Robbery Chapter 10

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 OVERVIEW OF ROBBERY Robbery is among the leading criminal problems facing U.S. law enforcement today.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 OVERVIEW OF ROBBERY Crime index – A collection of statistics, reported in a calendar year, in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports on the number of: Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Larceny-theft Motor vehicle theft Arson Index offense – One of the eight crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson) that the FBI considers the most serious and that are combined to create the crime index.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Percentage Distribution of Index Crime Offenses Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crimes in the U.S.: USGPO, 2002, Figure 2.2.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Percentage of Crimes Cleared by Arrest, 2004 Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crimes in the U.S.: USGPO, 2004, Figure 3.1.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 OVERVIEW OF ROBBERY Robbery is not always confined to loss of money or property. Violence or the threat of violence often accompanies the commission of a robbery.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 LEGAL ELEMENTS OF ROBBERY Robbery – The unlawful taking or attempted taking of another’s personal property in his or her immediate possession and against his or her will by force or the threat of force. To legally qualify as robbery, the force must be more than merely enough to lift and remove the property; it must be sufficient to overcome even slight resistance.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 LEGAL ELEMENTS OF ROBBERY Fear must be present for a crime to be considered a robbery.  Fear of threatened injury to the victim, the victim’s property, or a relative of the Victim  Fear of immediate injury to the victim or the victim’s property or to anyone in the immediate company of the victim at the time of the offense State statutes precisely define the crime of robbery. Some states have only one degree of robbery; others have simple and aggravated categories.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 LEGAL ELEMENTS OF ROBBERY Generally, robbery is distinguished from theft or burglary in that robbery: Involves the wrongful taking of personal property. In the presence of or from the owner in control of the property. Against the person’s will, by force or threat of force, in the presence of fear.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 CATEGORIES OF ROBBERY Robberies can be divided into four broad categories, depending on the modous operandi of the perpetrator. 1.residential robberies 2.commercial robberies 3.street robberies 4.vehicle-driver robberies or carjackings

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Residential Robberies A robbery in which the target is a person in a private residence, hotel or motel room, trailer or mobile home, or other attached areas of a residence. In 2004 residential robberies represented 11.8 percent of all robberies reported in the UCR. Home invaders.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Commercial Robberies Robbery of a commercial location such as a bank, service station, restaurant, or other commercial enterprise. With the exceptions of banks, commercial robberies usually occur toward the end of the week and in the twilight to early-morning hours, from around 6:00 p.m. to around 4:00 a.m. Stores where visibility from the street or lighting conditions are poor make good targets for robbery. Similarly, businesses near on and off ramps of highways are likely targets.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Street Robberies Any of an assortment of robberies that occur in street settings. Street robberies, or muggings, are among the most common type of robbery. Purse snatchers Automatic-Teller Machine (ATM) Robberies

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Vehicle-Driver Robberies Robbery of an object of value in or attached to a vehicle or from the driver of the vehicle. Taxicab drivers and pizza delivery people are likely robbery targets. Drivers of personal cars are also potential victims of vehicle robberies. – Armored-Vehicle Robberies Generally well planned and organized and carried out by professional robbers. – Carjacking Robbery of a car with the driver and or occupants still in it.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 CLASSIFICATION OF ROBBERS Robbers can be classified by their techniques, their motives, and even their worldview or outlook on life. – Professional Robbers A person who has incorporated robbery into a lifestyle and who robs as a means of economic support. – Opportunistic Robbers A person who steals small amounts of property or cash whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 CLASSIFICATION OF ROBBERS Drug-Addicted Robbers – A person who robs others to sustain an addiction to some type of illegal drug. Alcoholic Robbers – A person who robs to sustain an addiction to alcohol or who attributes criminal actions to the influence of alcohol.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 INVESTIGATION OF ROBBERIES Robbery has a comparatively low rate of clearance by arrest. The UCR indicates that the 2004 clearance rate for robbery was just slightly above 26 percent nationally.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Response and Approach to the Robbery Scene The lag between a robbery’s commission and its being reported to the police, the response time of the police, and the number of personnel devoted to a particular robbery all affect the potential for successfully solving the crime. Response time – The lag time between a crime being reported and the arrival of police at the crime scene.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Response and Approach to the Robbery Scene An officer arriving on the scene of a robbery has three primary objectives: – public safety – officer protection – control over the crime scene Officers should proceed cautiously until the true situation is known and should avoid: – action stereotyping – physical stereotyping – situational stereotyping

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Stereotyping Action stereotyping – Misreading common or stereotypic behaviors and interactions of people at or near a crime scene who may actually be the offenders. Physical stereotyping – A misconception that a criminal is a certain type of person. Situational stereotyping – False or mistaken conclusions from the manifest appearance of certain situations.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Duties at the Scene The order of investigative activities in robbery cases is dictated by the facts of each situation. In all crimes, however, patrol officers typically are the first to arrive at the scene, and they have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities include: – apprehending the suspects, if possible – securing the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e- mail addresses of all witnesses and victims as soon as possible – safeguarding any evidence

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Duties at the Scene The first officers to arrive at the scene should conduct brief interviews with all parties concerned. Witnesses should be separated from each other to avoid contaminating one another’s stories. Investigating officers should transmit the initial broadcast data as quickly as possible.

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Duties at the Scene The information needed for the initial broadcast includes the following: – Type of robbery – Type of premises – Location of occurrence – Time of occurrence – Number of suspects – Direction suspects are believed to be heading – How suspects left the scene (on foot, by car, by bicycle) – Description of the escape vehicle – Type of weapon used, if any

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Witness Descriptions and Identification of the Suspect Identify Suspect Photo line-up – Sometimes referred to as a photo pack or photo array

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Preserving the Crime Scene The responsibility of the first responding officer who arrives at the scene. Robbers generally leave little physical evidence for the police to collect and use. However, in some cases investigators may find useful footprints, fingerprints, or discarded articles belonging to the robber, including: – cigarette butts – gum or gum wrappers – soft drink cups – clothing fibers – bullet casings

Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Surveillance Cameras and Robbery Investigations Hidden surveillance cameras have been used successfully in solving robberies in banks, large department stores, and even small convenience stores. Photographs of three fugitive bank robbers taken by hidden surveillance cameras.