I'm putting this in Civic Affairs because I believe this is an area the city has to address, obviously, harder than is currently happening. It takes one article like this to undue ten positive articles about our city. People pay attention to this stuff.

The Centers For Disease Control are out with their Gang Violence statistics and this is just really sad.


"Five cities – Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, Oakland and Oklahoma City – are the U.S. capitals of gang homicide. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also found that homicides in each of those cities have their own local flavor."

<snip>

"And the victims also differ between cities. In Los Angeles and Oakland, most gang victims of homicide are Hispanic. In Oklahoma City, they’re mostly black – and at a significantly higher rate than non-gang homicides. This ethnic dominance seems to make sense in L.A. and Long Beach, where Hispanics make up 48 percent and 40 percent of the population, respectively. But in Oklahoma City, blacks only account for about 15 percent of the population."

As many of you know, I'm a pretty independent thinker, liberal on some things, conservative on others. You can't box me in. When it comes to the problem of black male violence and the culture that breeds it - I have no patience. The cries of, "racism," I let go in one ear and out the other. I know better. The facts speak for themselves.

If the local cops and sheriff's department, which seem to be able to cooperate on questionable traffic checkpoints, can't get together and take care of it, and continue to make the same excuses we've heard for years - then Governor Fallin should use the National Guard and run gang sweeps with tanks (yes, I'm serious). A city of our size and racial demographics shouldn't rank with L.A., Newark and Oakland in this crap. If the Oklahoma City Thunder players want to do some real good - here's a place to start. Something tells me the culture won't allow that.

People all over the country are fed up. Here's a chance to say, "In Oklahoma City, we won't tolerate gangs, the culture, and the streets of our capitol to be the battleground for a racial war between blacks and hispanics. We will take care of this. Sooner rather than later."

Governor Fallin? Want to show the country we are serious about our biggest city not being in the top 5 in gang violence? You could be a national hero.

The Atlantic The 5 U.S. Cities With The Worst Gang Violence (http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/01/5-us-cities-worst-gang-violence/1095/)

The gang problem got bad when Ronald Reagan allow drugs into the country to funds the wars that were being fought at that time and the problem has really got worst. Thanks to you Ronald the worst president ever.

The gang problem got bad when Ronald Reagan allow drugs into the country to funds the wars that were being fought at that time and the problem has really got worst. Thanks to you Ronald the worst president ever.

Anyone want to take a guess as to the party affiliation of this guy? This is the funniest post I've read on OKCTalk.

It wasn't Reagan's fault.
It was Bush's fault.
Like, Duh.

I'm putting this in Civic Affairs because I believe this is an area the city has to address, obviously, harder than is currently happening. It takes one article like this to undue ten positive articles about our city. People pay attention to this stuff.

The Centers For Disease Control are out with their Gang Violence statistics and this is just really sad.


"Five cities – Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, Oakland and Oklahoma City – are the U.S. capitals of gang homicide. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also found that homicides in each of those cities have their own local flavor."

<snip>

"And the victims also differ between cities. In Los Angeles and Oakland, most gang victims of homicide are Hispanic. In Oklahoma City, they’re mostly black – and at a significantly higher rate than non-gang homicides. This ethnic dominance seems to make sense in L.A. and Long Beach, where Hispanics make up 48 percent and 40 percent of the population, respectively. But in Oklahoma City, blacks only account for about 15 percent of the population."

As many of you know, I'm a pretty independent thinker, liberal on some things, conservative on others. You can't box me in. When it comes to the problem of black male violence and the culture that breeds it - I have no patience. The cries of, "racism," I let go in one ear and out the other. I know better. The facts speak for themselves.

If the local cops and sheriff's department, which seem to be able to cooperate on questionable traffic checkpoints, can't get together and take care of it, and continue to make the same excuses we've heard for years - then Governor Fallin should use the National Guard and run gang sweeps with tanks (yes, I'm serious). A city of our size and racial demographics shouldn't rank with L.A., Newark and Oakland in this crap. If the Oklahoma City Thunder players want to do some real good - here's a place to start. Something tells me the culture won't allow that.

People all over the country are fed up. Here's a chance to say, "In Oklahoma City, we won't tolerate gangs, the culture, and the streets of our capitol to be the battleground for a racial war between blacks and hispanics. We will take care of this. Sooner rather than later."

Governor Fallin? Want to show the country we are serious about our biggest city not being in the top 5 in gang violence? You could be a national hero.

The Atlantic The 5 U.S. Cities With The Worst Gang Violence (http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/01/5-us-cities-worst-gang-violence/1095/)

The thing is that I can't ever recall feeling unsafe in Oklahoma City. My car broke down on 23rd St. a few years ago near Byron's at night and I walked back to the apartments near OCU (at 2:00 AM and alone). Now I live a block south of the OUHSC medical campus. I've stayed with my relatives who live near downtown Los Angeles and I always feel uneasy there.

Here, not so much. It's a little shocking that we rank high on the list, but then again, the majority of the users on this forums are probably not the target demographic for the victims on the gang violence we have here.

With all due respect, this study is probably not the most accurate and says so itself:


The CDC cautions, however, that complete statistics on gang-related violence and homicide is difficult to track. Few states accurately report gang-related crime statistics well, and those that do are often limited by the information available at the crime scene.

I will add that I've got pretty deep family ties to both the NE and south sides of town, and I think a lot of people in the suburbs would be surprised at the level of gang activity in both (and its ALWAYS been that way...some of the stories my parents told me about growing up on the eastside would make your jaw drop). Coupled with the fact that we live in a state where all you need is a pulse to get a gun and I can see where problems can arise.

But OKC worse than Miami, San Bernadino, Chicago, or Baltimore? I've been in all 4 and they gave off much worse vibes than the roughest part of OKC. Nothing creepier than going into a convience store in South Chicago and half the store customers are males with teardrop tattoos.

...
People all over the country are fed up. Here's a chance to say, "In Oklahoma City, we won't tolerate gangs, the culture, and the streets of our capitol to be the battleground for a racial war between blacks and hispanics. We will take care of this. Sooner rather than later."
...

Where in the article, or local info if it exists, is there information about the higher rate of local homicides being part of a hispanic/black racial war? If it were there I missed it, and my own memory, though perhaps spotty, seems to mainly recall brown on brown,black on black and white on white reports being the more common homicide reports. Not meaning to minimize any gang issues which do exist within the metro, but just not really seeing the signs of cross racial gang wars.

Where in the article, or local info if it exists, is there information about the higher rate of local homicides being part of a hispanic/black racial war? If it were there I missed it, and my own memory, though perhaps spotty, seems to mainly recall brown on brown,black on black and white on white reports being the more common homicide reports. Not meaning to minimize any gang issues which do exist within the metro, but just not really seeing the signs of cross racial gang wars.

Based on what I hear from the local gang enforcement officers, your assessment is correct.

Where in the article, or local info if it exists, is there information about the higher rate of local homicides being part of a hispanic/black racial war? If it were there I missed it, and my own memory, though perhaps spotty, seems to mainly recall brown on brown,black on black and white on white reports being the more common homicide reports. Not meaning to minimize any gang issues which do exist within the metro, but just not really seeing the signs of cross racial gang wars.

You're absolutely correct. I shouldn't have phrased it that way. "waged by" would have been a better choice of words.

It's just like any city, the actual gang violence is committed within certain parts of town. That's where the gang-related homicides are. However, the spillover is other crimes in parts of town with money where you see many armed robberies, etc.

Here's an example - Harvest Hills is currently experiencing car robberies inside the neighborhoods. Groups of young black males will lineup and not allow a car through. They quickly hit both passenger and drivers sides with weapons and demands of wallets and purses. This is crime coming from the cluster of apartments nearby.

I think most people would be shocked at the level of gang activity that goes unreported and how much of it really goes on in our city. Especially the areas mentioned by adaniel (eastside and southeast) and a cluster of areas in NW Oklahoma City; those would be 10th to 23rd in far west OKC, the Lyrewood area and, of course, the whole of The Highlands.

The gang activity itself rarely touches most of us, unless we're victims of the ancillary crimes that go on to support the activities on their home turf. But give it time, and a deep economic crisis worse than we saw in '08 and we'll all feel it. Some know this day as the day when TSHTF.

I'm pretty sure that in the mid 90's, Little Rock had a large gang problem since there was a show on HBO about it. What have they done there? Maybe Mary can make a phone call over that way!

Thank you MikeOKC for starting this thread.

OKC has a very high crime rate per 100,000 people, in all categories. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

I have looked through numerous city crime reports through the Uniform Crime Reports that each city reports to the FBI every year and done the math myself as to crime/population ratios if you are inclined to totally disregard information on Wikipedia.

Another realization I have come to in my research is that there are far too few police officers for a city of our population. I researched the size of many other cities' police forces and divided them into each city's population and on average the largest, more dense eastern cities (Boston, New York, Philly) had more police officers than citizens; but even when compared to places like sprawling Phoenix or regional neighbors Austin and Omaha, our rate was the higest citizen to officer ratio I found. They have significantly more police officers than our rate of 1 to every 563 citizens. When you combine an inadequate police force with a huge land size to cover, it makes it harder to develop communal relations and truly does stretch the police force too thin.

SPRAWL is LITERALLY a factor that is contributing to the danger of Oklahoma City. When combined with low quality of life, low expectations/standards from the citizens, a repressive religious atmosphere, and incompetent government at the state level especially, I thank goodness I do not live there anymore.

I grew up in Oklahoma my whole life and wanted to believe that OKC was getting better and that it was a bastion of intelligence and culture in the state, but unfortunately that is just not the case. I wanted to grow up and evolve along with the city (I'm in my young 20's), but it's just not a wise thing to do. I love what MAPS has done and I love following inner-city developments. However, you can put lipstick on a pig, but...

This is mcca7596, going silent, but still following.

Problem #1 - getting crime studies from the Centers for Disease Control.

Problem #1 - getting crime studies from the Centers for Disease Control.

Oh, but that has to do with this different flavors. Due to that, this study probably should have been done by the Culinary Institute at Platt College!

Problem #1 - getting crime studies from the Centers for Disease Control.

The only problem here is your post, for not knowing that the CDC is charged with maintaining statistics for mortality/morbidity. That includes violence. They use the data as part of their violence prevention and reporting programs to law enforcement. The name of the department that leads this effort is the National Violent Death Reporting System (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/NVDRS/index.html).

The data cited in my post is a scientific study by the NVDRS, in cooperation with the National Gang Center at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Dept of Justice. The abstract is in the current edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6103a2.htm?s_cid=mm6103a2_w).

Sorry, Just the facts.....that's just the facts.

My grandmother lives in a very old part of central OKC. She's lived in the same house for over 50 years. I think about her constantly and worry all the time... people who don't live in those areas have no idea the level of violence that goes on in our city. There's vandalism constantly, home invasions and people playing 'chicken' in the streets about once a month, people getting the daylights beat out of them about as often, and several times a week she hears gunshots. One night two weeks ago she heard multiple rounds of what sounded like fully-auto weapons fire. A year or two ago she went out to get her morning paper and found a gun in her front yard. The police arrived and picked it up as she was standing outside, so obviously someone else saw it and had already reported it... probably one of the small children that walks to the nearby elementary school. It is an absolute nightmare. I wish she would move but she just won't, she's lived her entire life there and is pretty old now. The police come when called and do what they can, but it is never enough. Criminals in areas like this are very good at hitting someone fast and crawling away into the dark holes they emerged from before anyone can get there.

You know I am a supporter of OCPD, I think they do a good job, but every time I hear about a seat belt check point in yuppieville that sucks up resources and time it makes me so angry I get physically sick. In 30 years I have never once seen a police checkpoint or parked patrol cars in my grandma's neighborhood and I go there all the time. I really wish they would stop the stupid publicity stunts and put more money into the hard stuff... that is what is going to make the biggest difference in the lives of so many good people who just have the misfortune of living in bad neighborhoods where time has passed them by.

Things quited down for a while after the shooting here, but the gunshots started again on Thanksgiving, and now happen on a regular basis. The worst part about it is we do NOT live in a bad area, just a bad apartment complex with bad people. As much as I joke about it on facebook and with my friends it is frightening, especially when I have to work late at night and my wife and son are home alone.

My grandmother lives in a very old part of central OKC. She's lived in the same house for over 50 years. I think about her constantly and worry all the time... people who don't live in those areas have no idea the level of violence that goes on in our city. There's vandalism constantly, home invasions and people playing 'chicken' in the streets about once a month, people getting the daylights beat out of them about as often, and several times a week she hears gunshots. One night two weeks ago she heard multiple rounds of what sounded like fully-auto weapons fire. A year or two ago she went out to get her morning paper and found a gun in her front yard. The police arrived and picked it up as she was standing outside, so obviously someone else saw it and had already reported it... probably one of the small children that walks to the nearby elementary school. It is an absolute nightmare. I wish she would move but she just won't, she's lived her entire life there and is pretty old now. The police come when called and do what they can, but it is never enough. Criminals in areas like this are very good at hitting someone fast and crawling away into the dark holes they emerged from before anyone can get there.

You know I am a supporter of OCPD, I think they do a good job, but every time I hear about a seat belt check point in yuppieville that sucks up resources and time it makes me so angry I get physically sick. In 30 years I have never once seen a police checkpoint or parked patrol cars in my grandma's neighborhood and I go there all the time. I really wish they would stop the stupid publicity stunts and put more money into the hard stuff... that is what is going to make the biggest difference in the lives of so many good people who just have the misfortune of living in bad neighborhoods where time has passed them by.

I don't really think OCPD ever does seat belt checks or any of that other stuff. Those are always done by Ok County sherriff dept or suburban police dept. Someone can correct me if I am wrong

What would happen if the city put up a MAPS program to increase the size of the police department? Would the voters support it?

If I'm not mistaken doesn't the city already have a dedicated portion of sales tax going to public safety.

As another poster has shown, OKC tends to have a low number of LEO's than other cities. We can certainly look into increasing our police force, but I'm not sure it would really decrease crime here.

OKC, much like Tulsa, ABQ, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Jax, and a lot of other sunbelt cities have elevated crime rates. I'll go out on a limb and say crime in these places is probably more of a domestic nature. The common thread among these cities are they are in states where education levels are low, little in the way of a safety net, loose gun restrictions, and a "lock 'em up" philosophy towards crime. Many also sprawl like crazy, which leaves a lot of areas with little community cohesion. OKC has a great central city, but outside of that there's a donut hole effect with little for kids to do in these areas, besides maybe walk around Bricktown or Penn Square. Then, of course, we get threads on OKCTalk about the "urban youth" invading these places. Plenty of cities have these things, but only in this part of the world does it combine the way it does. In light of all of this I can see many kids be sucked into gang life.

So until these things are dealt with crime and gangs may be here to stay. They are all politically difficult things to talk about. I have a feeling, sadly, that most of our leaders would dismiss this as left-wing hogwash and keep plugging away on a losing battle with crime.

And plus, the legislature has much more important things to deal with, like people who feast on aborted fetuses :doh:

...the legislature has much more important things to deal with, like people who feast on aborted fetuses...

I couldn't help but laugh.

Growing up in the projects in Lil Rock and spending much time on the Eastside and Highlands, and having grown up with drug dealers, pimps, and thugs I can tell you crime rarely ceases but transfers to areas of least resistance. Like any business, technology and the market transforms the industry.
The #1 cure for this problem is not strong reaction but smart proactive measures. We don’t need government regulations, we need people who care enough to get involved. We need mentors to this predominantly fatherless population. We need life-on-life involvement with the affluent to the at-risk. We need life coaches for the homeless and the homeboys. We need people not dollars. We have Many organizations doing this exact work but struggle to find committed volunteers.
Im, not on a soapbox, but just asking the question: We all see the problem with gangs and violence in the city, but what are YOU doing about it?

It sounds to me like mcca7596 is a wonderful example of government schools and their Communist indoctrination. He even had to use the term "communal" and bring up repressive religious atmosphere. I usually do not chime in too often until I hear this "religion" or non "left leaning philosophy bashing". I have lived in Oklahoma City for 35 of my 45 years and have not experienced any repressive religious atmosphere. If you are not satisfied here then I say good riddance. I have to bite my tongue quite often on this board for the bashing of non leftists but the "repressive religious atmosphere" needed to be challenged. You are 20 something and barely out of high school. Many people move here because of the traditional family values and love it for that reason. I can appreciate your difference of opinion on political or religious values but to make a claim that it is a factor in the city's growth rate, or worse, gang violence, is ridiculous.

I love this city that you claim to see as a religious waste land. As you governmental school graduates are taught, diversity is a good thing. We have people in our city that are Christian, Jewish, Muslim among others. We have heterosexuals, homosexuals and the like. While I may not like everything that a person stands for, I can appreciate their freedom to be what they want to be. Oklahoma City is not as repressive as you claim it to be. If you do not like it, then I say goodbye.

If these are stats compiled by CDC, then I'm not that concerned. I'm more concerned as to why CDC tries to make gang violence part of their mission.

OKC had a highly visible gang problems in the 1980s - drive-by shootings and carjackings were almost daily occurrences. I understand that OCPD undertook a campaign to rid the city of these people, and succeeded. Those crimes aren't as frequently reported today as they once were, nor are they discussed by local law enforcement that much.

Therefore I'm of a mind to think that this is a subject that the CDC is unqualified to address.

It sounds to me like mcca7596 is a wonderful example of government schools and their Communist indoctrination. He even had to use the term "communal" and bring up repressive religious atmosphere. I usually do not chime in too often until I hear this "religion" or non "left leaning philosophy bashing". I have lived in Oklahoma City for 35 of my 45 years and have not experienced any repressive religious atmosphere. If you are not satisfied here then I say good riddance. I have to bite my tongue quite often on this board for the bashing of non leftists but the "repressive religious atmosphere" needed to be challenged. You are 20 something and barely out of high school. Many people move here because of the traditional family values and love it for that reason. I can appreciate your difference of opinion on political or religious values but to make a claim that it is a factor in the city's growth rate, or worse, gang violence, is ridiculous.

I love this city that you claim to see as a religious waste land. As you governmental school graduates are taught, diversity is a good thing. We have people in our city that are Christian, Jewish, Muslim among others. We have heterosexuals, homosexuals and the like. While I may not like everything that a person stands for, I can appreciate their freedom to be what they want to be. Oklahoma City is not as repressive as you claim it to be. If you do not like it, then I say goodbye.

And all I can say is thank you.

And all I can say is thank you.
This^ x 2

It sounds to me like mcca7596 is a wonderful example of government schools and their Communist indoctrination. He even had to use the term "communal" and bring up repressive religious atmosphere. I usually do not chime in too often until I hear this "religion" or non "left leaning philosophy bashing". I have lived in Oklahoma City for 35 of my 45 years and have not experienced any repressive religious atmosphere. If you are not satisfied here then I say good riddance. I have to bite my tongue quite often on this board for the bashing of non leftists but the "repressive religious atmosphere" needed to be challenged. You are 20 something and barely out of high school. Many people move here because of the traditional family values and love it for that reason. I can appreciate your difference of opinion on political or religious values but to make a claim that it is a factor in the city's growth rate, or worse, gang violence, is ridiculous.

I love this city that you claim to see as a religious waste land. As you governmental school graduates are taught, diversity is a good thing. We have people in our city that are Christian, Jewish, Muslim among others. We have heterosexuals, homosexuals and the like. While I may not like everything that a person stands for, I can appreciate their freedom to be what they want to be. Oklahoma City is not as repressive as you claim it to be. If you do not like it, then I say goodbye.

While I do agree that mcc7596 is completely wrong about the connection between religion and gang violence(Really, what do LifeChurch or even our state reps proposing anti-fetus eating bills have to do with Bob the Gangbanger down on the south side?), I think this rant is pretty off the deep end and it sounds an awful lot like a Fox News blurb or a Talking Points Memo. If you think our Education department is some sort of brain washing, indoctrination machine, you clearly have no idea what goes on in public school. I routinely talk to my children about their school activities and have yet to notice any signs of communist indoctrination. They certainly don't call each other comrade, or discuss the impending worker's paradise. If they did, I might have a better chance of starting that cult of personality I've always wanted.

Rant aside, your second paragraph is mostly correct. We don't have a ton of diversity, but it exists and everyone gets along pretty well. I think mcca7596's misguided statements come from a frustration found in a lot of people of alternate or little/no faith around here; that our conservative government spends too much effort on artificially created wedge issues that were designed to appeal to their conservative, religious constituents and not enough effort on the serious business of governing our state in a responsible, foresighted manner.

My rant aside, my point in a nutshell: People can develop progressive/liberal opinions all on their own. Believe it or not, it doesn't take brainwashing for someone to be on the left side of the political spectrum. That being said, he did make a pretty dumb comment.

While I do agree that mcc7596 is completely wrong about the connection between religion and gang violence
Good observation.

your second paragraph is mostly correct
Another good observation.

That being said, he did make a pretty dumb comment.
Three aces.

My rant aside, my point in a nutshell: People can develop progressive/liberal opinions all on their own
Apparently you are are actually a Moderate. (And we all know what happens to people who straddle the fences and the center lanes. Right?)

If they did, I might have a better chance of starting that cult of personality I've always wanted.
I'll vote for you. Heck, even Chairman Mao had to start somewhere. =)

From my personal observation of progressive elementary schools--specifically up in Minnesota on an Open House Day as a visiting grandparent--I don't think the indoctriniation is so much [discredited Marxist/Leninist] Communism as it is Global Economic Corporate One Worldism. Which, as Karl Marx might have said, is a natural function--Non-Hegelian Dialectical Materialism-wise--of the evolution of political economics in an overcrowded, technologically advanced world.

SPRAWL is LITERALLY a factor that is contributing to the danger of Oklahoma City. When combined with low quality of life, low expectations/standards from the citizens, a repressive religious atmosphere, and incompetent government at the state level especially, I thank goodness I do not live there anymore.

I think this is very profound. I would also add, as far as what little familiarity I have with OKC's crime problems, is that the great sense is that OKC has gotten a lot safer in the last 5 years. It seemed like OKC's gang problem was out of control around 2005-2007, and since then gang violence has really been on the tumble. There's an OCPD gang task force that I thought was doing an incredible job, and I know specifically, the southside has become much much safer in the last 5 years.

So is it possible that all of our gang problems just migrated to NE OKC/MWC? I'd believe it...

I think this is very profound. I would also add, as far as what little familiarity I have with OKC's crime problems, is that the great sense is that OKC has gotten a lot safer in the last 5 years. It seemed like OKC's gang problem was out of control around 2005-2007, and since then gang violence has really been on the tumble. There's an OCPD gang task force that I thought was doing an incredible job, and I know specifically, the southside has become much much safer in the last 5 years.

So is it possible that all of our gang problems just migrated to NE OKC/MWC? I'd believe it...

2005 was the worst year with about 260 drive by shootings in OKC. That is crazy when you think about it. Especially when you confine it to 4-5 zip codes. Now it is a little over 100 which is still not good. The south side is safer than it was but still LOTS of gang activity. The key is if you aren't involved in it you are rarely effected, even if you live there.

The writer of The Wire stated that if you are white in Baltimore you are just as likely to be shot and killed as you are in Omaha. If you are black in Baltimore you are 10 times more likely to die of gunshot. The scary thing for OKC is if it ever got into a turf war or if the cartels decide to start to battle over the strategic land that is the I-40/I-35 drug transit. Right now we just have local gangs and since the Mexicans supply the black gangs with drugs we don't have the racial stuff too much either.

Bottom line is NE side, N. Highlands, Lyrewood, NW 10th street, South Side, and around Hefner & Western are all still really bad areas. But again, if you are a normal person minding your own business in these areas the odds of you having anything bad happen are really low.

2005 was the worst year with about 260 drive by shootings in OKC. That is crazy when you think about it. Especially when you confine it to 4-5 zip codes. Now it is a little over 100 which is still not good. The south side is safer than it was but still LOTS of gang activity. The key is if you aren't involved in it you are rarely effected, even if you live there.

The writer of The Wire stated that if you are white in Baltimore you are just as likely to be shot and killed as you are in Omaha. If you are black in Baltimore you are 10 times more likely to die of gunshot. The scary thing for OKC is if it ever got into a turf war or if the cartels decide to start to battle over the strategic land that is the I-40/I-35 drug transit. Right now we just have local gangs and since the Mexicans supply the black gangs with drugs we don't have the racial stuff too much either.

Bottom line is NE side, N. Highlands, Lyrewood, NW 10th street, South Side, and around Hefner & Western are all still really bad areas. But again, if you are a normal person minding your own business in these areas the odds of you having anything bad happen are really low.

Minding your own busniess or not go adventuring around some of these areas after dark and youll get your hat taken to the hospital

I've noticed that extending the (old school) simple kindness of opening a door for the person entering behind you--regardless of race, color, gender or creed--works wonders.

Sometimes you even get a "Thank You Sir" . . .
(even from the most "hardened" gansta wannabee all garbed out with the bling etc and bass a blastin' in his ride wif de rims in the lot . . . =)

By South Side I hope you mean south of I-40 north of I-240. I feel like once you head south of I-240 it is relatively safe.

Minding your own busniess or not go adventuring around some of these areas after dark and youll get your hat taken to the hospital


If one acts out or fails to take reasonable precautions that is certainly possible, but it's by no means a certainty.

If one acts out or fails to take reasonable precautions that is certainly possible, but it's by no means a certainty.

I don't even know what he was trying to say! LOL. I've spent a lot of time in a lot of bad areas in OKC and never once had problems. I have been hassled by drunk rednecks in Bricktown. :)

Bottom line is NE side, N. Highlands, Lyrewood, NW 10th street, South Side, and around Hefner & Western are all still really bad areas. But again, if you are a normal person minding your own business in these areas the odds of you having anything bad happen are really low.

Of those areas which is the worst? I would say the NE 23 & MLK area followed by the SE 29 & High area. It seems that is where the most homicides and drive-by shootings happen.

Incorrect, you would probably think that, but the area with the most violent crimes in Oklahoma City were on the sw side, bordered by Agnew, SW 15, Shields, and SW 59, there was a official statistic released about this, I will try and find it.

It seems a lot of the murders happening recently aren't gang related but I could be wrong.... and there does seem to be a lot of killing going on.

It seems a lot of the murders happening recently aren't gang related but I could be wrong.... and there does seem to be a lot of killing going on.

it's hard to decipher between gang-caused and gang-related. Almost every homicide in OKC is gang related.

Of those areas which is the worst? I would say the NE 23 & MLK area followed by the SE 29 & High area. It seems that is where the most homicides and drive-by shootings happen.

Yeah, if I had to name the worst hoods in OKC I would say 27th and MLK, SE 15th and Central, and Will Rogers Courts on SW side. But the Highlands is right up there as well.

Incorrect, you would probably think that, but the area with the most violent crimes in Oklahoma City were on the sw side, bordered by Agnew, SW 15, Shields, and SW 59, there was a official statistic released about this, I will try and find it.

Well, the area you listed is basically the entire South Side. And if you go to the other side of 44 in the old Kerr Village and then to 29th and Portland those areas are really, really bad as well. The other way you can track it is where the PD places the Weed and Seed centers. There was one on 29th and Portland that moved further east into the South Side, there is one in Classen 10-Penn, and one on NE 33rd and Lottie.

Where is the Highlands area or Lyrewood located? Moved away from OKC a long time ago, and dont recognize these areas?

... Almost every homicide in OKC is gang related.

I'm not going to pretend I've been tracking the numbers, but that seems a bit of a stretch. Then again, every recent homicide that just popped to mind was a metro area and not necessarily OKC specific. Maybe it's simply my perception that's off. I would have said, as to the past 3-5 years anyway, the trend was rather tilted toward spouse/ex spouse deaths.

Where is the Highlands area or Lyrewood located? Moved away from OKC a long time ago, and dont recognize these areas?

Lyrewood (Or Lyrehood as many call it) runs from Wilshire to 63rd, in between Rockwell and MacArthur. It's an amazing concentration of super ****ty apartments. The surrounding areas are fairly nice, middle class neighborhoods. Kind of curious where the Highlands are, myself. I think they're referring to the apartment complex off Penn, between Memorial and 122nd but I'm not certain.

Lyrewood (Or Lyrehood as many call it) runs from Wilshire to 63rd, in between Rockwell and MacArthur. It's an amazing concentration of super ****ty apartments. The surrounding areas are fairly nice, middle class neighborhoods. Kind of curious where the Highlands are, myself. I think they're referring to the apartment complex off Penn, between Memorial and 122nd but I'm not certain.

The Highlands are Wilshire to the South, Britton to the North, Walker to the West and I-235 to the East. Very rough hood.

I'm not going to pretend I've been tracking the numbers, but that seems a bit of a stretch. Then again, every recent homicide that just popped to mind was a metro area and not necessarily OKC specific. Maybe it's simply my perception that's off. I would have said, as to the past 3-5 years anyway, the trend was rather tilted toward spouse/ex spouse deaths.

No, the spouse/ex would definitely be the minority. Again, gang related is hard to decipher. I'm just saying that if you are involved in gang activity and you end up murdered it is gang related regardless of the specifics of death. The study that started this thread shows that a significant amount are gang/drug related. The fact that in 2011 55% of the murders were between 18-30 and 48% were black would show the spouse/ex to be not even close to being a majority.

Also, I'm pretty sure there have already been 8 or 9 homicides in OKC this year. That puts us on track for a pretty substantial increase if things stay the same.

The Highlands are Wilshire to the South, Britton to the North, Walker to the West and I-235 to the East. Very rough hood.

Oh. I ride my bike through the north edge of it all the time. Seems pretty poor and run down, but not especially rough. Not like I'm stooping to see the sites or anything, though.

Violence happens everywhere and it is a must that people must take precautions. The government should also implement rules or legislations to pretect the people and ensure their safety.