Police: property crime increases not necessarily related to economy

Although the economy has taken a dive, local police aren’t seeing a spike in property crimes as a result.

A common theory says crimes such as burglaries and thefts often increase in a declining economy. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in central and western Kane County, police officials said.

Data for reported burglaries and thefts in the area shows there is no consistent, significant increase directly related to the slumping economy.

Numbers not surprising

Fred Markowitz, professor of sociology and criminology at Northern Illinois University, said he’s not surprised by those figures, and there are several reasons why the theory of rising crime in a recession gets debunked.

One reason could be that the economy doesn’t affect routine offenders, Markowitz said.

“The people most inclined to committing crimes are repeat offenders,” he said. “These are the type of people who are generally underemployed or unemployed so they’re not subject to the market forces.”

Another possibility is that the recession causes people to stay at home, taking the opportunity away from crimes of opportunity, Markowitz said.

“When the economy takes a downturn,” he said, “people don’t travel as much, there’s not as much night life. People are home more thus leaving property and houses guarded or attended. Bad guys like a nice, empty house.”

Plus, Markowitz said, there are many other factors related to crime rates, other than the economy.

But, Markowitz wonders if the economy’s affect on crime hasn’t been fully realized yet.

“If the economy doesn’t get better over the long term, then I’ll be concerned,” he said. “Time will tell, but it doesn’t seem to be having the dramatic effect that one anticipates.”

Other effects of the economy

While there might not be a rash of property crimes, police have noticed other effects of the economy.

Sheriff’s police Lt. Pat Gengler said he hasn’t noticed significant increases in burglaries and thefts in the unincorporated areas of the county and has actually seen construction theft decrease as building has slowed.

In the past couple years, areas of the county with a lot of new building would report missing tools and equipment from construction sites, he said. Copper piping was a common hot item, given the value of the material, Gengler added.

Now, that has slowed as there are fewer and fewer building projects.

Sugar Grove Detective John Sizer noted a recent incident in which a woman falsely reported she had been robbed in order to hide the fact she sold her engagement ring.

Danielle L. Hechenbach, 32, of Yorkville, is charged with filing a false police report and disorderly conduct as a result of the incident last April.

Police said Hechenbach reported a man impersonating a police officer pulled her over as she drove in Sugar Grove and robbed her. Later, police discovered she made up the story to cover up that she hawked her engagement ring, Sizer said.

Unlike that incident, it’s often hard to discover if economic woes are the motive for a crime, said Geneva police Cmdr. Julie Nash.

She said it’s hard to tell which thefts and burglaries are a result of someone feeling the effects of the recession.

“We can’t theorize because we don’t ask when they get arrested,” Nash said.

By the numbers

Batavia:
2007: 120 burglaries, 552 thefts
2008: 103 burglaries, 529 thefts
January through May 2009: 26 burglaries, 165 thefts

Geneva:
January through May 2007: 36 burglaries, 82 thefts
January through May 2008: 70 burglaries, 73 thefts
January through May 2009: 47 burglaries, 87 thefts

St. Charles:
January through first week in June 2007: 42 burglaries, 354 thefts
January through first week in June 2008: 35 burglaries, 356 thefts
January through first week in June 2009: 33 burglaries, 205 thefts

Elburn: (2007 numbers not available)
January through May 2008: 5 burglaries, 4 thefts
January through May 2009: 4 burglaries, 9 thefts

Sugar Grove:
January through May 2007: 6 burglaries, 20 thefts
January through May 2008: 3 burglaries, 38 thefts
January through May 2009: 1 burglary, 25 thefts