Stealing

In an nice example of computer-assisted reporting, Patrick Lakamp of The Buffalo News looked at whether the city's police are successful at nabbing burglars. In "To Catch a Thief (or Not)," he concludes that Buffalo's residents have little chance of getting their possessions back if they're swiped. Lakamp shows that the local cops made arrests or sought warrants in only 14 percent of the 1,774 home burglaries reported during the first seven months of 2005, lower than the rate for nearby towns. I like how Lakamp gives us examples from people's lives, reasons why the police have such a hard time catching the burglars, and interesting highlights of the data (for instance, modest homes are the most likely to be burglarized).
buffalonews.com/editorial/20060402/1033448.asp