The historical town of Clarksville in South Indiana shocked many by almost usurping, Gary as the crime capital of the state. The seemingly sleepy town ranked ahead of several other metropolitan areas including the capital Indianapolis and East Chicago.
Unfortunately, Clarksville has held on to this dubious distinction for 2 years now and 2015 also earned it the macabre reputation of being in the top 10 most dangerous suburbs in the country. Homicide and property crimes have been plaguing citizens since 2013 and the police have been unable to control these criminal acts.
In fact, the way things stand now, residents of Clarksville have a 1 in 13 chance of being a victim of a criminal transgression. They also run the third highest risk of being murdered in the state. From 2012 to 2013, there was a significant rise in killings in Clarksville and its neighboring town Jefferson, including several high profile cases such as the murder of Steven Baldwin and Billy ray Chambers.
The police chief of Clarksville refuses to accept the deteriorating crime scenario instead blaming it on faulty reporting. In his opinion, the high crime numbers are attributed to the fact that on any given day several people travel to the historic town for commercial activities, pushing its population to twice or thrice that of its original mark.
So, he argued that the majority of the criminal occurrences actually involve victims and perpetrators who are not from Clarksville but who just happen to be in town for one or the other reason. Unfortunately, denials are not going to get the Clarksville PD anywhere as it seems to be fighting an uphill battle against the criminal elements operating in their jurisdiction.