Murder & Crime in South Florida
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In April, 1993, Barbara Meller-Jensen, a tourist from Germany and the mother of two small children, was murdered in what has become known as a "bump-and-run" robbery only five miles from Miami International Airport. Jensen was the seventh tourist killed in Florida in the previous seven months. By October of that year, there were nine such murders. These murders have become a frightening South Florida trend: young criminals stalking tourists who drive clearly marked rental cars. Unfortunately, for years, Florida has suffered the highest overall crime rate of any state and the highest rate of violent crime. Surprisingly, only one tenth of one percent of the 41 million tourists to the state in 1992 were crime victims. However, Florida's citizens are the ones who endure the worst. In 1992, more than eight out of every 100 residents were crime victims. About a seventh of the victims suffered greatly; they were raped, robbed, or assaulted. Nine Floridians out of every 100,000 were stabbed, shot, or otherwise murdered in 1992, and mostly by other Floridians. The national murder rate in 1992 was 9.3 per 100,000. By that measure at least U.S. tourists to Florida were safer in Florida than if they had stayed home. However, this is small comfort to any of Florida's victims, and one reason for the national and worldwide dismay at Florida's crime is the bizarre and chance nature of it. There is a perception of randomness to it, according to Steven Wisotsky, a professor
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international travelers are holding out for budget travel packages much like U.S. travelers.
Tour operators attending the Discover America International Powwow trade show in New Orleans in 1993 had mixed reactions on whether crime inhibited tourism or is even seen as a problem by foreign visitors. According to Melvin Inatsuka of the Independent Tourist Center, a tour operation in Tokyo and Los Angeles, the whole image of the United States is looked down on presently. He also stated that travel is being affected by the perceived crime problem but also by the recession and a trend toward individual travel, rather than group travel. Bill Maher of W.P. Maher, the largest tour operator in New Zealand, said that concern about safety is affecting travel within Europe, and not to the United States.
In light of the tourist murders, however, state officials have embarked on a safety campaign geared to provide increased security at rest places and a controversial monitoring of young blacks with criminal records. Other tactics include extra beat officers in tourist areas, bicycle police patrols, and police coordination with private security forces.
In October, 1993, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles called a special legislative sessi
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Approximate Word count = 2484
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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