Effect of Kennesaw law on burglaries

Posted by Tim Lambert on November 25, 1992
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John De Armond said:

Kennesaw is the city. Even though the law is symbolic, it served
its purpose. Burglaries dropped to zero the following year.
That’s ZERO. Nadda.

Gee, this story gets better every time it is told. Next time it is
repeated I suppose we will hear about how the the Kennesaw gun law
caused the rate to become negative.

Here are the actual numbers (from Sociology & Social Research v74:1 p51)

Kennesaw Burglaries 1976-1986
76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 48 85 86
41 21 22 35 35 54 35 35 29 32 70

The Kennesaw law was passed on March 15, 1982 and pretty clearly had
no effect on the burglary rate.

They have not stayed
at zero but considering that Kennesaw is part of Cherokee county,
the fastest growing county in the state, that it is part of metro
Atlanta, the crime capitol of the nation (well almost), and that
it is surrounded by counties where the crime rate has skyrocketed
with the population boom, I’d have to say Kennesaw did right well by
itself. My only regret is not having bought a house a couple of miles
to the north in Kennesaw.

Provide evidence that burglaries skyrocketed in neighbouring counties
and we will discuss it.

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Comments

  1. #1 MrMunk
    November 25, 2005

    Actually Kennesaw is not in Cherokee county. It is in Cobb county. I know this because I live in and have been involved in Cobb county for my entire 46 years on earth with the exception of a short period. TO say that the crime rate in neighboring counties skyrocketed in the 10 years after the Kennesaw law was passed would be subjective. However, the violent crime rate in two of the counties most watched by the GBI did double within 10 years. Don’t get me wrong I’m not for a law requiring gun ownership which I believe is more ridiculous than a law banning ownership. I own, have never even pointed my weapon at a civilian, but would do so and pull the trigger if presented with the opportunity to defend myself, a family member or friend and maybe even you. Crime statistics are available at http://www.state.ga.us/cjcc/crimestats/offense/INDEX%20CRIME%20RATES%20BY%20COUNTY.HTM indicating a doubling of violent crime in DeKalb and Fulton counties during the 10 year period post the Kennesaw law as compared to Cobb county in which Kennesaw is located. This, however, does not mean the law had any affect even though the crime rate did not increase or decrease in Cobb during the same period. Remember that these numbers are RATES, not incidents. So the number of crimes did go up in Cobb commensurate with the population growth. I believe a doubling of rate (quadrupling of incidents of commission) in the two cited counties would constitute skyrocketing.