FBI: murders fall 10% in first half of 2009

[ghost of miles]

A bit surprised by this, as crime of all kinds (robbery/burglary esp. of course) tends to go up when the economy tanks:

Murders fall 10% in first half of 2009

Edited December 21, 2009 by ghost of miles

[Jim Alfredson]

Not around here.

There are so many break-ins and thefts that the police here have said they cannot keep up. Our own Joe Gloss has been the victim of break-ins four times in the last two years. Both neighbors on either side of me have been hit in the last year. Another musician friend of mine had all his PA gear stolen out of his garage.

[kh1958]

In Dallas, the police have figured out how to make crime fall--they classify violent crimes as non-violent crimes and classify crimes as non-crimes. It's all in the definition.

[ghost of miles]

We actually had a break-in right next door a few weeks ago, but it was a fairly standard burglary for this city--happened on Thanksgiving Day while the student renters were all back in their hometowns. Up in Indianapolis, my dad's definitely seen an increase in break-ins around his neighborhood. Like I said, that's why the FBI report kind of surprises me... you usually see a spike in crime, esp. property crime, in this kind of economic climate. Given that this recession really goes all the way back to 2007, I'd think you'd be seeing the impact in crime rates by the first half of 2009.

[AmirBagachelles]

The all-in cost of public employees, including law enforcement, long ago surpassed the costs of private sector workers. And in Michigan (and soon New York and California), it is already tough if not impossible to pay above-market wages and benefits to civil employees. We need to cut public sector wage and benefit levels, not people. Otherwise there will be chaos.