Is anyone worrying about increasing crime in the coming months / years?

[Scallywag]

Serious question. As rampant unemployment and runs on supplies & banks likely start, are you worried about becoming a victim of crime? Aside from arming ourselves, how can we protect ourselves?

[disneysteve]

No, I'm not worried. I'll take all the usual precautions but I don't expect to do anything differently.

[bjl584]

I expect an uptick in break ins and theft.
I am worried about my cabin that is 2 hours from home.
Luckily I have a neighbor who is a permanent resident, but it is still unnerving.

Not too worried about home.

[rennigade]

We're not worried. We always said it would suck to get robbed, but as long as we're not in the house or our dog, we dont really care. We have insurance, and we'd be more than happy to use it.

Now, if we're home and someone breaks in, ill be glad to exercise my right and let the burglar win the room temperature challenge, lol. (definition from urban dictionary = When a person is killed its body temperature lowers to that of the room it's in.)

[Fishindude77]

So far, so good. If the lockdown continues for another couple months, I could see these type of problems escalating.

[~bs]

already happening. gun purchases going through the roof. Plenty of chronics still need their fix with no easy plentiful tourist targets.

[myrdale]

I heard a report that car thefts are up. They said they tend to occur at gas stations with the door left unlocked. They didn't say it but I would imagine these also included the key in the ignition. While I am not paranoid, I do support the view of the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket who accused the recruit of supporting thieves because he didn't have his footlocker secure. If you're not in your car lock the door! If you're not at home, lock the door!

Though I own a small arsenal, and I have a concealed carry permit, I never carry, and very rarely have my handgun in the truck. It helps that I am 6'3" and 230, but I've never felt a need to carry for my own personal protection.

As for home robberies, I believe this mostly occur when you're not at home.

Keep your blinds closed when you're not home. Don't leave expensive things just lying around.

I did pull up to the house one day and found my neighbor's(across the street) teenage daughter and her two male friends with their hands and faced up against the window on my garage door looking in. What are they expecting to find in there? A lawn mower? (or possibly to see if my truck is in the garage). But if they looked in the living room window and saw a lap top, camera, stacks of cash, etc they might have more motive to break in. I was polite but firm enough to let them know they didn't need to be looking in house.

A couple of months later I was leaving to go to the store. The neighbor's daughter had a house party going on. My paranoia told me to set up a camcorder to monitor my drive way through the blinds. Upon returning and reviewing the footage, what would you know! As soon as my truck pulled out of frame and went around the corner, two guys came across the street and wondered up in my yard. They didn't mess with anything but it was weird.

This past fall, I caught a guy climbing over the fence into my back yard with a back pack. I confronted him and he claimed he was looking for a lost dog. I was not so polite and I chased him off. Later that afternoon I returned home and the idiot had pulled his truck into my driveway. This time I got photos of him and his car tag. I reported him to the police, but it was useless as they had to see him on my property before they would do anything.

Don't tell people, even friends when you're going to be out of town. My uncles house got broken into and about $10,000 in firearms were stolen from an OPEN gun safe. They never proved it but they think it was a guy my cousin knew.

A gun safe is one item I am lacking.

Thieves are looking for opportunity. In and out. Every second they have to screw with a locked door or window is another second they are exposed. If you flaunt cash around it makes you a target. It is all about perception.

[Scallywag]

Waving cash around is DUH. As hunger hits i am even afraid of being spotted unloading a full trunk of groceries. My neighbor told me that an apparently homeless-looking stranger had confronted his sister in the parking lot of a grocery store last week as she was loading her car with groceries, and helped himself to milk, a loaf of bread and a bunch of bananas. She was too scared to fight him off and ironically he said "THANK YOU" as he walked away with her stuff. Makes me worried that as families starve, people may take to desperate measures to feed themselves (and especially their hungry children).

[ua_guy]

We follow good practices around our place and I'm generally alert and thinking when in public, so that stuff isn't changing. Having been a first responder in a previous life definitely changes habits.

I've been curious if at-home burglaries are on the rise, forced-entry kind of stuff while people are inside. I do think there will be an increase in violent/desperate people especially those who have a habit to feed. Either way, we're prepared, but would like to avoid any kind of confrontation in my own home if possible.

[cypher1]

My neighborhood is pretty quiet where I'm renting from, but I'm more paranoid having grown up in the twin cities than the suburbs. If things do get worse for unemployment, poverty, and crime increases, I could defintely see more confrontations with break ins while people are more likely to be at home. Personally I'm not too concerned, but doesn't mean we shouldn't be extra cautious. Now if I had a small business that was closed right now, i'm be more worried about others breaking in.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I live in one of the supposedly highest crime cities in the country. For the past several months I have been checking on the publicly available calls to the police (911 and non-emergency) at least twice a day. Here is what is current, between the hours 13:40 and 15:17 on a warm spring afternoon. What I think I do see is the increase in calls for domestic violence that some people were predicting. I think that will continue and worsen.

			Suspicious Person/Drugs
			Suspicious Person (Specify)
			Auto Theft
			Information on a Disturbance
			Call for Police - Calling for Help
			Domestic Disturbance
			Domestic Disturbance
			Disturbance
			Domestic Disturbance
			Missing Person
			Assault
			Domestic Disturbance

[kork13]

I live in one of the supposedly highest crime cities in the country. For the past several months I have been checking on the publicly available calls to the police (911 and non-emergency) at least twice a day. Here is what is current, between the hours 13:40 and 15:17 on a warm spring afternoon. What I think I do see is the increase in calls for domestic violence that some people were predicting. I think that will continue and worsen.

That may be an unfortunate byproduct of everyone staying cooped up with little-to-no external interaction. Heck, DW & I ourselves have been increasingly short-tempered with eachother as all this has gone on (the 2-/4-y/o boys probably don't help our stress levels)... But when you put people in a small box (or even your whole house), it's only natural for there to be an increase in inter-personal tension. For some, that's likely to start manifesting in abusive ways.....

[Captain Save]

While I'm not a big fan of all this free money .... the govt is handing out .. I think the best argument for it .. is to maintain order and control chaos.

[~bs]

I heard a report that car thefts are up. They said they tend to occur at gas stations with the door left unlocked. They didn't say it but I would imagine these also included the key in the ignition. While I am not paranoid, I do support the view of the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket who accused the recruit of supporting thieves because he didn't have his footlocker secure. If you're not in your car lock the door! If you're not at home, lock the door!

Though I own a small arsenal, and I have a concealed carry permit, I never carry, and very rarely have my handgun in the truck. It helps that I am 6'3" and 230, but I've never felt a need to carry for my own personal protection.

As for home robberies, I believe this mostly occur when you're not at home.

Keep your blinds closed when you're not home. Don't leave expensive things just lying around.

I did pull up to the house one day and found my neighbor's(across the street) teenage daughter and her two male friends with their hands and faced up against the window on my garage door looking in. What are they expecting to find in there? A lawn mower? (or possibly to see if my truck is in the garage). But if they looked in the living room window and saw a lap top, camera, stacks of cash, etc they might have more motive to break in. I was polite but firm enough to let them know they didn't need to be looking in house.

A couple of months later I was leaving to go to the store. The neighbor's daughter had a house party going on. My paranoia told me to set up a camcorder to monitor my drive way through the blinds. Upon returning and reviewing the footage, what would you know! As soon as my truck pulled out of frame and went around the corner, two guys came across the street and wondered up in my yard. They didn't mess with anything but it was weird.

This past fall, I caught a guy climbing over the fence into my back yard with a back pack. I confronted him and he claimed he was looking for a lost dog. I was not so polite and I chased him off. Later that afternoon I returned home and the idiot had pulled his truck into my driveway. This time I got photos of him and his car tag. I reported him to the police, but it was useless as they had to see him on my property before they would do anything.

Don't tell people, even friends when you're going to be out of town. My uncles house got broken into and about $10,000 in firearms were stolen from an OPEN gun safe. They never proved it but they think it was a guy my cousin knew.

A gun safe is one item I am lacking.

Thieves are looking for opportunity. In and out. Every second they have to screw with a locked door or window is another second they are exposed. If you flaunt cash around it makes you a target. It is all about perception.

motion detecting camera and alarm system will help. its reall cheap. no need for low-tech solutions

[~bs]

While I'm not a big fan of all this free money .... the govt is handing out .. I think the best argument for it .. is to maintain order and control chaos.

bread and circuses. plenty handouts and online pron for everyone