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Some potential reasons not mentioned in the article: Electronics have become cheaper. Cars are harder to steal. Criminals can commit crimes online instead. We
by logn 11y ago
Some potential reasons not mentioned in the article:
Electronics have become cheaper. Cars are harder to steal. Criminals can commit crimes online instead. We possess less objects as more things become digitized. Improved welfare programs. Improved forensic investigations.
- jedmeyers 11y agoCameras everywhere. Improved abilities to track illegal gains. See, mass surveillance works!
- sjwright 11y agoYou're spot on — our valuable items are becoming harder to steal and cheaper to purchase legally. Criminals used to make off with your TV, whereas any TV worth stealing today is just too delicate to move in a hurry. We don't tend to have expensive VCRs either. Remember when car stereos were stolen? Most modern cars have fully integrated head units and aftermarket alternatives are now niche and often worth very little. After that it was GPS units, but even they are now dirt cheap and not much of a theft target. Mobile phones used to be an easy score. Today they're trackable and lockable, making the more desirable models — particularly iPhones — worth almost nothing. Criminals know this, which is why iPhone thefts have plummeted.
- toong 11y agoIf I would be a car burglar today, airbags would be my target. A pricy item, easy to (re)sell (= DIY looking for replacement parts), not trackable (serial numbers?), probably easy/quick to strip from a car if you know what your doing ... Ebay even has a "Replacement Air Bag Buying Guide": http://www.ebay.com/gds/Replacement-Air-Bag-Buying-Guide-/10000000177633575/g.html http://www.ebay.com/gds/Replacement-Air-Bag-Buying-Guide-/10...
- raisedbyninjas 11y agoAccording to the recent bank thief AMA, robbing bank tellers is even faster and easier.
- dec0dedab0de 11y agoMobile phones used to be an easy score. Today they're trackable and lockable, making the more desirable models — particularly iPhones — worth almost nothing. Criminals know this, which is why iPhone thefts have plummeted. A friend recently had her phone stolen right out of her hand. They police were able to catch the kid fairly quickly, and return the phone. They said that they call it 'apple picking', and it is fairly common. I was surprised because smart phones are so easily tracked/locked.
- wernercd 11y agoCo-worker had his stolen from the gym. Reported it stolen - and thus it locked itself. Got contacted from guy in Russia who was PISSED that the phone he paid $$$ for was locked. Co-worker said "no way in hell am I going to unlock" phone. Got pictures of smashed iPhone. Granted, the "end user" got burnt, not the thief... but the end result is the stolen phone was worthless. Co-worker is out an uninsured, stolen iPhone... the purchaser is out a phone purchase on eBay (I presume).
- PeterisP 11y agoThe article explicitly focuses on the decline of violent crime. You can definitely argue that lower resale value of VCRs can cause a decrease in burglaries, however, it doesn't explain a similar decrease in the number of rapes.
- trusche 11y ago> Criminals can commit crimes online instead. Violent crime, not really, and that's what the article is mostly about. But you're right that the shift to online crime seems often to be missed or ignored. For example: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/05/crime-statistics-attacked-by-criminologist http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/05/crime-statistics-a...