McClatchy, looking ahead as always, susses out the potential for a spike in crime due to the recession. It's an equation that has two parts: it's tougher to make a living, so more people have the motivation to turn to crime, and it's tougher for the government to keep law enforcement fully funded with dwindling revenues, so there are fewer police officers on the streets. Check out the handy chart from the news org's survey.The piece itself points out two interesting dynamics: One is that as an informal measure of recessions, any time you have police departments facing cuts you can say that things have gotten pretty bad since that's the last place most politicians want to make large cuts. Second is that most of the people who might turn to crime aren't people who lose their jobs but are young men who can't find good jobs to begin with. The article notes that the stimulus legislation includes several billion dollars to help keep cops on the beat and that its job creation tools might help alleviate the demand side of the crime equation. It's just one more reason that the package was a good idea.-- Tim Fernholz
