Western Railroad Discussion > article: engineer jumps from train after attacked by man w/knife

https://www.fox9.com/news/engineer-jumps-off-moving-train-in-sauk-rapids-after-being-attacked-by-man-with-knife

66

Damn! We all worry about that, and sometimes I lock my rear cab door if I'm feeling particularly nervous some nights.You wouldn't think there would be much of an issue in the small farm towns we run through, but some people become aggitated and irrational because you are blocking crossings setting out or picking up cars, or they simply don't like the train horns at night. And if the person is well lubricated with some liquid courage, they can get out of hand. We've had a few incidents over the years, though I don't recall anyone being attacked directly. We've had to deal with some agitated people for sure.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Train crime porn is just the weirdest festish. . .

Sounds like he applied the brakes first. Wonder where the other crew member(s) where. Ted, do you consider carrying a brake staff, large flash light or larger wench in your grip just in case? I always wondered what the guys working on the ground do when working shady area's, especially at night.

Pretty much everywhere in So Cal.

ChrisCampi Wrote:
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> Sounds like he applied the brakes first. Wonder
> where the other crew member(s) where. Ted, do you
> consider carrying a brake staff, large flash light
> or larger wench in your grip just in case? I
> always wondered what the guys working on the
> ground do when working shady area's, especially at
> night.

Precautions are taken.

Posted from iPhone

hopefully, the engineer will make a full recovery.

good job by local law enforcement to apprehend the suspect..........

66

while the crime rates per 100,000 people may mask some local trends, there are a lot of meth heads, mental cases,  etc roaming around in rural areas.

 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> while the crime rates per 100,000 people may mask
> some local trends, there are a lot of meth heads,
> mental cases,  etc roaming around in rural
> areas.
>
Mind explaining what the etc. covers, Rural crime is no different that suburban or intercity crime, we just take care of the trash differently.

And this happened in "safe" Minnesota, not California!

xupshareholder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > while the crime rates per 100,000 people may
> mask
> > some local trends, there are a lot of meth
> heads,
> > mental cases,  etc roaming around in rural
> > areas.
> >
> Mind explaining what the etc. covers, Rural crime
> is no different that suburban or intercity crime,
> we just take care of the trash differently.

etc might include folks who "have issues".  Kidnapping people whose cars break down, for example, and raping / killing them.

The Wall Street Journal had an article this past June about the soaring increase in murders, violent abductions, etc in rural areas of the US.  Some of it is caused by young men who feel socially isolated, others feel the abundance of firearms makes an escalation of conflicts more likely.  Many crimes, they say, are unrelated to other crimes, making a single solution like arresting members of a gang  less likely.  Covid has made some forms of socializing less available.

The article cites places which hadn't had a murder in  years having several in 2022 so far.  Rural South Carolina, central Arkansas, northwest Montana are among the places described.  Homcide rates soared in rural America during 2020, the article says, citing FBI statistics.

Paywall possible:  https://www.wsj.com/story/murder-rates-soar-in-rural-america-bb431022

 

The CDC study, which the WSJ used, (not the FBI actual crime stats) only has numbers from 2019 to 2021.  Sorry but statisically that is a totally useless sample but it makes great headlines.  I don't know what the FBI homicide data is, and I am not going to take the time to look it up, but when a press outlet uses a two year sample size and takes it to make headlines, that is not journalism, it is pandering.   The FBI data goes back to the formation of the agency in the 1930's so 90 years is a much more statistically reliable sample.  The fact that the WSJ, whose staff has ready access to that FBI data, and certainly would use it if it bolstered their case, chose not to do use it says wonders for their credibility.

I will take what, for some, is an upopular view of this.  First, crime is on the rise most everywhere because many jurisdictions simply no longer make much effort to prosecute property crime.  Second, property crime againt trains in rural areas can and does occur.  One railroad Special Agent related to me how a local theft ring would have one of their members sneak on board container trains in a yard, then mess with the air brakes to put the train into emergency at a predetermined location in a rural area.  The thief's henchmen on the ground at the scene would then proceed to loot as many containers as they could during the time it would take the conductor to walk back to the car where the emergency brake application was initiated.  Sparesely populated rural areas were preferred for this, according to the Special Agent, because the perps knew that there would not likely be many passerby witnesses, and law enforcement would likely take some time to respond, if they were contacted at all.  

As for the train crews being threatened or assaulted by armed criminals, this has been an issue in some "rough" yards and other areas going back years.  One of my engineer friends confided in me years back that he carried a loaded revolver in his grip or on his person most of the time when working--especially when he was working in a couple of particularly crime-ridden yards.  He admitted that was a blatant rules violation, but he said, "I would rather be terminated by the railroad for a rules violation than terminated by an armed criminal.  I can get another job, I can't get another life."

elueck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The CDC study, which the WSJ used, (not the FBI
> actual crime stats) only has numbers from 2019 to
> 2021.  Sorry but statisically that is a totally
> useless sample but it makes great headlines.  I
> don't know what the FBI homicide data is, and I am
> not going to take the time to look it up, but when
> a press outlet uses a two year sample size and
> takes it to make headlines, that is not
> journalism, it is pandering.   The FBI data goes
> back to the formation of the agency in the 1930's
> so 90 years is a much more statistically reliable
> sample.  The fact that the WSJ, whose staff has
> ready access to that FBI data, and certainly would
> use it if it bolstered their case, chose not to do
> use it says wonders for their credibility.

You've raised some interesting points, but missed the big picture.  The FBI is way behind the curve. Their numbers only go through 2019. These prosecutors have bodies in the morgue now. People killed this year, ,not in 2019. Places that had no deaths in a decade have 10 so far this year. Many places. That's the news. Which is how the WSJ presented it.

Out of curiousity, I pulled up the local ABC news channel for  Jones County / Laurel MS.  Man found dead after being charged with raping child. Man accused of attacking three with machete after trying to buy guns. Two missing high schoolers found dead with gunshot wounds. This week.   Sounds like those prosecutors have their docket full, too.

I pulled another railroad town, Havre MT. Multiple homicides this year.  Same for Garden City KS, another railroad town.

Havre and Garden City are both in the FBI's  dangerous towns per 1,000 of population. Through 2019, the FBI says Garden City has a violent crime rate of 4.94 per 1,000 people, and is safer than 9% of other US jurisdictions.

Dangerous places aren't just big cities with elevated trains, subways, and buses.  And Democratic leaders. You could get killed / robbed / assaulted in a lot of places. Even ruby Red jurisdictions.
 

I stand by what I said.  Statisically, a two year sample is not statistically sound, regardless of what it is.  ANY two year sample is.  My wife grew up in a rural small town and so did I.  People killed people then, and robbed them and beat them up then.  It just did not make national news because there was not a political agenda, which is evidient in the WSJ article. 

https://www.city-journal.org/the-failure-of-progressive-criminal-justice-reforms

66

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You've raised some interesting points, but missed
> the big picture.  The FBI is way behind the
> curve. Their numbers only go through 2019. These
> prosecutors have bodies in the morgue now. People
> killed this year, ,not in 2019. Places that had no
> deaths in a decade have 10 so far this year. Many
> places. That's the news. Which is how the WSJ
> presented it.
>
> Out of curiousity, I pulled up the local ABC news
> channel for  Jones County / Laurel MS.  Man
> found dead after being charged with raping child.
> Man accused of attacking three with machete after
> trying to buy guns. Two missing high schoolers
> found dead with gunshot wounds. This week.  
> Sounds like those prosecutors have their docket
> full, too.
>
> I pulled another railroad town, Havre MT. Multiple
> homicides this year.  Same for Garden City KS,
> another railroad town.
>
> Havre and Garden City are both in the FBI's 
> dangerous towns per 1,000 of population. Through
> 2019, the FBI says Garden City has a violent crime
> rate of 4.94 per 1,000 people, and is safer than
> 9% of other US jurisdictions.
>
> Dangerous places aren't just big cities with
> elevated trains, subways, and buses.  And
> Democratic leaders. You could get killed / robbed
> / assaulted in a lot of places. Even ruby Red
> jurisdictions.
>  

So let's see - crime up everywhere since the "defund the police" crap started, but I'm sure it is just a coincidence...  nothing to see here.

Details of homicides matter too, raw numbers don't tell the whole story.  Man found dead after raping child - aww too bad, how terrible that poor pedo rapist died.  Doesn't make that town an unsafe place for the average person.  Machete attack - probably not a local.  Two teens found dead - possible murder/suicide?  But details probably won't help their angle.

Bottom line is, if you are along a railroad either walking your train or a railfan watching that train, are you going to feel safer out in a rural area or in Baltimore/Chicago/LA/etc?  Somewhere that had a couple murders for the first time in years so it is all over the news, or a big city that has several murders a day and doesn't even get a mention unless it is multiple victims at one scene.  I'd wager that small towns and rural areas are a lot safer for train crews.

Cole42 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > You've raised some interesting points, but
> missed
> > the big picture.  The FBI is way behind the
> > curve. Their numbers only go through 2019.
> These
> > prosecutors have bodies in the morgue now.
> People
> > killed this year, ,not in 2019. Places that had
> no
> > deaths in a decade have 10 so far this year.
> Many
> > places. That's the news. Which is how the WSJ
> > presented it.
> >
> > Out of curiousity, I pulled up the local ABC
> news
> > channel for  Jones County / Laurel MS.  Man
> > found dead after being charged with raping
> child.
> > Man accused of attacking three with machete
> after
> > trying to buy guns. Two missing high schoolers
> > found dead with gunshot wounds. This week.  
> > Sounds like those prosecutors have their docket
> > full, too.
> >
> > I pulled another railroad town, Havre MT.
> Multiple
> > homicides this year.  Same for Garden City KS,
> > another railroad town.
> >
> > Havre and Garden City are both in the FBI's 
> > dangerous towns per 1,000 of population.
> Through
> > 2019, the FBI says Garden City has a violent
> crime
> > rate of 4.94 per 1,000 people, and is safer
> than
> > 9% of other US jurisdictions.
> >
> > Dangerous places aren't just big cities with
> > elevated trains, subways, and buses.  And
> > Democratic leaders. You could get killed /
> robbed
> > / assaulted in a lot of places. Even ruby Red
> > jurisdictions.
> >  
>
> So let's see - crime up everywhere since the
> "defund the police" crap started, but I'm sure it
> is just a coincidence...  nothing to see here.
>
> Details of homicides matter too, raw numbers don't
> tell the whole story.  Man found dead after
> raping child - aww too bad, how terrible that poor
> pedo rapist died.  Doesn't make that town an
> unsafe place for the average person.  Machete
> attack - probably not a local.  Two teens found
> dead - possible murder/suicide?  But details
> probably won't help their angle.
>
> Bottom line is, if you are along a railroad either
> walking your train or a railfan watching that
> train, are you going to feel safer out in a rural
> area or in Baltimore/Chicago/LA/etc?  Somewhere
> that had a couple murders for the first time in
> years so it is all over the news, or a big city
> that has several murders a day and doesn't even
> get a mention unless it is multiple victims at one
> scene.  I'd wager that small towns and rural
> areas are a lot safer for train crews.
The St. Louis area was a prime "defund the police" city. Talk is cheap. No actual dollars left the police department. Now, in the train department, we got lots to watch. One more two track bridge and we could be the biggest addition to Chicago's CREATE plan:(