Pennsylvania Crime Victims Attorneys

In terms of crime and safety, Pennsylvania is neither the safest nor most dangerous state in the union. In fact, it's relatively "middle of the road"--at least when you aggregate the statistics over the entire state.

However, this "smearing out" of crime statistics data really tells us nothing about the character and constitution of the state and the relative risks of living in different areas of PA. Pennsylvania is demographically divvied up in a very interesting way. In the southeastern part of the state is the major metropolis of Philadelphia. In the far western area, you find the bustling Pittsburgh region. In the middle, however, PA is far more rural and dominated by steel production and agriculture. As Democratic strategist James Carville once famously put it: "Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between." In other words, the state is comprised of two (relatively) liberal cities sandwiching a socially conservative agrarian region.

How does this exploration impact our interpretations of Pennsylvania crime statistics?

Let's look closer at some statistics and then draw conclusions.

In 2005, Pennsylvania had a population of about 12.5 million. There were about 56,000 burglaries, 215,000 cases of larceny, nearly 30,000 cases of assault, and 750 murders.

Overall, the state ranked number 10 in crime and number 28 in safety. However, when you tease out those numbers a little more, you find a more dynamic picture. In the cities, you find very different kinds and rates of crime. This isn't to say that the cities are more dangerous overall than the suburban and rural areas of PA. Rather it's important not to draw broad conclusions about risk and safety based on superficial statistics.

This website has been organized to provide Pennsylvania-specific information for victims of violent crime and property crime. Educated and informed victims can make better decisions about their legal options and navigate the Pennsylvania Court system more easily.

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