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SLO is truly Camelot

January 12, 2016
Allan Cooper

Allan Cooper

OPINION by ALLAN COOPER

Welcome to San Luis Obispo, the “happy city of denial” where city officials, the Downtown Association and the police department annually produce self-congratulatory crime reports.

Just the other day, the city informs us that DUI’s aren’t really going up. There are merely more cops on the beat.

Last year we heard that rapes aren’t going up all that much either. That’s because the FBI has changed its definition of “rape.”

We’ve heard that assaults aren’t going up because what is being reported are aggravated assaults, not the record number of non-aggravated assaults.

Finally we learned that alcohol related crimes “appeared” to be going up but that’s only because of the increasing effectiveness of the Safe Nightlife Association and it’s better reporting mechanisms.

Okay, fine. Crime in San Luis Obispo isn’t escalating as it appears to be. We are now forced to conclude that the crime picture here in “happy town” must have been pretty terrible to begin with. Because San Luis Obispo falls in the lowest decile of safe cities in America (SLO is rated nine in a crime index with 100 being the safest). And no denial or rationalization can explain this fact away.

Alan Cooper, a long-time San Luis Obispo resident, is the secretary of Save Our Downtown.

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This is just the exercise of reporting what they want you to hear. The way things are reported will modify the stats to look which ever way they want it.

Like what generates an injury? One time a scratch is an injury then at the next reporting a major injury is only reported as an injury. Result is that there has been a great reduction in reported injuries when in fact nothing has really happened.

If DUI’s are down, somebody is not doing their job. In reality every bar is San Luis Obispo generates several drunk drivers everyday.


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There’s still time. But it would be wise to oust those who look to a never-ceasing building opportunity.


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Save our Downtown?


It is already lost. I often tell people there is no reason to go to Downtown SLO. It is all strange, overpriced boutiques, crappy restaurants, and way too many bars.


The downtown SLO of Law’s Hobby, Bello’s Sporting Goods, Earthling Bookstore, and Foster’s Freeze is gone with the wind.


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Agreed, it may look good to tourists, but to those who remember what once was, it’s been gone for a while now.


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How does the population attending Cal Poly figure into these statistics? How about the homeless population? If crime rates are based on a cities permanent population and you add in 50 % more higher crime people doesn’t that skew the statistics–a lot?


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On further review, your statement:

“And no denial or rationalization can explain this fact away.” is false.


Unless I am missing something, 183 violent crimes with a 1 in 253 chance of being a victim calculates out to population of 46.299. That is the population of the city without the students. Add in 20,000 students that are here about 75% of the time or greater, and those statistics look very different. I would say that any college town would do poorly in that website’s statistics, and the smaller the college town’s population, the greater the error becomes.


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Yes and look at the report on city salaries, we were thinking of moving and this is just another reason.


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This is a very important aspect to people who look at the financial “big picture” – not only does California, as a state, have an evaporating business climate, but SLO county also has some pretty significant corruption issues. Couple this with a blind following of voters who (mostly) benefit from government largess, and we get a cake and circus atmosphere.


To the few sober and sane people left, this often causes them to look for the exit.


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SLO is also old. You are either in College, or in the retirement home. All else need not apply and have moved up the Bay or down to LA.


Old people do not care about schools, jobs or crime. They care about cheap places to shop, healthcare, and taxes.


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IOWs: SELFISH.


I would qualify that. Not ALL old people are selfish and greedy. Only ones that think they have some $$$.

And they don’t even have to be ‘old’ to feel this way.


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Lest not we forget that panga boat sightings have plummeted since the Sheriff got his new boat.


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I still have very close friends who really think Ian is a great sheriff because he showed up at some event and shook hands when he was running. I don’t know what to say.


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A mythical place indeed is SLO. “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot”

I`m afraid that shining moment is long gone.


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True True……But


I prefer to live in this so called crime ridden City of Slo with its index of a mere 9 than the so called ‘safer’ cities like San Jose, Santa Clara, Salinas, Santa Maria which have index’s in the double digits. Really?


I trust in my common sense and experience living in some of those areas than some “Safe Cities in America” stats result with conditional inputs.


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Give it a generation and SLO will be just like those crappy towns you list.


San Luis Obispo has taken a turn for the worse over the past 20 years.


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I don’t disagree…but in the interim I’ll remain.


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What you are likely enjoying is the lower population. It’s a dilemma for many, often because they do not realize that they don’t like a lot of other people; yet, they cannot live without their “culture” here in the “sticks” – so they transform this place in the hills to what they view as “cultured” and destroy it. I think it’s like many of the Mexicans who flee Mexico because it sucks ass, but still proudly wave their flag and dream of converting the southwest into the northern territories. It’s probably a mental disorder.


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I think its called homesick. Being raised here and then leaving to be hustled and accosted left a longing to return home. If that’s a mental disorder so be it.


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And with all those Buc#s being paid for overtime to law enforcement we should have no crime. Is anyone reading the daily newspaper, listening to the news, or see what is happening in the communities in this County. Call it whatever you want, it is still crime and crime is not down. Beauty picture you want to paint but it still shows all the demeans we have around here.


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