening things in order to get people to look.
I can’t understand that in the slightest. I don’t like being afraid, and anyone who tries to scare me only annoys me instead. As the saying goes, “Fear is the mind killer.”
I also know the odds – given my location and other factors, violent crime is just not going to happen. If it did, I’d just pick myself up and move along.
1
I moved from the murder capital of Florida to one of the safest towns in Massachusetts. I might be the scariest thing living here.
I really worry more about violent crime when I visit the family back in Jax. But even then it’s only about a 3, since I don’t actually do anything that would lead me to be a victim (I don’t do drugs, sleep with anyone’s spouse, gamble, etc.).
I also think that statistically I’ve already had my share of violent crimes. Including:
[ul]
[li]Friend shot in head during stickup. Luckily it was a BB and she only was grazed. [/li][li]Guy mid-divorce tried to get into the office I worked in to “talk” to his wife. He had a gun and ran around in our attached parking garage. The area went into lockdown for several hours. [/li][li]The Gainesville murders (I lived in Gainesville at the time)[/li][li]A serial rapist in the neighborhood; did not hit me, hit a neighbor.[/li][li]Guy (possibly high) tried to get into my house through the sliding glass door. He did not come in, possibly because I was yelling about having a firearm and 911 on the phone.[/li][/ul]
Really, I’m glad to live in a very dull town in New England. But you can see why I still always lock my doors and windows, and so on.
0.5
There’s areas I’ve walked in downtown Detroit that have made me prickle at bit. But day-to-day, not at all.
Zero, but I live in a pretty well off inner suburb. That said, I was maybe a 2 when I lived on the edge of a not-great area in Baltimore my last couple years of college, where there was actual mugging and robbery and such going on to friend-of-friends. So I just don’t think it’s something I’m wired to worry about.
Incidentally, this is a fun quiz on the subject.
I got a -28, which indicates that the criminal is in danger from me. :eek: