Characteristics of property crimes: a case study approach

The common characteristics of all property crimes

Property crime can encompass aspects of burglary, theft, or motor vehicle theft and this also includes attempted as well as completed crimes. In accordance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2010), property crime comprises of the wrongdoings of motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft, burglary, as well as, arson. In particular, the object of the theft-kind transgressions encompasses the taking of money or property, however with the lack of force or threat of force against the victims. Imperatively, the property crime classification takes into account arson for the reason that the offense consists of the destruction of property. Nonetheless, arson victims may be subjected to force. There are two crime measures in the United States with regard to crimes against property. One is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) by the Bureau of Justice Standards (BJS), which encompasses reported and unreported crime from the perspective of the victim. Secondly, there is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which encompasses crimes that are reported by law enforcement (Bureau of Justice Standards, 2017).

An examination of current trends in property crimes

In accordance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2010), in the 2010 fiscal year, there were an approximated 9,082,887 property crime transgressions in the United States. In particular, the 2-year trend gave an indication that crimes against property decline 2.7% in the 2010 financial year in comparison to the preceding 2009 assessment. Moreover, the 5-year trend, making comparisons of the 2010 statistics to the ones for 2006, indicated that there was a 9.3% decline in crimes against property. In undertaking an overview of the trend within the nation, in 2010, the rate of crimes against property was approximated at 2,941.9 for every 100,000 inhabitants. This signified a 3.3% decline whilst making comparisons with the rate of the preceding 2009 fiscal year. In addition, the rate of property crime in 2010 was found to be 12.1% lower compared to the rate in 2006 and 19.6% lower than the rate in 2001 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010). Taking into consideration all property crimes, larceny-theft accounted for the majority of them representing 68.1%. Second in line was burglary, which accounted for 23.8% and lastly motor vehicle threat that accounted for 8.1%. In general, all these crimes against property gave rise to losses approximated at 15.7 billion dollars in the 2010 fiscal year (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010).

Lastly, another perceived recent trend is the increase in intellectual property crimes. This varies from the theft of trade secrets to forged medication as well as automobile parts. The trend encompasses transgressors making use of the internet to perpetrate these particular crimes, which can cause a threat to national security and at the same time place consumers at risk. Moreover, the augmentation of the crimes against intellectual property have been instigated by the emergence of e-commerce as well as the globalization of commerce. This is owing to the fact that it significantly altered the manner in which counterfeit products and goods reach consumers. In the contemporary, the FBI works in tandem with its different partners in law enforcement together with the private sector to deal with and percent crimes against intellectual property (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2016).

Police tactics to fight property crimes

Property crime has been a largely sustained crime issue in the United States for a minimum of 10 years. As a result, police employ different tactics and instigate various initiatives that will facilitate them to focus their resources to diminish the incidence of property crime, which encompasses theft of vehicles, burglary and larceny. These tactics not only aid in curbing the criminals but also in the prevention and level of accountability with regards to crimes against property. Law enforcement agencies carry out a wide range of approaches and techniques to combat crime and make certain that there is public safety. In particular, the policing strategies propagate beyond customary models of answering calls for service and more often than not attempt to augment crime prevention, intervention, and efficaciousness in response through techniques like community outreach, effective distribution of resources, crime charting, crime data gathering as well as locating suspects (Crime Solutions, 2017). There are different policing strategies employed in fighting crimes against property. One of the key tactics is the use of DNA to combat property crime. In accordance to Blozis (2012), law enforcement forensically investigates all pertinent crime scenes regarding property crimes and submit the convalesced DNA evidence to the lab on an everyday basis. Programs such as the Biotracks program have proven to be a major success. In particular over 3,000 crime scenes have been easily processed and in which more than 6,000 items of DNA-associated evidence were recovered. This has given rise to several case-to-offender matches involving numerous offenders, and these figures are anticipated to dramatically increase in the course of time (Blozis, 2012).

In addition, police officers will employ standard community policing tactics for instance street contacts as well as talking with individuals in areas of high property crimes, also known as hot spots, to curb the endeavors of property criminals. Distinctive data and information from crime examination together with police detective will assist police officers lay emphasis on criminals in an expanse or region of high crime density. There is also the approach of utilizing crime prevention services. In particular, crime prevention services are employed to make it significantly harder for criminals to be able to break into homes and cars of people, and also steal their property. What police officers undertake is working in tandem with neighborhoods that are facing high magnitudes of property crime. This takes into account property crime prevention officers sharing information purposed to decrease residents' risk of being victimized and will try to find those crimes that have went on devoid of being reported. As a result, this makes it possible to have a better understanding of the true nature and character of crimes in a particular neighborhood. Most of all police officers also hold the offenders that are most active in the community accountable by means of efficacious case follow-ups, trials, and imprisonments. Imperatively, having coordinated police investigations, forensics, as well as evidence gathering activities substantially enhances the police officers' capacity to tie cases together with the most fitting evidence accessible (Eugene Police Department, 2009).

A critical analysis of excluding force and including arson in property crime definitions

Through the exclusion of force, property crime can be defined as the fraudulent and stealthy crime against property. This encompasses the lack of physical force against an individual or entity to take their property. It takes into account the use of deception to steal property and instances consist of tax evasion and embezzlement. In can also be delineated as nonconsensual, non-violent, and non-fraudulent theft of property at the time when the owner is efficaciously not present. This can include instances of auto theft or burglary. On the other hand, the inclusion of arson then crime against property can be defined as destructive property crime as this encompasses the illegal damaging or destruction of property and the fitting examples include vandalism and arson (Wright and Jacques, 2009).

References

Blozis, J. (2012). Using DNA to Fight Property Crime. Evidence Technology Machine. Retrieved from: http://www.evidencemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1031

Bureau of Justice Standards. (2017). Crime Type. Retrieved from: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=3#summary

Crime Solutions. (2017). Law Enforcement: Policing Strategies. National Institute of Justice. Retrieved from: https://www.crimesolutions.gov/TopicDetails.aspx?ID=84

Eugene Police Department. (2009). Property Crime Initiative.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). Property Crime. Retrieved from: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/property-crime

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016). FBI, This Week: Intellectual Property Crimes Increase. Retrieved from: https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/ftw-podcast-intellectual-property-crimes-increase-100616.mp3/view

Wright, R., Jacques, S. (2009). Property Crime. Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0016.xml