Suburban dwellers may feel immune to violent crime

In places such as Columbia, people never expect bad things to happen. But as more suburban crimes get news coverage, more residents realize they are no longer 100 percent safe.

“Many residents of middle-income suburban communities feel immune from what they see as big-city crime,” said Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. “When a hideous murder occurs in their town, they are shocked. They remain in a state of disbelief.”