In a recent interview with Kitsap Sun reporter Brynn Grimley, Kitsap County Sheriff Steve Boyer had this to say about a recent string of North Kitsap burglaries.

“This is going to have a significant impact on the crime rate in the county,” Boyer said, implying with these people behind bars, there will be less major thefts going on.

The idea that in Kitsap County, population approximately quarter-of-a-million, would see an increase or decrease due to a few criminals on an burglary spree, is one I would question. But given that we’re talking more than 100 break ins and $250,000 worth of stolen stuff, I suppose Boyer may be on to something.

These thefts, after all, aren’t the only high profile crimes that have been hitting the pages of our paper.

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Here’s a startling new fact: more than 1 in every hundred adults in the U.S. is in jail or prison, or on parole, according to the Pew Center on the States.

Here’s another: the biggest bulge in the prison population in our nation’s history is currently starting to get out on parole.

And another: one of the largest baby booms since the original following World War II was in 1990, and those born in that year will be in “their high crime years,” according to Washington Post Columnist David S. Broder, which are the 18 to 25 year old demographic.

Add these too: a rising tide of gang activity, an Internet that has lots of criminal outlets, and increasing gun violence in big American cities.

All these factors and viola – a recipe for higher crime.

The question is: will all of that translate to the polls this fall?

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