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Despite recession, crime keeps falling
AP via google ^ | 12-21-09 | DEVLIN BARRETT

Posted on 12/21/2009 4:07:19 PM PST by TaxPayer2000

Despite recession, crime keeps falling By DEVLIN BARRETT (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — High unemployment. More folks on food stamps. Fewer owning their homes. Yet for all the signs of recession, something is missing: More crime.

Experts are scratching their heads over why crime has ebbed so far during this recession, making it different from other economic downturns of the past half-century. Early guesses include jobless folks at home keeping closer watch for thieves, or the American population just getting older_ and older people commit fewer crimes.

Preliminary FBI crime figures for the first half of 2009 show crime falling across the country, even at a time of high unemployment, foreclosures and layoffs. Most surprisingly, murder and manslaughter fell 10 percent for the first half of the year.

"That's a remarkable decline, given the economic conditions," said Richard Rosenfeld, a sociologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who has studied crime trends.

Rosenfeld said he did not expect the 10 percent drop in killings to be sustained over the entire year, as more data is reported. But he said the broad declines are exceptional, given that past recessions stretching back to the 1950's have boosted crime rates.

Bill Bratton, the former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said the decrease comes from major police departments closely tracking developing crime patterns.

"Police have gotten much better at analyzing numbers and responding quickly," said Bratton, now chairman of Altegrity Security Consulting, a private security firm based in Virginia. "Los Angeles has been in an economic downturn almost two years ahead of the country and is now in its eighth straight year of crime decline."

In times of recession, property crimes, in particular, are expected to rise.

They haven't.

(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
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"The popular wisdom is wrong," said Fox. "If a law-abiding citizen loses their job, they don't typically go on a crime spree."
1 posted on 12/21/2009 4:07:19 PM PST by TaxPayer2000
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To: TaxPayer2000

I guess even criminals are facing the hard times of the recession. :)


2 posted on 12/21/2009 4:08:33 PM PST by Ptarmigan (Death Penalty For Bunny Rabbits!)
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To: TaxPayer2000

..."no mention of the great increase of people purchasing guns and ammo eh?"

3 posted on 12/21/2009 4:10:44 PM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: TaxPayer2000

I’m thinking less cops, more PC BS that makes it harder to arrest criminals is really the factor here.


4 posted on 12/21/2009 4:11:40 PM PST by vpintheak (How can love of God, Family and Country make me an extremist?)
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To: TaxPayer2000

FBI is cooking the books.


5 posted on 12/21/2009 4:12:55 PM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: TaxPayer2000

More guns - less crime. And there’s a LOT more guns - citizens are fighting back - when criminals are shot there’s cheering...


6 posted on 12/21/2009 4:13:18 PM PST by GOPJ (Journalists as BaghdadBobLite - Global Warming Scientists as ElmerGantry - what's happening?)
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To: SeaHawkFan

Yes, article is bull. Atlanta is nonstop criminal activity.
Young gangs are stealing, smashing in stores, assaults
are always going on, home invasions happen all the time.
it is unbelievable.


7 posted on 12/21/2009 4:15:52 PM PST by gussiefinknottle (woof!woof!woof!)
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To: TaxPayer2000
This might be due to all the firearms and ammunition sale since the election.

The criminals may be smarter than the politicians.

Oh, wait the politicians are criminals, never mind.

8 posted on 12/21/2009 4:17:07 PM PST by exnavy (God save the republic)
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To: Ptarmigan
I guess even criminals are facing the hard times of the recession.

Not around here!

  1. Murders
  2. Bank robberies
  3. Convience store robberies
  4. Coffee shop robberies
  5. Drugstore robberies
  6. Home invasions
Employment in the crime syndicate is looking up, with more crimes being committed than ever. However, the pay scale is quite dismal.
9 posted on 12/21/2009 4:17:50 PM PST by An Old Man (Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without.)
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To: TaxPayer2000

All of the real criminals are busy working in the White House. Keeps them off the street.


10 posted on 12/21/2009 4:18:41 PM PST by steve7
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To: TaxPayer2000
“Rosenfeld said he did not expect the 10 percent drop in killings to be sustained over the entire year, as more data is reported.”

Why, does the market data suggest a production backlog. ;-)

11 posted on 12/21/2009 4:19:43 PM PST by Dem Guard
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To: TaxPayer2000
Many places are giving Boama award for causing the sale of 11,400,000 guns in one year. There are billions of bullets this year also.
12 posted on 12/21/2009 4:19:54 PM PST by mountainlion (concerned conservative.)
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To: TaxPayer2000

Think of it as the false calm before the storm.


13 posted on 12/21/2009 4:20:32 PM PST by Lera
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To: TaxPayer2000

“Experts are scratching their heads over why crime has ebbed so far during this recession.”

Kids today just aren’t motivated to do anything anymore. ;-)


14 posted on 12/21/2009 4:21:09 PM PST by Dem Guard
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To: TaxPayer2000
I say it's because we as a society have stopped going to church, gosh darnit!

Priest outrages police by telling congregation: 'My advice to poor is to shoplift'

15 posted on 12/21/2009 4:21:20 PM PST by Mygirlsmom (What do the _hite House and I have in common? We're both missing W....)
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To: TaxPayer2000

Perhaps all that “medical marijuana” has caused criminals to lose their motivation...


16 posted on 12/21/2009 4:22:04 PM PST by monkeyshine
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Did they factor in all those unemployed folks, now home all day with nothing to do, cutting into potential burglars jobs?

Or maybe all those unemployed folks pawning and hocking all their stuff to survive, less stuff for the thieves to steal from the common folk...


17 posted on 12/21/2009 4:22:20 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: TaxPayer2000

All the criminals have been elected to Congress and the White House. Not to mention the judical system.


18 posted on 12/21/2009 4:22:27 PM PST by LauraJean (sometimes I win sometimes I donate to the equine benevolent society)
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To: vpintheak
I’m thinking less cops, more PC BS that makes it harder to arrest criminals is really the factor here. Actually the number of cops has increased since the recession began. But, since most of them are out chasing folks for bad tail lights and "weaving", they are not catching any real criminals, just Grandma and Junior driving to and from the mall...
19 posted on 12/21/2009 4:24:34 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: TaxPayer2000
More Guns. Less Crime.
20 posted on 12/21/2009 4:25:09 PM PST by Red in Blue PA (If guns cause crime, then all of mine are defective!)
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