Is Unemployment Linked to Crime?
Property crimes such as burglary tend to rise during recessions
, according to crime statistics and data. For the past 60 years that crime trends have been monitored in the US, rates of home invasion and other crimes have tended to go up during rough economic times. However, the trend can vary considerably from city to city. San Jose and Houston, for example, saw a jump in home invasions in 2009. When residents find out about these grim statistics, they tend to get nervous and increase defensive steps, like locking their doors or looking into buying adt alarm systems. Phoenix, on the other hand, saw a drop in the number of burglaries in 2009. The police there believe that more unemployed people are at home and able to report suspicious neighborhood activity. On the other side of the world in the peaceful country of New Zealand, residents there also saw an increase in burglary and murder rates in 2009. Crime statistics show that burglaries jumped by six percent in New Zealand in 2009. The country saw an increase in crime rates during hard times in the early 1990s, too. Burglars are looking for cash, jewelry, electronics, and anything of value. What can you do to prevent a break-in at your home? Besides investing in dead bolts and adt alarm systems, home owners can discourage would-be robbers by making the home appear occupied. For example, timers can power on music and lights when you are not home. Most burglaries occur during the day when home owners are at work. No one thinks that they will be the victim of a home invasion, but in truth, one burglary occurs every 14.6 seconds in the United States. Those homes that do not have security systems like adt alarm systems are three times more likely to be broken in to. The headlines in England report similar statistics and officials there directly link burglary and fraud to their countrys recession. A poll in Ireland showed that 77 percent of residents believe that they are at higher risk for burglaries during times of high unemployment. Two-thirds of the poll respondents indicated that they have become more security conscious since the recession began and are willing to pay for better home security like adt alarm systems. In Ireland, 72 million euros worth of goods were stolen from homes from mid-2008 to mid-2009. In general, burglars are looking for easy targets. They are not looking for a challenge; they want to get in and get out cleanly and quickly. When the average burglar sees a warning sign that says a home is protected by a home alarm system, that burglar will move on to the next house. Some thieves look for clues as to whether owners just have warning signs and no active monitoring, verses warning signs and true monitoring systems like adt alarm systems. A warning sign alone can be a deterrent, but a professional thief will look for confirmation that there really is an alarm system in place. If the recession continues to deepen, there is concern that the home invasion rate will worsen, leaving home owners with no choice but to take further precautions to protect their valuables.Is Unemployment Linked to Crime?
By: Laura Williamson