When it comes to burglary many people tend to overlook the statistics by labeling this crime as a lesser offense; however, this is hardly a fair assumption. While burglary does not generally result in assault it is a crime that results in a significant impact upon the victim. Certainly in the grand scheme of things when burglary is compared to rape and other violent crimes there is a difference in severity of the crime, but on a lesser scale crime is crime and regardless of severity crime is never victimless. For burglary victims having their home broken in to and their possessions rummaged through not only leads to fear that it may happen again but it also leads to feeling of violation in knowing that personal possessions have been handled by a stranger. Unfortunately, according to the statistics, within the United States, one in every six homes will be burglarized in this year alone, resulting in an average loss of $1,675 per burglary and this doesn’t even take in to account the trauma caused to the owners of the structure that is being burglarized.
The rates of burglary within the United States are particularly high when compared to other nations, but before delving in to numbers and statistics it is first important to understand what burglary actually is. By law, burglary is defined as the unlawful breaking and entering of a structure with the intent to commit a crime. Most commonly breaking and entering is conducted in order to thief items from the structure; however, this is not always the case. When a structure is being broken in to with the idea of theft in mind there are many different instances that can fall under this umbrella definition, for example, breaking in to a car to steal CD’s, breaking in to a home to steal jewelry or breaking in to a commercial building or building site to steal copper pipes. When a structure is not being broken in to with the idea of theft in mind the resulting crime could fall anywhere along the gamut of criminal acts including: burglary with the intent to kidnap, burglary with the intent to rape, burglary with the intent to murder, or burglary with the intent to vandalize. When a structure is burglarized and the resulting crime committed is not intended to be violent or confrontational, the chances of actually catching a burglar in the act are slim to none. Robbery, however, is a different story.
Many people use the terms burglary and robbery interchangeably; however, when it comes to the legal definition of these crimes there is a significant difference between the two. As discussed above, burglary is the breaking and entering of a structure with the intent to commit a crime. In contrast, robbery is defined as the theft of property or money by using the threat of violence and as such there must be a victim present in order for a crime to be considered robbery. Also while burglary deems it unnecessary for theft to be committed, robbery requires theft to take place for a crime to be classified as a robbery. The typical bank holdup scenario is considered to be a robbery, and like this scenario, many robberies involve the use of weapons and violence in order to intimidate a victim in to giving up items of value. Not all robberies must use violence; however, because frequently only the threat of violence is needed in order for the robber to get what they desire. Whereas robbers go in to a situation knowing that threat and / or violence will be involved, burglars very seldom intend to be confronted with their victims and as such generally do not act violently.
In the United States burglary is prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony. What determines whether a burglary is categorized as a misdemeanor or a felony is the state in which the crime was committed since every state has its own rules over what determines the severity of a burglary. Strangely enough; however, burglars do not tend to think ahead of the game and find out the potential punishment for the crime that they are about to commit. Were a potential burglar to find out that in the state where he or she intends to commit a burglary his offense would be considered a felony, he or she may be prompted to think twice before committing their crime. Why would a burglar think twice over a felony rather than a misdemeanor? Not only is the punishment much more severe for the commission of a felony, but after the commission of three felonies an individual receives a much harsher punishment regardless of what that third felony was. It is not only the punishment that should be scaring these criminals straight; however, but taking in to consideration the necessity of work and living arrangements, individuals with a felony conviction on their criminal record have a considerably low chance of obtaining gainful employment or even renting a moderately decent home. Almost everything done in today’s society is done utilizing a criminal background check and for the convicted felon this spells doom and prevents advancement in society even after a sentence has been completed.
It is particularly difficult to put the severity of a problem in to perspective without providing concrete numbers by which to measure the occurrence of the crime so here are a few numbers to clarify the extent of the problem that the United States faces with burglary. According to the Eight United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and Operations of the Criminal Justice System (2002) the United States led 68 countries in the frequency of burglaries. The United States formed 26.9% of burglaries recorded, more than twice that of the second place nation, Germany who compared with 13.2% of recorded burglaries. The lowest incidence of recorded burglaries was found in Oman, where there were absolutely no recorded incidences to speak of. The 26.9% of American burglaries recorded include only those which were reported to the authorities and fall at exactly 2,151,875 incidences. Certainly this data may seem a little outdated, so to turn to a more recent and specific source of data we look at the Bureau of Justice Statistics to follow trends that have taken place between 2002 and 2008.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics the incidence of burglary in the United States in 2002 was 27.7 households out of every 1,000. Surprisingly to many, this rate has declined, albeit moderately, over the years and in 2008 data returned showing a steady hold of the incidences of burglary at around 26.3 out of every 1,000 homes. This decline may seem somewhat insignificant but in the grand scheme of the entire United States population, even a small drop in criminal activity per 1,000 households is significant. By expanding the data range from 2002 all the way back to 1973, the declining trend in burglaries can be seen with more accuracy. In 1973 the reported rate of burglary fell at 110 out of every 1,000 households and in comparison to the 26.3 out of every 1,000 households reported in the United States in 2008, this is a considerable and noteworthy statistic.
There are various speculations behind the decline of burglary statistics since the early 1970’s, but one thing is for sure, the four measures of serious violent crime are rather telling. The four measures of serious violent crime include the total violent crime rate, the victimizations reported to the police, crimes recorded by the police and arrests for violent crime. When comparing these four significant measurements over the decades the figures tend to point towards increased arrests for criminal behavior and an increase in the amount of crimes recorded by the police. Ironically enough, though, as the amount of crimes recorded by police have increased, the number of victimizations that have been reported to the police have declined. Burglary is not one of the crimes that comprises the serious violent crime offense category (these are homicide, forcible rape, robbery and assault), however, these trends are still rather significant as they show a growing reluctance to report victimization to the police in addition to an increase in the amount of individuals arrested for violent crime. As the arrest rate has increased and the number of victimization reports have decreased, the total numbers of violent crime have decreased and one cannot help but wonder about the strength of association between these elements.
As mentioned above property crime rates have been on the decline since the early seventies, but one has to wonder whether the increase in arrest rate and the decrease in reporting crime to the police are to blame for this decline. According to recent reports the United States has a prison population larger than that of Russia and China; could it be that with such a “crack down” on arrests and convictions for criminal activity that criminals are avoiding the urge to burglarize? Looking at the data cannot determine the cause for increased arrests but it can prove without a doubt that arrest rates have increased. As far back as 1920, American prisons held under 200,000 individuals who were convicted of illegal activity, in 1970, this rate can to around 265,000; however, as of 2006, rates have skyrocketed to a mind blowing 2.4 million. So is it this increase in incarceration rated or could it be that people in today’s society are becoming increasingly reluctant to call the police and report criminal activity? It seems as though the second option is more likely, but one can still hold out hope for a reformed criminal population or cleaner streets; however, it is unlikely that the entire criminal population of the country remains behind bars.
As has been the case for a while now, the media controls what we do and do not see, and questionable police activity certainly makes for a good news story. Every week there is a story on the news covering an officer shooting an unarmed individual, an official who didn’t respond quickly enough to an emergency situation, a classroom being taken by storm by a rogue gunman…all of these things lead those who are easily led, to believe that officials should not be trusted. This sort of mentality points to a possible explanation for the decline in criminal reports; however, without unbiased evidence this assumption can never be substantiated.
Some point to the legalization of certain crimes as a factor behind declining rates of reports of criminal activity. Incidences such as the legalization of abortion are said to have had a significant impact on the level of crime because something that was once happening behind closed doors all over the country and resulting in arrest, was now made legal. While this fact may stand true for certain criminal activity, it does not hold any water in relation to the declining rates of property crime since no significant legal changes occurred in relation to burglary during this period. The only change that could considerably have affected all rates of criminal activity is the implementation of the three strikes law which made its appearance in 1993. The trouble is, though, that even with this three strikes policy in place, the bottoming out of burglary statistics did not occur until many years later so it seems that this is not a likely scenario either.
There is a possibility that technological advances have played a large part in the reduction of the rates of burglary throughout the nation. As home security systems came on to the scene in 1969 they were unreliable and unaffordable; however, as time marched forward and more technological advances were made they became increasingly affordable and much more reliable. With time companies like ADT, Alarm Force, and CPI moved in bombarding the general public with scary statistics on the chances of their homes being broken in to while they were or were not there. As this type of propaganda increased and the American public were more willing to pay for these types of advances, they became a feature that was built in to the average American home. Certainly, before these large companies took over the market, there were alternatives to keeping the home secure; however, the cunning burglar is much less likely to be able to deter the alarm system with a nice piece of steak. With the advances that came with home security systems as well notification systems went from notifying neighbors with a shrill and annoying alarm, to directly notifying police who are able to respond to the situation in much less time than they previously could. Perhaps it is the very existence of these home security systems that deter burglars? Or perhaps it is the idea that burglars would be less likely to get away with their crime with the police en route as soon as the alarm sounds? As it happens, current data states that homes that do not have home security systems are 2.7 times more likely to be targeted by a burglar, unfortunately these statistics do not tell why burglars choose not to break in to these homes and sadly they are not likely to share their reasons with the general public.
Whatever the reason for the declining burglary statistics in the United States, law enforcement remain hopeful that it is a sign of things to come and seem happy that they can actually speak of a decline in criminal activity. The reality of the situation though is that the media influence on how we, as a society, view our city officials is perhaps one of the most likely culprits in this “decline” in criminal activity. When taking an overview of the entire situation, perhaps it is beneficial that we do not know the precise reason for the decline in criminal activity because were we to prove that it came from a lack of confidence in city officials crime rates would likely begin to creep upwards again. Maybe it is better for the criminal population to think that the implementation of the three strikes law is the reason for living in an era of lower crime rates, and perhaps it is a better thing for the public to believe that as well, but the chances of either happening are about as likely as the Earth grinding to a standstill.
No comments:
Post a Comment