Local Crime Stats
Checked your local crime stats lately? You might be surprised by what you find!
Several times a year I run searches for local crime stories and stats. The first time I did this it was very surprising so I started sharing the information with nearly every class. Everyone, without exception, has been really surprised to find that our area, Bastrop, is a high crime area per capita (per 100,000 peole). How high? The following stats were gleaned form the most recent FBI data from September 2024:
Bastrop has a 74% higher rate than the National Average for total crime.
A 26% higher rate than the National Avg for Violent Crime
An 86% higher rate than the National Avg. for property crimes.
Bastrop is in the top 15 cities for the highest crime rate per capita. We are #11 on the list.
You have a 1 in 26 chance of becoming a victim of crime in Bastrop.
Bastrop ranks only #671 out of 710 cities in Texas!
Bastrop ranks #9102 out of 9,896 cities in the U.S.
Bastrop County is within the South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
The ratio of police officers and civilians per 1000 residents is different than the national average. We have just 2.83 as compared to 3.25 nationally.
Average rent rates in Bastrop are $1160/mo. compared to the national average of $949/mo.
I won’t blame you if you need to read all of those again! Shocking, right? I laugh when people ask me why I think I need to wear a gun all the time. We have a rating of F, yes, an F. Why do I tell you this? So you can be aware of what is happening to our area. I think the reason most people are so surprised is because we aren’t a large enough metropolitan area to have our own TV station or newspaper reporting this information to the public. Bastrop County is known for meth production which makes that huge property crime stat make a lot more sense.
This isn’t the first time the data pulled has showed these things. Since moving here 4.5 years ago that data has remained constant. It’s one reason why I voted for the current sheriff’s opponent in the last election. The status quo remains the same as the incumbent won again. Any interaction I’ve had with our sheriff department has left me underwhelmed and shaking my head. I’m sure there are great officers in that office as well as at Bastrop PD. But, as long as they are so short staffed and well below the national average of representation per 1000 inhabitants, you can expect these miserable crime numbers to continue.
Whether or not you live in Bastrop is irrelevant. Just last year a bunch of posts in the La Grange area were talking about a creepy group of guys stalking women through their local WalMart and following them out to their cars. They were all so shocked this was happening in their area! You also see on the news anytime something bad happens, neighbors are interviewed and all say “I can’t believe this is happening here in our nice area/neighborhood!”.
Learn the art of observing what is happening in your area and wherever you happen to go. Bad people are out there just looking to prey on unobservant people with heads buried in cell phones and not paying attention to anything around them. Teach these skills to your families and loved ones.
Research your area and find out what’s really happening right around you. Information is indeed a powerful thing. Pair that with good situational awareness and you will deselect yourself as a victim. Need better skills for this? Talk to your Group Guyde about a class on situational awareness. We all need to pay more attention since we are usually the sheepdogs for our communities. These are the soft skills we need when out and about on our daily business with families in tow.
Stay safe and keep on training!
