Comment

Sharp Increase in Threats, Violence Against Census Workers

10
jamesfirecat6/20/2010 9:39:31 am PDT

re: #8 SixDegrees

I wonder how it compares with, say, 1980 - the last time a census was held during a severe recession? It really isn’t surprising to see an increase in hostility toward government during tough economic times, just as people tend to view the government as a whole more favorably when times are good - as they were in 2000, economically speaking.

I do know that there have been a number of unpleasant incidents within Detroit involving census workers. There always are. Anyone representing authority is viewed with animosity here, even during the best of times, and things are far from their best around here these days. Unemployment within the city proper is well over 25%, and there are vast numbers of people who have long since simply dropped off the radar and are permanently unemployed.

I think its likely to be higher just because we’ve got more people.

Really to get the best numbers we’d need to take a look at how many threats/assults in 1980 divided by the total number of citizens or T and A Per C which sounds a lot sexier when you’re only looking at the initials.