Steve Wilson

Hard times and an increase in property crimes seem to go hand in hand, according to law enforcement officials and researchers.

“Crime inches upward as the economy goes south,” Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said. “As people become unemployed, many times they will stoop to thefts and stealing to support their financial situations. It is a trend I’ve observed over the past 28 years locally.”

Bank robberies are rare in Chickamauga, Ga., but the first since April 2006 occurred Wednesday afternoon when a gunman robbed the Cohutta Bank branch directly across the road from City Hall.

“A man walked in, showed a teller he had a gun tucked in his waistband and demanded money,” Chickamauga Chief of Police Micheal Haney said.

The robber was still at large Friday evening, police said.

The city’s last armed robbery occurred earlier this year in a convenience store where Wilder, Five Points, Lee and Gordon Mill roads intersect with Crittendon Avenue — the same location as Wednesday’s bank robbery, he said.

Chief Haney said it is unfortunate but there does seem to be an increase in crimes such as robbery and theft during rough economic times.

Researchers also have found parallels between rising unemployment rates and crime rates in several studies.

“Crime Rate and Local Labor Market Opportunities in the United States,” a study published in 2001, showed that, over a 20-year period, for every 1 percentage point increase in unemployment there was a 2 percent increase in property crimes.

“Of course, I cannot tie this specific explanation to this specific bank robbery,” said Dr. David Mustard, a professor of economics at the University of Georgia and co-author of the study. “But in general, increases in unemployment and decreases in wages will increase property crimes.”

A report published by The Ohio State University found much of the increase in crime rates, excluding murder and rape, during the period from 1979 through 1997 was due to falling wages and rising unemployment among men without a post-high school education.

The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.0 percent in October, the highest rate in more than 16 years. Statewide, there has been a loss of 61,300 jobs, a 1.5 percent decrease, over the past year, officials said.

“Georgia’s economy is being slammed by a deteriorating job market,” State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said.