Crime same as UK or not

[Prema]

Okay in the UK all I hear on the news is about stabbings, and end result, death of a very young person. What an absolute wasted life. How many lives will be wasted????

 

I guess I am not naive, and know where ever you live there will always be a degree of crime. But what is it like over there???

 

Do you have a gang like culture where kids think it's cool to carry weapons, to be used in stupid and pointless arguments??

 

This seems to be the way here and it's very sad. Imagine raising your kids, and when you think that the hardest parts are done, then they are taken away from you just as quick as the click of your fingers?

 

A part of me really can't wait to get away. Just so that my kids can be kids. Ride their bikes on the street and not be confined to just the garden. I remember when I was young and I just loved my BMX remember those?? Everyday after school I'd just ride with my friends in the park and on the streets. It's just not like that anymore.

 

Should I wake up and smell the coffee, will life be the same in OZ as it is in UK???

[Guest cornish Busdriver]

G'day.

Your right there is crime everywhere however adelaide is no-where near as bad as the uk.

Every area has its stats on it so depends where you want to move to realy as some areas like elizabeth, blair athol, arndale and mansfiled park are a lot worse than others but then again its only in ceretain areas of thoughs places.

[Guest guest569]

As matt says chrime is everywhere. Here in Adelaide it does not appear to as bad apecially with children. We have a spate of shhotings and petrol station robbins at the moment.

I personally feel its safer for my kids to play outside.

[Guest Nick11]

Personally I don't think it even comes even close the u.k when it comes to crime. It certainly depends on where you live.

Hand on heart I've never seen anything in 2 years. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist - quite often you hear of bottles shops or video shops being robbed and that always makes headline news.

Never really see gangs of lands wandering the street where we live.

Adelaide does seem to be the major capital of bizarre murders!!!

Personally I find adelaide to be like the u.k when I was growing up 30 years ago. I let my kids walk to school and back by themselves and quite often they disappear to the park for a couple of hours. There's no way that would have happened in the uk.

My only advice would be to choose where you live carefully.

[Diane]

Hi Jaff and Prema

I think I read on another post that you're hoping to head for Athelstone? We live just across the river from there and hand on heart, I can say that my kids have probably had a childhood here much more like the one I had than they were having in the UK. They were 7 and 9 when we came out here (12 and 14 now - eek) and they have spent loads of time playing in the park, on skateboards and bikes on the paths and the streets - only difference being they scrump lemons rather than the apples we used to!!

I think there is a lot more for older kids to do here - loads of sporting facilities, a real culture of getting involved in extra-curricular activities either through schools or clubs - so there isn't so much of a boredom factor. When we first arrived, my kids did a cricket coaching clinic in one of the school holidays - there were 17 and 18 year olds who had given up three days of their hols to help coach the little kids, and I was so impressed with that. There is also a lot more respect for authority (so I was told by a police officer out here the other day anyway). Also when they get together with their friends, rather than hanging out at shopping centres looking threatening, it's far more common to go to someones house with a pool or a tennis court, or go and use one of the free courts, although I guess there is a small amount of "hanging about" that goes on in some places (not seen it anywhere locally though!) and of course, there are playstations and wiis here like anywhere (says she, trying to get her son to log off the damn thing!)

Obviously there are dodgy types and your kids need to follow the normal "stranger danger" rules, but it's much less of an issue here than it seems to be in the UK, I think.

Diane

[Moosh]

Just take a look at Adelaidenow website http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow

 

Current headline story is "Man stabbed to death in Morphett Vale".

Another story is "DAVOREN Park residents are arming themselves with knives and not letting their children play in front yards following a series of violent incidents."

and ....

"A SALISBURY man has been arrested for drug trafficking and money laundering in connection with an alleged Asian drug syndicate."

and ...

AN Ottoway man, 25, has been charged with robbing eight western suburbs service stations over the past three weeks

 

These are just a few examples of many crime incidents that happen on a daily basis in SA.

[Guest kangomik]

there is a chance you will get stabbed or shot here in Adelaide. There are certain areas where this risk increases dramatically. There is a gang type culture in some areas.

 

The chances are a lot lower than in the UK, a hell of a lot lower. Yes there have been stabbings at schools, the city has the odd shooting on a saturday night. Servo's get held up by axe weilding maniacs for fun it seems lately.

 

But on the whole its just like being a kid again, everything is so laid back, the kids can be kids. BMX they have a little of that over here, was it a round of the worlds this week, with practice at Cross keys every day, basically theres places for kids to have fun, wait till you see the reserves (parks) and the way its set up for kids.

 

If you want to be a drug dealing nutter and want to cross the bikies then expect a bullet. But isn't that part of the game for them?

If you want to leave a nice relaxed life, pick a good suburb and the rest will slot into place.

 

You hear more about road deaths here than you do about local stabbings, when you see the pictures you will know why!

[Diane]

Just take a look at Adelaidenow website http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow

 

Current headline story is "Man stabbed to death in Morphett Vale".

Another story is "DAVOREN Park residents are arming themselves with knives and not letting their children play in front yards following a series of violent incidents."

and ....

"A SALISBURY man has been arrested for drug trafficking and money laundering in connection with an alleged Asian drug syndicate."

and ...

AN Ottoway man, 25, has been charged with robbing eight western suburbs service stations over the past three weeks

 

These are just a few examples of many crime incidents that happen on a daily basis in SA.

 

 

Don't worry OP - Athelstone is a good distance from any of these places.....

 

And rather than headlines such as these giving cause for concern, I feel reassured that at least the police are obviously catching some of the dodgy ones!!

[Guest The Dimmocks]

We are still in the UK and only last week a man was shot dead less than 2 miles away from us. We walk past the spot on a regular basis and can't believe how close to home it has come. It the 2nd shooting in the Wolverhampton area this year.

[jim and adel]

There is certainly a stronger perception of crime in the UK, as if the media wants to generate a siege mentality and demonise all chidren and teenagers.

 

Crime stats are gathered differently in both countries so it's hard to determine how they compare (actually, stats are categorised and reported on differently from one UK force to another, making comparisons across the regions not much better than useless, let alone when looking at how other countries compare - a frustration I well remember from working on a project to improve the situation as an independent member of a police authority years ago).

 

You still get stabbings here, gun crime, car jackings, home invasions (think burglaries) and a surprising number of hold-ups but it hasn't translated into a 'climate of fear'. I think there are fewer gangs of teens hanging around street corners and the general level of interaction seems more polite.

 

Whenever I go to Melbourne, I notice that the papers are reminiscent of the UK's, not just reporting crime but - particularly when it's violent - providing a strong editorial voice on how things are getting worse ...

 

Jim

[Prema]

arh thanks everyone for your replies. I really appreciate it.

 

Just looking forward to arriving there, and starting a new life.

[Guest rachinadelaide]

When we first arrived we were advised by a local:

' You may be murdered in adelaide but if you are you can rest assured it'll be in a really bizarre way'

Well, we're still here!

Road deaths are far more common than in the UK - not sure about how other stats compare.

[Guest pushbutton]

I agree with the last post. I think the British media have a lot to answer for. Then again, so does the British public because if they didn't buy the newspapers that promote that sort of thing, then those newspapers would quickly change (and start publishing real, objective news) or go out of publication.

 

Thankfully the newspaper in Adelaide (there's only one really but that's ok by me) is far more objective and usually tends to put a fairly positive spin on things where possible, with the aim of making you proud to live here. Of course, they do report the genuinely bad news too!

 

That being said, there is some crime in Adelaide of course like everywhere, and there's even a couple of problematic youth gangs in certain parts. However I have to admit (reluctantly as a proud pom) that I feel a lot safer overall in Adelaide than in Britain. Maybe that's partly because of the more positive media, but I think it's also partly because there actually is less crime generally speaking.