text: This article reminds me of an old saying: There are Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.
  
  I just watched a news story on KTUU last night showing property crimes going UP through 2016. It was a study conducted in Anchorage and was accompanying a news story about a local business having been burglarized for the third time since it opened in middle 2016. 
  
  I've watched shoplifting explode at my work over the last year. We now have shoplifters openly taunting our employees as they walk out the door with a backpack full of stolen goods, knowing we aren't allowed to stop them or search them, even if someone saw them put items in their bag.
  
  As for such as car theft, up until late last year I'd never met anyone who'd had their car stolen. in the last 3 months, 2 car thefts happened to people I know, and the 2nd car was last seen headed out of Eagle River going north. Friends who have lived here over 50 years say they suspect a chopshop operating in the valley.
  
  The books ARE cooked, akstarzec.