How High is Crime in Visalia?

In Visalia, California, crime is more rampant than in 87 percent of cities nationwide.

While murder and robbery rates in Visalia are at just about the national average, the rates for rape and assault are much higher. Should someone seek revenge against someone who perpetrated a crime on him or her and has wound up either arrested or imprisoned, that person would do well to know and understand the bail bonds process.

Most defendants do not have the requisite funds to bail themselves out of jail for all but the pettiest offenses. A robbery, for example, could require the defendant to pay $15,000, $20,000, or even more. Murderers might find themselves paying in the millions. At a basic level, the way it works is:

  • The state in question sets the amount a bondsman is allowed to charge defendants, which is usually about 10 percent of the bail.
  • The bondsman collects the money as an assurance that the defendant will show up for trial.
  • In cases where the flight risk is high, the bondsman might ask for further signatures from other people, more collateral, or both.

A bondsman is responsible for paying a defendant’s entire bail when the defendant fails to appear, which is why he or she will ask for more assurances regarding high-risk cases.

How Bad is the Crime Rate in Visalia?

The national average for crimes committed per square mile is 32. In Visalia, it is 133. Residents in Visalia have a 3.23-percent chance of being the victim of property crime in their lifetimes. The citizens are more than twice as likely to be the victim of rape than people in the country as a whole. Auto theft is likewise twice as high in Visalia as it is elsewhere in the United States overall.

What Are Some Reasons for the High Crime Rate?

There is a combination of unemployment, which is twice the national rate, and the cost of living, which is between 5 and 10 percent higher than the national cost. Housing, in particular, is more expensive than in surrounding areas. Unemployed residents are sometimes desperate and do desperate things. The citizens’ need for money, in many cases simply to survive, is a driving force behind the crime rate, particularly the rate of property crime. After all, it is a lot easier to steal an iPhone out of someone’s purse at the park than it is to try to kill someone in an alley to get the same iPhone.

The tax rate in Visalia is also 2 percent higher than the average tax rate around the United States. One in six families in Visalia, including those families where the people are working, make less than $20,000 annually. One in four makes less than $30,000. Coupled with the higher cost of living, these factors all contribute to the higher crime rate in Visalia.

Visalia, along with much of Tulare County, also has a multicultural population with many more immigrants than other places. These immigrants are twice as likely to have college degrees and a greater variety of skills than their American-born counterparts. Fomented by a political climate that has drifted sharply to the right, the tensions between immigrants who are educated and skilled and natural-born Americans who are neither has led to an increase in violent crimes.

Is There Hope?

Yes, there is hope. The job growth in Visalia looks to be robust in 2017. This job growth will be coupled with educational programs designed to train or retrain employees who either have no skills or have skills that are no longer in demand. Both the U.S. and California are investing in California’s job growth. Largely, this investment stems from a realization that California provides the biggest slice of pie in the American economy. If California does well, then the U.S. will do well too. It remains to be seen if this expected job growth will help reduce crime, but initial signs are hopeful.
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