According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1991 through the 2010 calendar year, crime is down in the United States. Nationwide, law enforcement made an estimated 13,120,947 arrests (except traffic violations) in 2010. This is not to say the number of crimes committed is minimal. There were a reported 9,082,887 property crimes. This 2010 statistic includes 2,159,878 for burglary, 6,185,867 for larceny-theft and 737,142 for motor vehicle theft. The estimated arrest rate for the United States in 2010 was 4,257.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. Of those, nearly 75 percent were males.
The FBI defines burglary as the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. To classify an offense as a burglary, the use of force to gain entry need not have occurred. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Program has three sub-classifications for burglary: forcible entry, unlawful entry where no force is used, and attempted forcible entry. A “structure” includes apartment, barn, house trailer or houseboat when used as a permanent dwelling, office, railroad car (but not automobile), stable, and vessel.
The FBI defines larceny-theft as the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Examples are thefts of bicycles, motor vehicle parts and accessories, shoplifting, pocket-picking, or the stealing of any property or article that is not taken by force and violence or by fraud. Attempted larcenies are included. Embezzlement, confidence games, forgery, check fraud, etc., is excluded.
The arrest rate for property crime (burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft) was 2,941.9 per 100,000 inhabitants for 2010. This number is almost half of the property crime for 1991. However, in 2010 approximately three percent of the population is involved in property crime. This is a large number is you consider all the other types of crime that can and cannot be categorized.
At the same time in 1991, there were fourteen States that would not issue a concealed weapon permit. There were nineteen may issue States and sixteen shall issue States. Many states have passed or eased up restrictions on their concealed weapons permit laws. In 2010, only Illinois and Wisconsin were no-issue States, with Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Vermont and with some restrictions Montana as unrestricted States. Wisconsin legal citizens with the proper paperwork can now carry concealed weapons. This means Illinois is the only no-issue State.
Wisconsin companies as well as those in the other States are trying to figure out how to restrict employees from bring their concealed weapon into the workplace. "Opt-Out" statutes ("gun-free zones") Remember: Going Postal.
The locksmith business appears to increase after significant criminal activity or when the population becomes fearful. Locksmithing overall sales have been on a downward trend. Yet the population grew from 252,153,092 in 1991 to 308,745,538 in 2010.
One opportunity for locksmiths is the increase in the number of safes being purchased, partially because of the fear and anger regarding the financial institutions. For those people who already have a safe, more frequent use makes a number of safe owners interested in upgrading to an electronic safe lock.
With the increase in the number of States offering concealed weapons permits, people also need a safe place to keep their weapons.
I’m not feeling any safer, are you?
What are you doing as a locksmith to increase the level of security in your home?
See Web Site: http://www.fbi.gov/
