Crime in the News

• According to a Chicago Tribune article, Javier and Veronica Acevado were found dead early Sunday morning at their home. Police believe Acevado murdered his wife and then committed suicide. Veronica worked as a Chicago police officer prior to her death.

• Newsday reported that a man has been charged arson. David Oisecki was arrested on Saturday for setting fire to a multimillion dollar home in Westhampton Beach, New York. Police did not reveal if anyone was home at the time of the fire or Oisecki's motive for committing the crime. Osiecki will face third degree arson charges.

• Randy Serrano, an 18 year old man from Penndel, was arrested and thrown in jail for possession of marijuana according to the Bucks County Courier Times. Serrano has been sent to prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Crime Rate Survey Analysis

In this post, I wanted to present a survey that produced intriguing results. I feel that general crime statistics do not tell the full story of the effects crime has on people. This survey "Perceptions of Violent Crime in the U.S." was conducted by Gallup Politics in 2013 and it shows how people interpret local and national crime rate trends.

The survey found that most people generally say that violent crime had increased in the past year in the United States during the 16 year period this study focused on. However, when asked about crime in their locality fewer people said violent crime in their areas had gone up.

People who elected to participate in this survey did so by telephone. In all, 1,028 people were surveyed from all 50 states. Each person surveyed was at least 18 years old. The survey occurred from October 3rd to the October 6th 2013 and the survey matched national demographic factors such as gender, age, and race.

This survey likely reflects the opinions of the population it represents. In this case, the answers to the questions answers were simple and direct and the people administering the survey made an effort to people living in different areas that have different backgrounds to eliminate bias.


A couple questions asked in the survey were "Is there more crime in a U.S. than year ago or less" and "Is there more crime in your area than a year ago or less." The subjects could have responded by either saying there was more or less crime in the past year to either of these questions.

The results generated from this survey seem to be pretty useful. The responses to the questions agree with the purpose of the survey. The questions were understandable and painless for participants. Yet, a question that asked what influenced the decisions people made the most could have been helpful.

For the most part, the survey is credible. The surveyors were keen to reach out to different people of different backgrounds to obtain unprejudiced data. Nonetheless, there were not any questions that justified the responses as to why people thought crime rate had increased or decreased.

Chicago Police Department Stats Report

In my post, I intended to evaluate different crime trends in a large American city. In particular, I wanted to see how the weather influenced crime at different parts of the year and if violent crime has increased or decreased in recent years. I used data from the Chicago Police Department which contains records from previous years and different months as well.

I found my data by first searching "Chicago Crime Statistics" and one of the first results was the Chicago Police Department page. In order to access the information, simply click on the news tab at the top of the page and there is a drop down menu that has crime statistics listed under it.

Overall, all types of violent crime decreased from 2010-2013. As a whole crime decreased by 23% in those three years.

The amount of murders increased from 2010 to 2012 however in 2013 the number of murders went down drastically. Still, Chicago had more murders than any city in the U.S. in 2013.

In terms of credibility, the documentation of stats from each year make the website credible. However, it does not show how many instances each crime occurred on a monthly basis. This document helped me understand that more efforts have been made to curb violence and it has been effective. It answers questions regarding how often each crime generally occurs in Chicago on a yearly basis. A new question it raises is can this renewed effort to minimize crime be sustained over a long term period in Chicago and other cities.

Updated Crime Reports

• The New York Daily News reported that Zachary Adams appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to first degree murder charges. Adams is being tried for the kidnapping and murder of Holly Bobo who died three years ago. This article references a story from the Jackson Sun.

• According to a Cincinnati.com article, ex Covington finance director Bob Due is expected to change his plea and plead guilty. Due was charged with one count of embezzling over $100,000 and one count of theft exceeding $10,000. Due stole this money from people's tax payments.

• Shriya Patel has been convicted of intentionally setting a fire that killed her husband according to the Austin American-Statesman. Patel is originally from India and has been given a 20 year sentence with the possibility of parole after three years. After being released from prison, Patel will be deported.

LoJack Information

LoJack is a profitable company that aims to provide safety and protection for consumers after they have purchased their cars. 

This company has 600 employees; according to their income statement their annual gross revenue totaled 132.53 million and their gross profits amounted to 71.17 million. This information was reported in 2012.

Revenue streams for LoJack consist of Research Development, Selling General and Administrative, Non Recurring, and a Miscellaneous category. It lists DEI Holdings Incorporated as one of its main competitors.

Some of this company's leaders include Randy Ortiz (Chief Executive Officer $668K), Donald Peck (Chief Financial Officer $401K), Jose Miguel Oxholm (Senior VP $232K), and Kevin Mullins (VP $309K). 

I think this agency has potential to be credible they have made a name for themselves and they are generally one of the first companies people associate with tracking and recovering stolen vehicles. They would be likely to show how success rate in retrieving cars as is indicated on the website's home page.

LoJack may be biased in the statistics they display on their website. Nowadays, car or laptop theft is less prevalent; therefore, they might not mention how often people are affected.

The headquarters of LoJack is situated at 40 Pequot Way, Canton, MA. Customers can contact them by calling their hotline (1-800-456-5225) or by filing out an online form to reach a specific employee.

Recent Crime Occurrences

•      According to Fox Tampa Bay, Josh Hakken has been accused of pretending to be mentally ill. Hakken and his wife Sharyn allegedly kidnapped their children after losing a custody battle and sailed to Cuba. Both Josh and Sharyn are set to stand trial on June 16^th to face kidnapping charges.

•      Zachary Daniel Grissom has been arrested in connection to a triple arson case according toAccess North Georgia.com. Grissom set fire to a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, an abandoned home, and a dumpster outside of Chick-Fil-A. Each of these fires occurred on the morning of February 26^th no one was injured.

•      The New York Times reported that paralympian track athlete Oscar Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Steenkamp was shot and killed on Valentine’s Day last year.

Identity Theft Resource Center Background

The Identity Theft Resource Center is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to inform customers of the best course of action to prevent identity theft. This group does not have any members but its workers aid anyone that reach out to them for assistance.

According to the 990 form, the ITRC has two main sources of revenue: contributions/grants ($706,850) and program service income ($140,257). Its primary expenses are salaries and employee benefits ($433,830) and it lists a miscellaneous category accounting for $176,196. This information was reported in 2012.

The organization employs twelve people; Eva Velasquez, Rex Davis, and Karen Barney are key employees they hold the titles of CEO, Director of Operations, and Program Director respectively. The salaries of employees are not available.

I think the ITRC can be useful to some customers particularly those who do not have much knowledge with regards to identity theft. There could be a West Coast bias with this company since their headquarters are in San Diego. The website likely would not say what percent of their victims cases they have been successful in it merely states how many clients they have.

Trained counselors are situated at their San Diego command center and can be contacted at 1 (888)-400-5530 from 7:30 to 4:30 Monday to Friday Pacific time. Media inquiries can be directed to Media@idtheftcenter.org.