Following up on our post Friday on how smartphone “kill switches” are likely causing a decline in cell phone theft nationwide, Decatur Police Sgt. Jennifer Ross sent in these relevant data points and observations recently compiled by DPD…
We have been awaiting cell phone “kill switches” hoping it will make a difference in the demand for stolen smart phones and subsequently impact the trend of robbery suspects targeting these phones. So far in 2014, we have had ten robberies reported with one later being unfounded. In four of the nine cases, suspects appeared to have been targeting cell phones and in two other cases cell phones were taken along with other items, so a total of six phones were stolen in robberies. Three of those were iPhones and three were other brands.
For 2012, in 6 out of 25 (24%) robberies, cell phones were targeted.
For 2013, in 19 out of 28 (68%) robberies, cell phones were targeted.
In studying the cases, we have found several pedestrian robberies involving cell phones were a crime of sought out opportunity. The would-be robber simply walks around looking for an unaware person using the phone or carrying the phone in their hand and waits for the right moment to grab it and run. Up until the moment they commit the crime, they blend in and hang out and wait for an opportunity. Sometimes the robbery goes unnoticed because people passing by think they are simply seeing teenagers hanging out or playing around.
The most important thing you can do to prevent being victimized is be aware. Be aware of someone watching you use your phone or following you. Also, remember that no item is worth your life. You never know what a suspect will do if challenged or how many friends the suspect has waiting in the area.
Fun with semantics.
Is “crime of sought out opportunity” a legal or law enforcement term? If not, it sounds a little criminal-centric. What may be an “opportunity” for a criminal is an “assault” for a victim.
Maybe it’s something like this.
Phone theft Crime of Opportunity – The thief wasn’t really thinking about stealing a phone, but, there it was so what the heck…I’ll just grab it.
Phone theft Crime of Sought Out Opportunity – The thief set out to look for victims not doing enough to protect their property. They had every intent of stealing phones that day.
Phone theft Crime of Passion – A pedestrian is almost struck by a car because the driver is checking her texts. Out of anger, the pedestrian snatches the phone and smashes it on the ground.
I like this 3rd definition but I might change it to “throws the phone at the woman in the older model Honda Accord station wagon who FLEW down Commerce this morning, almost smashing into me pulling out of CVS parking lot, mowing down a few pedestrians in the crosswalk and blowing through the yellow light at top speed.” But I digress from the topic at hand.
It’s awkward phrasing but I I think it’s accurate. It’s “sought out” because they are actively looking for victims. But it’s also a “crime of opportunity” because the victims provide that opportunity by making their phones easy to steal.
I guess. “Crime of Sought Out Opportunity” just has a benign, white collar crime ring to it. “Intentional assault” feels more like it. The victims could have been wearing the latest fad in sneakers–would that make the crime easy? Don’t get me wrong–I advise my young ‘uns to keep their (not i-Phone) cell phones out of sight. I just find the term “crime of sought out opportunity” to be a little too pleasant for what was probably a terrifying experience.
“benign, white collar crime ring to it.”
Interesting that you equate benign with white collar crime, while calling the loss of a cellphone by snatching a “terrifying experience.” Maybe it’s just me, but I’d much rather have my phone snatched than have my identity stolen or be scammed in an investment.
+1
I really think Decatur PD called it “sought out opportunity” to say ONLY that cell phone robbers are seeking opportunities for theft, not that that’s the whole story or that the victim’s perspective doesn’t matter. No need to overthink the semantics here.
Hmmm. I rate gun in front of face as scariest, then scammed out of money, then identity stolen. I’ve had the latter happen and I never felt physically threatened. It WAS a pain in the neck though. And I was lucky that it didn’t get too far before it was discovered and fixed.
From the police statement:
“The would-be robber simply walks around looking for an unaware person using the phone or carrying the phone in their hand and waits for the right moment to grab it and run.”
I was talking about this kind of theft, not anything involving a gun.
I too often forget that before there were cellphones I actually had to WAIT until I could get inside a building or a closed phone booth to communicate.
WAIT? How could anyone possibly do that?
You guys going to do a full “grumpy old man” bit for us? “In my day, we didn’t have no [insert modern convenience here] . . . ! And we liked it!”
Are they talking about armed robberies, or snatch and grab type activities? They reference both which have different connotations to me in terms of seriousness. There’s a lot going on in the blurb above