The other shoe

The New York Times notes that we could be heading into a time of increasing crime, thanks to our failing economy:

“Every recession since the late ’50s has been associated with an increase in crime and, in particular, property crime and robbery, which would be most responsive to changes in economic conditions," said Richard Rosenfeld, a sociologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Typically, he said, “there is a year lag between the economic change and crime rates."

Comments

[jeano]

Good thing I put in an alarm system 2 months ago. The police can show up in time to find my house ransacked and me either dead or running after the robbers.

we've come a long way in 50 years. We have food pantries and other assistance. Times will be hard for the average person but I donlt think people will just start comitting crime because of the economy.

[The_Golfer]

anonymous - I would like some of the drugs you are on. Have you seen the news lately? The pantries are closing because of not enough food being donated.

And a 1 year lag? Guess I will start working from home a lot more next summer.

[David]

Glad I have dogs. They tell me before you're even on the property. Gives me time to load.

[Opie]

Glad I have dogs, too. Gonna have to eat them, eventually.

LET'S ALL FREAK OUT PEOPLE!

[Ni]

Opie I know you're being sarcastic but the average person IS freaking out. I've watched in horror these last few weeks as I've lost THOUSANDS of dollars and can do absolutely NOTHING about it. Everyone says not to panic the market will bounce back, easy to say when you don't have half your life savings going down the drain. I guess the silver lining is my funds are diversified so I haven’t lost everything.

[Xero Pascal]

Ni, that was never your money to begin with. It was the product of an overinflated market. The market will bounce back, but it will take years to reach the levels it was at prior to this downturn.

[Truth Teller]

I pulled out before the bailout.
Also sold the extra house two years ago before the bubble burst.

Whatever the news says - think opposite.

Buy the rumor - Sell the news.

[Blee]

I think crime out of necessity will be going up, up up! My husband was laid off and our income has been cut in half, not to mention i'm commission as well. We have been hit hard and suddenly robbing a bank seems like a good idea.
not really, but its a whole different thing to be the one suffering. Whats that saying...?
It's a recession when your neighbor looses their job, it's a depression when YOU loose your job.
We are very law abiding people, but I can only imagine what someone who wasn't might think of doing if they are broke and falling like us.

[SkinnyJoe]

A year should be enough time for us to complete our CCW training and apply for our permits.

No increase in crime, just an increase in revenue generating prosecutions. Gotta get that extra money when the tax revenue is down.
ATF stands for Always Think Forfeiture, right boys?

[Tom K]

Speaking of food pantries, Al Capone kept thousands fed out of his own pocket during the Depression.

[SSDD]

Blee, I see nothing wrong with robbing a bank. After all, they're robbing us.

[k]

It's disgusting we can spend over $750 billion to bail the crooks out of trouble, while those of us footing the bill are wondering how we're going to pay to heat our homes this winter - let alone buy food and pay for gas to go to work -if they don't outsource our job to India.

yes more crimes. Buy more guns.

[D-man]

Bush is Tyler Durden, And project mayhem is going really well.

[ddh]

Thanks Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to ignorant dummycrats !!!!!
Both should be in jail !!!

[Brad Bickel]

Please do not blame, or insinuate that violent crime in Kansas City would be bolstered by a bad economy. The truth is, crime in Kansas City is out of control, and vilent crime has reached the point the National Guard should take over Troost and other problematic areas. The entire city should be embarassed with what hoodlums are allowed to control the streets. Yes, there is a thin blue line between Troost and Ward Parkway. KCMOPD. Good or bad economy, crime in Kansas City is rampid, and extreme measures are necessary.

[Todd Offenbacker]

Let's watch what happens in California. If the US doesn't bail out this former American state, and there are massive layoffs of state mud employees, expect riots.

Across the rest of the country, get ready for the Great American Chimpout.

[Mike]

About six months ago there was an article written about car theft in this very newspaper. This article quoted the FBI as saying that crime rates were down in KC. I blogged in about this article stating that I tended not to beleive anything our government reports to the public. I stated that with a bad economy, crime rates WILL go up. Some people responded to my blog with negative responses as if I were "Unamerican" for saying such a thing. Where are these people now?

[Tom K]

Most of these murders would not be happening without the drug war.

[The Riots are coming]

Get your GUNS NOW Obama will create a government run state. He will pass LAWS taking away gun ownership.

[Lead by example]

If our so called leaders don't follow the laws,why should the rest of us? I don't know about the rest of ya,but I am going to the rich neighborhoods where the money is.

[parkay]

Poverty does not cause crime. Crime causes poverty.

[no name]

If the FBI and Arm FORCES CAN GO INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY TO GET CONTROL OF IT. WHY THEY CAN NOT STOP GUN VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY COULD IF THEY WANTED TO.

[Marvin]

The Riots...,

Do you understand that government is composed of the people in this country? And, that we already are a "government run state"?

Do you prefer the corporate run state that got us into this financial mess? Why on earth can't some people process who's truly at fault here rather than reverting to the same partisan name-calling?

[Nemesis]

"Ni, that was never your money to begin with. It was the product of an overinflated market. The market will bounce back, but it will take years to reach the levels it was at prior to this downturn."

No, Ni has it right. It is OUR money that went down the tubes. Everyone that put money into a fund or investment, got looted and ransacked by wall streets greed, golden parachutes, ludicrous salaries and outrageous bonuses. Now these same greedy investment firms and banks will buy up as much of the worthless mortgage paper they can get and sell them to the government to get a piece of the billion dollar bail out and they will make huge profits on it AGAIN. This is wall street armed robbery.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/FunMoney/story?id=2723990

[Nemesis]

"If the FBI and Arm FORCES CAN GO INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY TO GET CONTROL OF IT. WHY THEY CAN NOT STOP GUN VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN THE UNITED STATES."

Because there was a law passed in 1878 called the Posse Comitatus Act that outlaws a president from deploying active duty military on US soil. This is to prevent a president from declaring martial law and using the military to seize power and become a dictator. By the way, that is exactly how Hitler seized power after becoming German Chancellor.

[Mickey Mouse]

"Good or bad economy, crime in Kansas City is rampid, and extreme measures are necessary."

Yep, I guess this is why KCPD got that surplus US Army helicopter to join it's arsenal!

And yes, crime DOES go up when people get desparate. People are getting shot just to get $15 or $20 bucks. I used to really complain about my job because it was so hectic, now I've really shut my mouth because I've come to know a blessing when the good lord save yours and you are still allowed to put food on the table for your family.