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Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:00 AM

File photo/The Ottawa Herald


Vandalism and graffiti are crimes that recently have escalated in the Ottawa area, local law enforcement officials say. Earlier this year, a series of markings, like the one pictured above, were seen around town. Any suspicious behavior should be reported to the Ottawa Police Department, Lt. Adam Weingartner said.

Economic squeeze fuels crime increase

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

Crime goes up when the economy gets bad, Sheriff Craig Davis says.

Which explains why Davis, with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, isn’t surprised by the number of residential rural burglaries in recent months.

“Our residential rural burglaries and thefts are up dramatically,” he said.

Davis said he attributes some of this increase to the economy — people are looking for quick cash.

“There is a slight increase in reported crime,” Lt. Adam Weingartner, with the Ottawa Police Department, said.

Weingartner said some crimes, like thefts are up substantially — 334 so far this year compared to 284 all of last year.

“The major ones that people probably see are burglaries, thefts and criminal damage to property,” he said. “Everything is the same.”

Weingartner said so far this year there have been 199 reports of criminal damage to property, while there were only 134 all of last year.

“Ottawa is not unlike other communities,” Weingartner said. “Over the last several years, we’ve seen double-digit reductions in crime, but this year, like other places, we’ve seen that change and go back up.”

Weingartner said the number of burglaries is down compared to previous years — 76 so far this year compared to 128 last year.

“Our burglaries are dramatically reduced compared to last year,” he said.

Despite the increase in some crimes, Weingartner said the numbers still are better than some past years.

“Those crime rates are still far below where they were even five years ago,” he said.

Because some crimes are up throughout the county, Davis said people should be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

“I really don’t feel that the economy has impacted us crime-wise as much as the counties around us,” Davis said. “We just encourage the public to give us a call when they see something suspicious.”

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