A new study finds most Americans perceive crime to be on the rise.   This perception is despite reports from the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics on criminal activity in 2008 and 2009.

Much speculation can be done to try and understand the divergent views between people’s perception and the law enforcement agencies’ statistics.  Many simply chalking it up to a general feeling of insecurity due to current economic trends.

What do you think causes this difference?

It’s been interesting for us to see the number of Sonitrol Pacific detections that lead to apprehensions go up each year  (see our 2010 and 2009 records for details on specific incidents).  In 2009, the number of suspects arrested after one of our security systems detected the threat increased 12 percent over our 2008 total.  In 2008, we increased 33 percent over the 2007 number.  These increases came at the same time the FBI’s UCR found crime was on the decline.