NEWS 25 - WEHT: Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro-Economy vs. Burglary Rate: A Correlation?

Economy vs. Burglary Rate: A Correlation?

story by Jamie Rose

TRI-STATE - Numbers out show the number of burglaries in many large and small cities across the nation are down.

Some say the economy may be a factor, with more people out of work and staying at home.

NEWS 25 digs into the local numbers.

Most officers say during hard economic times, there are typically more break-ins, but recently that hasn't been the case in many cities. But we learn Evansville has actually seen a rise in burglaries.

Officer Chad Diedrich with crime prevention for the Evansville Police Department says burglary numbers are slightly higher in Evansville.

"With the economy the way it was that we would experience a little more crime," says Officer Diedrich.

Diedrich says in his South Sector, he saw a jump in garage and yard barn break-ins recently, but after notifying residents, those numbers are back down.

Diedrich tells NEWS 25, "Neighborhood associations are very strong... so they can get the word out word of mouth is great... as well as we use crime alerts."

Diedrich says his sector officers go door to door.

"Gets people aware there is a problem," says Diedrich.

But other counties NEWS 25 checks in with are reporting a decrease in burglaries.

In Henderson both residential and non-residential burglaries are down by over thirty percent. Burglary reports are also down in Gibson and Warrick counties.

Warrick County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Brett Kruse says, "They run a cycle, you catch them and they stop for awhile and then they'll start up again."

Kruse says a few suspects have been arrested for a large number of break-ins; therefore, that could be a large reason why numbers are down.

"Possibly because the people that do the burglaries are locked up in jail, have been caught," explains Kruse.

And people staying at home is giving burglars one more reason to stay away.

"A lot of people now work from home, they have jobs where they are on the computer, and they work out of their house," says Kruse.