DENVER—Property crimes are down across the metro area, bucking the historical trend of people turning to crime during hard times—for now.
Between 1979 and 1981 when wages dropped 20 percent, reported property crimes nationwide and in Colorado increased 18 percent. Now, despite the country moving into a deep recession, property crimes in Denver dropped 10 percent last year.
In neighboring Aurora, property crimes dropped 12 percent over the past six months, while in Lakewood, thefts increased 8 percent but vehicle thefts dropped 22 percent last year.
Auto thefts in Thornton dropped 36 percent last year.
Statewide totals won’t be available for two months.
Criminologist Jeff London of Metropolitan State College of Denver says it may be too early in the recession to see if the downward trend holds as job seekers turn to crime out of frustration. London said the most vulnerable are young, poor and uneducated men.
Plus it takes awhile for unemployment benefits to run out.
“People don’t become criminals overnight. It takes some time for the strain to hit them,” he said.
Law enforcement officials credit crime prevention initiatives and tougher sentencing for the decrease in crime.
Denver for instance, is using DNA to help solve property crimes such as burglaries. DNA once was reserved for violent crimes such as rapes and homicides.
“If you take one prolific pattern criminal who can commit hundreds of offenses in a month off the street, it will have a dramatic impact,” Police Chief Gerry Whitman said.
Since 1985 when the Legislature doubled sentencing ranges, the incarceration rate has gone from fewer than 100 inmates per 100,000 Coloradans to more than 400 inmates per 100,000. That year Colorado had 3,586 prison inmates, compared with today’s more than 23,000.
“The net effect of stiffer sentencing provisions was a tremendous increase in incarceration rates,” said Ari Zavaras, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Not all metro-area cities experienced a drop in crime last year. Boulder’s crime rate was up last year when compared with 2007.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
