Economy not increasing criminal activity
JANESVILLE — The number of property crimes committed in the Janesville area has not increased despite the region's economic struggles, law enforcement officials said.
Burglaries, thefts, shoplifting and other crimes reported to law enforcement remain consistent with previous years, officials said.
Layoffs and foreclosures have plagued the area for most of the past year.
The state reported that Janesville had the highest unemployment rate in Wisconsin in December. Janesville's unadjusted unemployment rate was 8.1 percent.
But the economic times are not affecting criminal behavior.
The number of property crimes reported to the Janesville Police Department in 2008 was slightly below the five-year average, Deputy Chief David Moore said.
Police have not seen many crimes related to the economy, but officers can't always determine the motivation for a crime, he said.
The number of property crimes reported to the Rock County Sheriff's Office also has not increased in recent months, Capt. Todd Christiansen said.
Although people might be struggling financially, property crimes often are motivated by drug use.
People often sell or trade stolen items for drugs, Moore and Christiansen said.
A police department survey done a couple years ago showed a correlation between drug use and property crimes.
About 46 percent of 120 random people involved in property crimes had histories of drug arrests or involvement.
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Feb 8, 2009 at 8:38 p.m.
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I'm worried what' going to happen if the economy is still bad when people's unemployment compensation runs out. Things could get very ugly.
Feb 8, 2009 at 9:36 a.m.
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Property crimes are a subset of all crimes. Many of those in jail are there for criminal driving offenses such as DUI and OAR. I wonder what is happening with domestic violence with more and more people at home, drinking out of boredom and watching daytime television?
Feb 7, 2009 at 10:49 p.m.
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doc0430, Spoden actually "suspended" (his word) any request for a jail expansion back in September, so the official line from the "higher ups" has changed.
http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/sep/16/...
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Incarceration rates are not going to correlate precisely with crime rates for a variety of reasons.
Feb 7, 2009 at 8:28 p.m.
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Zoom as I stated people go in and people get out, if no increase in crime that number should stay the same or maybe even go down now with the bracelet program now in place.
Feb 7, 2009 at 7:44 p.m.
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Why would crime have to be UP for the jail to be over crowded? The jail has been over crowded for some time.
Feb 7, 2009 at 7:32 p.m.
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Ok so let me get this right, Crime isn't up, so that means the jail really isn't over crowded which in turn means we don't need to spend any money to expand it! Ah something contradicts something else we've already been feed by the higher ups...... So which is it because it surely can't be both, people get out people go in, nothing should change- or are we filling the jails with non-criminals? So which is it????????? Anyone wanna weigh in on this? (Stupid Question)~ Doc!
Feb 7, 2009 at 4:49 p.m.
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I will blame climate change in advance just in case the crime rate should increase.
Feb 7, 2009 at noon
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Good article. I'm guessing it was triggered, in part, by some of the stupid comments online blaming recent crime on the closing of GM and related businesses. Maybe those will stop now. Probably not.
Feb 7, 2009 at 9:51 a.m.
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If inflation kicks in, then the crime will go up. That is usually the triggering effect.
Feb 7, 2009 at 9:46 a.m.
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so, we aren't doing any BETTER NOW than before. it is remaining the same. that is good news.as long as it isn't your house that is getting broken into.
Feb 7, 2009 at 8:04 a.m.
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Thanks for the story.
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