Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Burglar King!

Hey kids!
What is the deal with the amount of burgling that goes on in the United States of America?

The United Nations Survey of Crime Trends (year 2000) compiled a listing of the Top Ten Burglarized Nations.
The results are sort of.... ominous.
Apparently, the United States is not only the birthplace of the fast-food industry, it is also, undisputedly, The Burglar King!

Here is the List, the corresponding number being the number of reported burglaries for the year 2000.

1. United States 2,099,700
2. United Kingdom 836,027
3. Australia 436,865
4. South Africa 394,557
5. France 370,993
6. Poland 364,786
7. Japan 296,486
8. Canada 293,416
9. Mexico 139,679
10. India 111,296

Is it just that the American people have better stuff to steal? (This is entirely possible).
Is it just that the U.S. is the third most populous nation in the world? Ah, but before we argue along these lines (of population) we need to note that India, with its one BILLION people has nearly twenty times fewer break-ins than the U.S.
And what’s goin’ on down under mates? Crikey! Australia? A nation of 20 million is THIRD?
And while we’re at it.... where’s China? A nation of 1.25 billion inhabitants is not even on the list at all.

So, I did a bit of research on the overall North American situation, as based on this chart.
I found that the U.S. population on April 1st of the year 2000 was 281,421,906. At the same time, the population of Canada was very close to 31,000,000.
So, some quick work on the ol’ calculator reveals the following per capita ratios:

Canada. One burglary for every 106 people.
United States. One burglary for every 134 people.

In other words, there is not really that much difference in burglary rate between these two North American neighbors. Both statistics are less than reassuring though. My question is this:
What’s next?
DRIVE-THRU Burglaries? To sort of... speed things up?

“Hello, and welcome to Burglar King. Can I take your order?”

“No! But I’ll certainly take yours if you just turn your back for a minute, or leave your patio door unlatched tonight!”

1 comment:

Cipriano said...

I am trying to train my cat to meow more.... fiercely!
Plus, there are a squadron of really disgruntled Attack Pigeons on the balcony!
All in all, I'm as secure as Fort Knox over here!