Paul J. Adam wrote:
In message , Jake
McGuire writes

It's entirely analagous to dissuading home-invasion robberies (hot
robberies) in favor of breaking in while the occupants are at work,
which I'd think that most people are in favor of.


But again, UK burglars tend to avoid occupied homes as well.



Acording to a January '03 article on the BBC news site, 53% of
burglaries in England take place WHILE THE OWNERS/OCCUPANTS WERE
PRESENT. It doesn't sound like they are going out of their way
to avoid occupied homes. The corresponding number for the US,
cited in the same article, was 13%- approximately one fourth
of the English rate. Given that the overall burglary rate is
about twice that of the US, an English homeowner is about 8
times more likely to confront a burglar than an American. I must
note that 53% seems to be about the highest number listed for English
occupied burglaries- the other articles generally listed a not
very reassuring number of just over 50%...

A google search on burglary rates, US and UK brought up several
articles on comparative crime rates- the US has lower rates of
car theft, burglaries, assaults (muggings, etc.) than the UK- in
fact, with the (significant) exceptions of murder and rape, England
has much higher rates of all forms of violent crime than the United
States.

Mike