The carefully researched random thoughts of Ryan Long

Crime in Fairbanks March 24, 2008

I was researching property values in Fairbanks and heard that one of the things affecting the value was the high ‘per-capita’ crime rate in Alaska, particularly in sexual assaults. In fact, Fairbanks has one of the highest per-capita incidences of rape in the entire United States.

There has been a study on this by UAF, in an attempt to acertain why these figures are so high and this type of crime is so prevalent in Fairbanks.

I have some other theories about the skewed statistics on Fairbanks. First of all, the FBI UCR on Fairbanks lists the city size at around 31,000 people. But those figures don’t count the surrounding areas just outside the borough and the Universities student population.

Fairbanks serves as a hub for Ft. Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base. North Pole Residents regularly come into Fairbanks because of the number of products and services available here. It is also a hub for residents of villages and workers on the North Slope.

Ryan Long’s explanation For high crime rates

Interview with local resident, Danielle F.

Fairbanks serves a much larger area than most people realize. With the increased traffic, there is a higher chance for crimes to be committed. The per-capita crime rate based on just the inner Fairbanks population is misleading and makes Fairbanks look like a haven for criminals.