Burglary Law

Burglary is defined as the act of unlawful entry into the domain or property of another individual or entity with the intent of illegal possession and theft. In the past four years Georgia's burglary index has been steadily climbing. Communities and the victims of the crimes have tried different ways to prevent this from happening. Many people have argued that previous Georgia laws on burglary were not strict. On July 1, 2012 Georgia passed a new law regarding burglary. The new bill is O.C.G.A. § 16-7-1 (2012) (Official Code of Georgia Annotated).

The new bill for Georgia regarding burglary now gives the opportunity for police officers to charge the person who has committed the crime with a first degree charge of burglary, and also with a second degree charge of burglary. This will create a stricter penalty if they are guilty of the crime. One difference between the old and new bill is that the new bill adds on the second degree charge. This means the suspect will also have to pay a fine and will have to serve jail time. Another difference is that the old law also stated that for a first degree crime the suspect would serve anywhere between 1-5 years in prison. The new law that was passed has created a steeper jail time resulting in 1-20 years in prison.

Communities will benefit from the new law because there will be less people worrying about being burglarized, and if their neighborhoods are safe. People who commit the crimes also argue that the new laws are stricter then they should be. The suspects often argue that it is their first offense and feel like they should get away with only a fine, or some type of probation.

I personally support this new law because I believe that in the past it cost police officers and victims more money to prevent burglaries. For instance police officers would have to patrol areas more often where burglaries happened. The new law creates a steeper charge and will hopefully deter people from committing