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Two nights ago, my workshop got to chatting about the cost of theft and burglary. It goes beyond just the value of the stolen goods.
Hang with me here:
- File a claim, then your insurance company gets some.
- If something in your home got damaged, then the home improvement store gets some.
- If your home’s damaged enough, then maybe a contractor gets some.
- If you file a police report, that adds pressure to hire more cops (so the cops get some, too).
- If the cops find the perp, then the courts get some.
- If you sue to recover, then your lawyer gets some. Go back one space for a victory lap through the courts.
Everybody, it seems, has their hands in the victim’s pockets. So we asked, “What’s the incentive to stop crime?”
Not in a million years did anyone say that it’s no good — or not in our collective best interests — to let crime go unfettered. And none of us had any of the answers.
But there is a vicious irony at work because the only way you can minimize the damage is to let the guy get away with your shit. And that’s precisely what we don’t want.
True to form, though, that’s also precisely what’s happening.
Recent findings from Denver’s participation in the DNA Burglary Project show that a typical prolific burglar here in the Mile High City gets away with nearly 250 burglaries per year, despite the 15 percent drop in burglaries since the project began in 2005.
The study, though, attributes the overall drop to the collection of the bad guy’s DNA during investigation, which results in a conviction rate that’s five times higher than if DNA had not been collected. Jail sentences in cases where DNA was collected are twice as long, too.
Further, the number of full-time thieves seems to be fairly significant. In fact, one busted burglar copped to more than a thousand break-ins. After his arrest, burglaries in a single neighborhood dropped by 40 percent.
The trouble with all of this is that it’s hard to collect DNA from a crime scene when people — faced with the disincentives listed above — don’t bother to let the cops know in the first place.
And as long as the system is set up the way it is, I don’t see much changing anytime soon.
Thoughts?
Tags: cops, crime, denver, DNA Burglary Project
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