1. 11
Crimes Against Property

2. Burglary UCR definition
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft
Residential burglaries do not involve direct confrontation between victim and offender but can cause fear with lasting effects
Commercial burglaries can affect the continued viability of the business

3. The Social Ecology of Burglary
Lifestyle and routine activities theories emphasize how criminal opportunity is affected by victims' and offenders' everyday activities/environments
Structure of social life affects ease/difficulty of carrying out inclination to offend

4. A Typology of Burglars Low-level burglars
Mainly juveniles, work with others, easily deterred
Rewards not significant, many desist as get older
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5. A Typology of Burglars Middle-range burglars High-level burglars
Older, vacillate between crime and legitimate activities
Less easily deterred
High-level burglars
Professionals, work in organized crews
Earn a good living from burglary

6. The Locales and Times of Burglary
Nighttime residential and daytime commercial burglary are considered the most serious
Burglary is a “cold crime” because there usually is little physical evidence to link the offender to the crime

7. The Motivation of Burglars
The most prevalent rationale is the need for fast cash
Selection of burglary as the “crime of choice”
Burglary is familiar, the “main line”
It is less risky than other offenses
The offender may not own the necessary equipment for robbery

8. Target Selection for Burglary
Commercial burglaries
Suitability
Retail establishments preferred
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9. Target Selection for Burglary
Residential burglaries
Key factors include knowledge of occupants, tips, observation of potential target
Other influential factors include signs of occupancy, security devices, dogs, access to area

10. The Costs of Burglary Most household burglaries involve economic loss
Stolen property/money
Time lost from work
Property crimes like burglary have a greater effect on the decision to move than violent crimes

11. The Burglary-Drug Connection
Increased demand for crack cocaine in the 1980s affected crime rates
Burglary rates decreased
Robbery rates increased
Crack trade created preference for cash-intensive crimes (robbery) over burglary
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12. The Burglary-Drug Connection
Shift in crimes consistent with view that property offenders tend to be generalists

13. The Sexualized Context of Burglar
Some burglaries have associated sexual dynamics
key types include fetishists and voyeurists
Some sexually motivated homicides begin as burglaries
Can be explained from the perspective of opportunity theory
Home-intrusion rape

14. Larceny-Theft UCR definition
the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession, or constructive possession, of another
Most frequently occurring property offense
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15. Larceny-Theft Does not involve force or other means of illegal entry
Generally less frightening than burglary
A crime of opportunity

16. Shoplifting and Employee Theft
Some retail theft is shoplifting, some committed by store employees
Most are short-term workers
Internal theft more serious than loss due to shoplifting
Technology is one of the best ways to address both types of theft
Crosses class lines, not committed primarily be women

17. Who Shoplifts? Juveniles overrepresented as shoplifters
More common in lower-income youths
Majority of juveniles admit to shoplifting at some point in their lifetime
Maturing out pattern?

18. Flash Mobs and Larceny Flash mobs
Purposeful crowds brought together at a moment's notice through use of social media web sites
Some involve organized criminal activity
Larcenies committed by flash mobs are considered multiple-offender crimes

19. Identity Theft
The misuse of another's personal information to commit fraud
Main types
Existing account fraud
thieves obtain information on open accounts
New account fraud
thieves use personal information to open new accounts in the victim's name
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20. Identity Theft Costs of identity theft Direct losses to victims
Indirect costs to businesses for fraud prevention and harm mitigation
Indirect costs to victims – civil litigation, obstacles in obtaining or retaining credit
Consumers' fears of victimization can also harm the digital economy
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21. Identity Theft
1998 Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act made identity theft a federal crime
2004 Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act

22. The Incidence of Identity Theft
BJS definition of identity theft
Unauthorized use/attempted use of existing credit cards
Unauthorized use/attempted use of other existing accounts
Misuse of personal information to obtain new accounts or loans, or to commit other crimes

23. Identity Thieves: Who They Are
Hard to classify identity thieves
Often have no prior criminal background, sometimes have preexisting relationship with victim
Increased involvement of foreign organized criminal groups in computer- or Internet-related schemes

24. Motor Vehicle Theft UCR definition
The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle
Automobiles are the most commonly-stolen type of vehicle
Car theft violates victim beyond financial loss
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25. Motor Vehicle Theft
Largest percentage of vehicles stolen from parking lot or garage
Most motor vehicle thefts reported to police

26. Theft of Car Parts Motivations
Car parts may be worth a lot
Can be sold easily
Harder to identify than entire cars
1984 Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act called for marking of cars' major sheet metal parts with VINs

27. Joyriders Car theft for fun
Opportunistic car theft committed for fun or thrills, usually by groups of teens
Expressive act with little or no extrinsic value
Most vehicles stolen by joyriders are recovered, usually found abandoned, often after having been crashed

28. Professional Car Theft
Less common as thefts for other uses
Professional auto thieves work in groups characterized by planning and calculation in target selection
Professional thefts have lowest recover rates

29. Arson UCR definition Majority of arrestees white males
The willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, of a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
Majority of arrestees white males
Motives vary from profit to thrill seeking

30. Fire Setters Majority of those involved in arson are juveniles
General groups of juvenile fire setters
Children under 7
start fires accidentally or out of curiosity
Children between 8-12
fire setting represents underlying psychosocial conflict
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31. Fire Setters General groups of juvenile fire setters
Children between 13-18
have history of fire setting, usually undetected

32. Persistent and Professional Thieves
Professional criminal
a criminal offender who makes a living from criminal pursuits, is recognized by other offenders as a professional, and engages in offending that is planned and calculated
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33. Persistent and Professional Thieves
Persistent thief
one who continues in common law property crimes despite no better than an ordinary level of success
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34. Persistent and Professional Thieves
Offense specialization
a preference for engaging in a certain type of offense to the exclusion of others
Cafeteria-style offending
the heterogeneous and unplanned nature of offending among gang members
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35. Persistent and Professional Thieves
Occasional offender
a criminal offender whose offending patterns are guided primarily by opportunity

36. The Criminal Careers of Property Offenders
Criminal behavior that is an integrated, dynamic structure of sequential unlawful acts that advances within a wider context of causal and correlative influences…
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37. The Criminal Careers of Property Offenders
Phases of criminal career in property crime
Break-in period
Stable period
Burnout phase

38. Property Offenders and Rational Choice
Rationality
activities identified by their impersonal, methodological, efficient, and logical components
Burglars employ a “limited, temporal rationality”

39. Receivers of Stolen Property
Basic elements
Buying and receiving
Stolen property
Knowing it to be stolen
Fence is least common method of disposing of stolen goods for most thieves
most common method used by professional burglars

40. The Role of Criminal Receivers
Professional receiver
Purchase stolen goods on regular basis for resale
May be generalist or specialist
Avocational receiver
buys stolen property part-time, secondary to but associated with primary business activity
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41. The Role of Criminal Receivers
Amateur receiver
otherwise honest people who buy stolen property on relatively small scale