Wednesday June 10,2009
Crime doesn’t seem to be on the rise here in Elkhart County because of the soft economy.
Sheriff Mike Books told a group of Elkhart County leaders on Tuesday that “property crimes” might be up, at least to a degree. “People crimes,” though, seem to be down and the overall number of people in the county jail has held pretty steady through it all, typically ranging from 750 to 850.
Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, for his part, said he’s noticed no correlation between criminal activity and the weak economy.
Conventional wisdom holds that a down economy will prompt an increase in crime.
Books, however, noted that a strong economy will bring more people to Elkhart County, including ne’er-do-wells. A weak economy, meanwhile, will send others packing, including some who were probably up to no good anyway, Hill added.
The two officials were talking in Goshen Tuesday at the monthly gathering of the Elkhart County-Cities Forum.
Contact me at tvandenack@etruth.coma.