Crime Terminology
Here¹s a summation of a number of conversations I¹ve had:
Crime Victim (CV): I¹ve been robbed!
Mark (M): Really? Tell me what happened.
CV: Well, I went to the store and someone came in through the garage and
robbed me. They took my laptop and some jewelry. In broad daylight!
M: Actually, you weren¹t robbed. You were burglarized.
CV: What? What difference does it make? Someone stole my stuff!
M: Okay, on that we can agree.
The reason I point this out is because for law enforcement, there is a
difference between Robbery, Home Invasion Robbery, Burglary, Trespass and
Theft. When you talk to law enforcement or call 911, the language you use
makes a difference. So, with that introduction out of the way, I¹m going to
give you the plain language definitions of each term.
Trespass is when someone enters physical property, not his or her own,
without permission. It could be a parking lot, a business, or somebody¹s
yard. If that person does not have permission to go there, or has not been
given implicit permission because of the type of business (a fast food
place, for example) the person is trespassing. If the person is told they
are trespassing and is asked to leave, if they refuse to leave, that person
can be arrested for trespassing.
Burglary is when someone enters physical property, not his or her own,
without permission, with the intent to commit a crime. The crime could be
to take belongings from the property (i.e. theft), or against a person
within the property (i.e. assault). This could be a residence (residential
burglary), a place of business (commercial burglary), a detached storage
shed or garage (kinda counts as residential), or even a public storage unit
or storage yard (kinda more commercial). It doesn¹t matter if force is used
to gain entry, if someone was home at the time (in the case of a residential
burglary) and it doesn¹t matter is something is stolen. The unlawful entry
of the property with intent to commit a crime is burglary. For the record,
most residential burglaries occur during the day, (when most folks are away
at work) and most commercial burglaries occur at night (when most workers
are at their residence).
Robbery is the physical taking of property from another individual by the
use of force or the implied use of force. An example would be a lady
walking down the street and someone comes up from behind, grabs her purse
off of her shoulder, and though the lady tries to hang on, the purse is
taken anyway; that is a strong-arm robbery, better known as a purse snatch.
Say a guy is walking down the street and another guy comes up to him and
says, ³give me your wallet,² while showing a knife or other weapon. That¹s
an armed robbery, whether the weapon was used or not. The physical taking
of another person¹s property through force - or implied use of force - is
robbery, whether a weapon is used or not. Use or implication of a weapon
just helps us categorize the ³type² of robbery.
Theft is when property is taken, period. Shoplift (taking something from a
store without paying for it), auto theft and auto accessory theft (car
stereo/CD player) are examples of theft. One form of theft frequently
happens when we go shopping and we leave our belongings (purse, backpack,
wallet) unattended. While we¹re busy looking on the bottom shelf for the
least expensive oatmeal, someone has taken the purse or backpack, or taken
something out of the purse or backpack (wallet, cell phone) without
permission, or knowledge, or direct threat or actual use of force. No one
implied a threat or used force to take it from you; no one entered your home
or place of business to get it; it was there and they took it. That¹s theft.
Home Invasion Robbery is a whole different kind of critter. A home invasion
robbery is when the perpetrators enter the home with the intent of finding
someone there. The perpetrators use weapons and (often) actual violence to
get the people in the home to give them money, jewelry and other belongings.
Household members in the home are often restrained, threatened and beaten,
and they are often told that if they report the crime to the police, they
will be killed. This is a scary type of occurrence. Thankfully, it is also
extremely rare, which is why it gets so much media attention when it
happens.
The term ³Home Invasion Robbery² is more of a media creation rather than an
actual crime, but the term has been widely adopted. If the perpetrators
unlawfully enter the property, the crime is primarily a burglary. However,
the introduction of guns or other dangerous weapons by the perpetrators, and
the threat or use of those weapons, allow the crime to be charged as both
burglary and robbery in many cases. If weapons are used, there is a weapons
enhancement added at sentencing (which means the suspects will do more time
if convicted), and a firearms enhancement if a gun was used an automatic
five year additional sentence if convicted.
So, when you call 911 to report a crime, or you talk to police officers
about a crime, be sure as to which crime you¹re talking about. If someone
entered your residence without your permission sometime over the weekend
while you were out of town, don¹t call in saying you had a Home Invasion
Burglary. No, you had a burglary. If someone takes a shopping bag from
your car while you were in The Mall doing some more shopping, don¹t call 911
to report you were robbed. No, you had a theft.
I hope this clears things up a bit.
Until next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!
Mark Solomon, South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator
