In a recession, there is no question that Americans suffer multiple consequences both in their minds and in their pockets. Psychologically, it becomes extremely discouraging to stay worry free when all you hear about in the media is how thousands are loosing everything. Physically, it empties our pockets and therefore limits how far our money can go. The economic downturn increases pressure on all of us to get by, sometimes with the bare minimum. In a time of cutting costs, unemployment, higher mortgages, and a somewhat flawed banking system the burden truly takes its toll on our American way life. As a result, the reality of times is that while people’s hope goes down, the crime rate is going up. As unfortunate as it may be, recent reports have indicated that this year could be worse than usual, and that the spike of burglary increases c sagging breasts ould last much longer than usual due to the recession. During the holidays, especially the month of December, crime reports increase because this is the time when people tend to have more expensive items in their homes, such as gifts purchased for others or gifts received from others allowing burglars to take notice of worthy prizes. Even though a rise in crime is common during these festive periods of the year, reports are now indicating a constant growth of burglaries for 2009. It seems to be a common trend during recessions and this one is no exception. During previous recessions of the 1980s and early 1990s burglary rates continually increased and only dropped once the economy became stable. It is estimated that burglaries went up around 7 percent by the end of 2008 and in 2009 the levels of burglaries could rise by another 2 percent.