Crimes Were Down in '09, FBI Reports
Jan 02, 2010
In its Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report released last week, the FBI indicated that the volume of violent crime in the nation decreased 4.4 percent and the volume of property crime declined 6.1 percent. More than 11,700 law enforcement agencies contributed to this report, which is based on information from law enforcement agencies that provided three to six common months of data to the FBI from January to June of both 2008 and 2009. Read More
This is great news. Especially for those who would have fallen into the 4.4 percent of violent crime stats. It doesn't mean anything to those who still were or will be victims of violent crimes. In the past year we have also seen sales of firearms and ammunition increase dramatically.
Purchases of guns and ammunition are surging across the country. Nearly four million background checks -- a key measure of sales because they are required at the purchase of a gun from a federally licensed seller -- were performed in the first three months of 2009. That is a 27% increase over the same period a year earlier, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Read More
Now, do you think that the increased sales could also have had an impact on the decrease in crime? It could. Generally in the past, during times of economic crisis, crimes will increase. People are under stress at work, people are losing their jobs, their insurance, having no luck finding a job..... all of these are catalysts for people to commit crimes. That being said, I think there is something for the bad guys to think about knowing that there is a higher chance that they will bump into a homeowner with a firearm if they break into a home.
These numbers are very reassuring, but seeing them shouldn't make you sit back and relax. There may be fewer victims out there according to the FBI, but you still need to work at making sure you are not one of them. Do you have a firearm that you plan to use to defend your family in case of a home invasion? Do you know the local laws for firearm use? One of the most important, if not the most important thing, is to be proficient in its use. Now, is your firearm available for your spouse to use if you are not home and the need to use it arises? You may feel that you are confident in its use, but are they? The trouble is that many families will purchase a firearm for home defense that their spouse can use, take them to the range once and then stick it in the bedside table or closet and forget about it. While that plan may give you a bit of psychological comfort, it is certainly not the best plan of action for dealing with the deadliest of threats - someone breaking into your home and placing your family at risk.
Most residential burglars devote little if any time to the advance planning of any specific break-in. Their crimes are, for the most part, crimes of opportunity. They pick what appears to be an easy mark. If their advance checking and closer examination reveal a greater risk than anticipated, they move onto a safer target. The more you can do to keep your home from looking like an easy target, the safer you are. There are also many steps that you can take to minimize your loss and improve your chances of recovery if a break-in does occur.
The first step in improving overall security is to take a hard look at the security measures already in your home. To help you with this task, OSC uses a Residential Security Survey. Conducting a security survey is important. Your home cannot be adequately protected until weaknesses are identified and corrected.
Here are a few tips:
1. Place flood lights on the outside of your home and connect them to motion censors.
2. Place a sign in your yard or window stating that there is an alarm. Do not use a sign that states which alarm service is used.
3. Keep shrubs and trees away from your windows. They will block the view of Law
4. Enforcement from seeing if your windows have been broken.
5. If you have a window in either your front or rear door, make sure that the deadbolt you use is set up for key use on both sides. If there is a latch on the inside, the criminal could break the glass and turn the lock open.
Stay safe.
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