SUMMER 2009 EDITION
COMMUNITY»
Minor crimes in Columbia rise as economy falters
Shalonda Farrow/MUJW
Maude Vintage has three security mirrors and a camera to help defray shoplifting from the store.
COLUMBIA — The number of crimes in Columbia hasn't changed significantly, but there has been a slight increase in larceny, which includes shoplifting, pocket picking, purse snatching, theft from buildings and theft of cars and bikes, police say.
A review of data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Statistical Analysis Center shows that Columbia has had 1,129 incidents of larceny from January to May this year, compared with 1,071 in the same time frame in 2008 and 900 in 2007.
“There are a lot of factors that initiate crime, but the economy is certainly one of them,” said Jessica Haden, public information officer for the Columbia Police Department.
MU Police Crime Prevention Officer Adam Duncan said that the economy plays a role in whether people abide by the law.
“Typically, what we’ve seen is whenever somebody gets hard up for money, it doesn’t affect their character; it makes them more of what they already were,” Duncan said. “So somebody who will steal whenever times are hard, they would have stolen before.”
He said he has seen a small change in the specifics of crimes.
“What we see is that a person who might have at first only stolen cash resorts to stealing an item that they would then resell,” Duncan said.
Police say they are seeing a drop in violent crime and a small increase in property theft.
Haden said many thefts were crimes of opportunity when an item was left unattended and in plain sight. She said people aren’t usually looking to steal a certain person’s laptop or wallet but are stealing items that are right at hand.
Haden said that earlier this year when gas prices went up, most stolen credit cards were used at gas stations.
As money gets tight, some attempt more small thefts at department and retail stores. Cat Edmonds, 21, of St. Peters is a psychology student at MU and has worked as a sales associate at J.C. Penney Co. for four years. She said she has noticed a rise in shoplifting attempts.
“This past year, I have seen more people being sketchy and have had to make numerous calls to the loss prevention, which is like store security,” Edmonds said. “And I have seen more cases of shoplifting, primarily in the kid's department and with purses.”
Edmonds said she watches customers with large purses because they can hide stolen items.
“(Sometimes) they buy the purse and put stuff in them, and the cashiers aren’t looking in the bag,” she said.
Haden said she has worked both with businesses that have been victimized and with offenders, which has given her insight into why people turn to theft.
“So I understand a little bit of the sociology behind stealing and how people legitimize that, but that does not make it OK,” she said.
Duncan said the economy is trying for some, but he said there are better ways to get help rather than resorting to stealing.
“What I have found is in addition to the moral hang-ups, is that it’s just not worth it,” Duncan said. “The consequences far outweigh any benefit that you might get.”