Data comparison between Phoenix and Chandler

“Home to an estimated 3.7 million people in 2007, 334 people were murdered in Phoenix's Maricopa County in 2006 giving it a murder rate of 9.01 murders per 100,000 people.” (Gabrielson, 2009)
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines murder and nonnegligent manslaughter as the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another. (FBI UCR, 2006) I am comparing the occurrence of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the year 2007 between two Arizona cities, Phoenix and Chandler.
In the year 2007 in the city of Phoenix the amount of violent crime that occurred were 11,159 incidents, of that 213 were murders. In contrast, Chandler, Arizona had only 823 violent crimes and only 9 reported murders. These two cities are only a half hour freeway ride away from each other but drastically different when it comes to violent incidents and murder.
When looking at the data from the year prior, 2006 obviously the rates have dropped or stayed the same. In 2006 in Phoenix the violent crime rate was higher at 11,194 and number of murders was higher as well at 234 murders reported. In 2006 for Chandler, the violent crime reported was 959 and the same amount of murder at only 9 murders reported.
“The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that homicide in its jurisdiction dropped by 28 percent in 2008. In 2007, the sheriff's office documented 32 murders, but only 23 were recorded last year. MCSO serves more than 300,000 residents, primarily those living in small towns and the county's rural stretches. Cities that have their own police departments are not included in the crime statistics, though they are within the sheriff's jurisdiction.” (Gabrielson, 2009)
Many different factors may exist for certain areas having higher rates of crime than others; one of those reasons is illegal immigration in my opinion. In Phoenix Arizona high numbers of illegal immigrants make their homes here to work. I do personally believe that a good deal of the crime is committed by people who are not in our country legally and Phoenix Arizona where I live is very close to the border of Mexico.
“A Tribune investigation last year found that during 2006 and 2007 - the first two years that the sheriff's office conducted operations targeting illegal immigrants - emergency response times slowed dramatically and arrest rates plummeted. The sheriff's office also reported steep increases in homicide, robbery and aggravated assault during that span.”
"What this will do is create in Mexico a cesspool of America's worst Mexican offenders," said Robert Locke, assistant chief of the extraditions unit in the San Diego County district attorney's office. "Justice is being prevented from happening in our communities because any Mexican facing a death sentence or life in prison will be kept down there. It's almost something you don't want to talk about because you would not want word of it spreading among criminals."
Unfortunately, many people who are in the United States illegally can get away with murder if they are Mexican citizens and make a run for the border after committing their crimes. American scholars who study Mexican foreign policy say they don't expect the extradition issue to be resolved soon.
I have personally lived in both cities of Chandler and Phoenix Arizona and do believe in a matter of time Chandler will be affected more by the illegal alien population. The process of extraditing a Mexican citizen from Mexico is nearly impossible.
The population difference between Phoenix and Chandler is another factor that may explain the difference in crime occurrences, 250,868 was the number of residents in Chandler for 2007 and 1,541,698 in Phoenix for the same year. That is quite a difference. Another possible factor is median household income which was $70,456 in chandler for 2007, and only $48,061 median income for Phoenix residents.
In my opinion safety is a desired feeling but in the state of the world, regardless if you live in Chandler or Phoenix you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Bad things can happen no matter where you live or visit so find a happy medium of safety, not to on edge or paranoid, but don’t think it can’t happen to you either. Americans generally have one chance in 133 of being murdered in his or her lifetime, according to the Government's first study of the risk of violent crime. (2009)