Sign of bad times?

Within the past two weeks I've witnessed and heard about more larceny in and around my hometown of Westland than normal. Up until the end of March, I had been working at Hobby Lobby, a home decor/craft retail store. About a week after I left, a man was dressed suspiciously and kept hanging around the office door. He handed the Co-Manager a note that read, "Give me all of your money, or I'll kill you." The Co-Manager laughed and said no. The thief then headed toward the exit and grabbed a tote bag and filled it with merchandise on his way out.

This week, a nearby hardware/hobby store had an unknown man run into the store, break open several glass cases containing parts for remote control cars, planes, etc. and flee from the store with those items as well as several RC cars.

I was also walking into Kroger and noticed two younger men, maybe in their late teens or early 20's walking out suspiciously. As soon as they passed me coming in they took off running and shortly after another accomplice ran after them. The Kroger employees started to point out the window and yell that they had taken something.

This same day, I was in Kmart and over the loud speaker an employee called for security to monitor a specific camera. I can only assume they were suspicious of a customer stealing.

Saturday night I was in Ann Arbor and as we were leaving, we had to go around a large police blockade full of flashing lights. I found out later a man had been stabbed.

I've never heard of and experienced so much crime in such a short amount of time. A friend of mine recently wrote on Facebook that her child support debit card was taken from her car. When she reported it, the officer said, "People are desperate."

Is the economy really that awful that people are resorting to crime? I used to hear of incidents like this once in a great while, but now they can't be ignored. Is crime increasing because of the economy? If it is, should I be fearing more for my safety? What can we do to turn things around and feel safe in the communities we live in?