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Economic Impact on Crime
07/09/09 - 04:43 PM
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The economy may be forcing law enforcement in the panhandle to stretch its resources.  Two unusual murder suicides in the area have authorities wondering what could cause a person to snap. 

We’ve seen a murder suicide in Panama City Beach, double murder suicide in Washington County.  Five people are dead in a few days’ time.  Sheriff Bobby Haddock of Washington County believes that one of the contributing factors could have been money problems.  He says that it seems to be a contributing factor that can push a stressful situation over the edge.

The details of these and other cases in the area might suggest that money problems could be a common factor.  But statistics compiled by Bay County’s Sheriff Frank McKeithen show a different result.  He’s not seeing a big increase that can suggest that the economy is the reason it’s happening.

Even though a rise in crime can’t be proven, the sheriff does say that some divisions have seen increases in calls to service than in years past.

Sheriff McKeithen says that a lot of the factors in these types of cases have to do with pre-existing stresses and that money problems alone probably don’t tip a person off, but compounded all together could make a person crack.

Law enforcement in the area is gathering information now for a report that comes out in October.  By the end of the year we’ll be able to tell what crime trends do exist.