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What qualities define a good burglar?

Characteristics of the good burglar include technical competence, maintenance of personal integrity, specialization in burglary, financial success and the ability to avoid prison sentences. Grand larceny.

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Unit 2: Chapter 12 Criminology

Key Terms

Arson for profit

a. People looking to collect insurance money, but who are afraid or unable to set the fire themselves, hire professional arsonists. These professionals have acquired the skills to set fires, yet make cause seem accidental

Arson fraud

a. A business owner burns his or her property or hires someone to do it to escape financial problems

Booster box

a. Device with a false bottom that can be opened and shut by a professional shoplifter, lined with metal or some other substance to prevent security tags from setting off alarms placed over merchandise

Carjacking

a. Theft of a car by force or threat of force

Closure

a. A term used by Lemert to describe people from a middle class background who have little identification with a criminal subculture but cash bad checks because of a financial crisis that demands an immediate resolution

Confidence games

a. A swindle, usually involving a get-rich-quick scheme, often with illegal overtones so that the victim will be afraid or embarrassed to call the police

Constructive possession

a. In the crime of larceny, willingly giving up temporary physical possession of property but retaining legal ownership

Economic crime

a. An act in violation of the criminal law that is designed to bring financial gain to the offender

Embezzlement

a. A type of larceny that involves taking the possessions of another (fraudulent conversion) that have been placed in the thief’s lawful possession for safekeeping, such as a bank teller misappropriating deposits or a stockbroker making off with a customer’s account

False pretenses

a. Misrepresenting a fact in a way that causes a deceived victim to give money or property to the offender

Fence

a. A buyer and seller of stolen merchandise

Flash houses

a. Public meeting places in England, often Taverns that served as headquarters for gangs

Flashover

a. An effect in a fire when heat and gas at the ceiling of a room reach 2,000 degrees and clothes and furniture burst into flames, duplicating the effects of arsonists’ gasoline or explosives. It is possible that many suspected arsons are actually the result of flashover.

Good burglar

a. Professional burglars use this title to characterize colleagues who have distinguished themselves as burglars. Characteristics of the good burglar include technical competence, maintenance of personal integrity, specialization in burglary, financial success and the ability to avoid prison sentences

Grand larceny

a. Theft of money or property of substantial value, punished as a felony

Mark

a. The target of a con man or woman

Naive check forgers

a. Amateurs who cash bad checks because of some financial crisis but have little identification with a criminal subculture

Occasional criminals

a. Offenders who do not define themselves by a criminal role or view themselves as committed career criminals

Petit (Petty) larceny

a. Theft of a small amount of money or property punished as a misdemeanor

Pigeon drop

a. A con game in which a package or wallet containing money is “found” by a con man or woman, and the victims are bilked out of money they are asked to put up as collateral

Poachers

Thirteenth Century all the way to the Eighteenth Century when they were divided into three different groups of thieves. The three groups of the time were skilled thieves who would pickpocket and forge papers; smugglers who moved things like gems, gold and spices without paying taxes; and poachers who hunted game that belonged to others. The thieves of the Nineteenth century were characterized to mostly target trains or be safecrackers. The history of theft continues on through modern day times.

Explain each of the following concepts of contemporary theft:

a. Occasional thieves

i. These are thieves who theft is not there profession. It is not something that they do all the time. This group includes school age offenders who are amateurs as well as thieves who get a regular income from a normal job and only commit the crime of theft at certain times. They are not living a criminal lifestyle and most consider criminals lifestyles to be out of the ordinary.

b. Professional thieves

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i. These are thieves that make most of their income from theft. They do not make it from a normal job. These thieves are actively in a criminal lifestyle. They look at theft as a job and pursue it by learning new ways to steal and learning tricks of the trade from older thieves. Most professional thieves do not commit the crime of theft by using weapons and force. They rely on skill and wits so they commit crimes like forging or being a con artist. They also have a certain front that they use in order to take things from people.

c. The fence

i. This is the group of thieves that buy and sell the stolen goods. They do not take the goods themselves but they participate by buying the goods from the theft and selling to others. These people must be able to buy and sell in cash and have it on hand at all times. They must also learn the job that they are in. This meaning that they learn what to buy and who to sell to. The fence must also be friends and make connections with those who he is buying from as well as with the buyers. The fence must also figure out how to deal with the cops who find out about the operation. These things must all be done to be a good fence and be successful in the business.

d. Professional cargo thieves

i. These are thieves that focus their operations on places where lots of cargo are coming in. This meaning places like airports and where trucks are coming and going. This also means docks where ships come into. These thieves usually have specialized plans and elaborate schemes in order to get the goods.

Explain each larceny/theft

a. Larceny today

i. Larceny is divided into two types of groups. They are petit larceny or grand larceny. Petit larceny is when a small amount of money is stolen or a small value property. These are punished as a misdemeanor. Grand larceny is when the merchandise that is stolen is of a high value or a large amount of money is stolen. The difference between the two is determined by each state.

b. Types of larceny

i. There are many different types of larceny. Most include small things that are taken and go unreported because it is not worth reporting. Larceny includes shoplifting, auto theft, credit theft, etc.

c. Shoplifting

i. Shoplifting is when a person picks up goods in a store while the shop keepers are not around or are occupied. The goods can include things like jewelry, clothing, shoes, etc. 20% of all larcenies a year shoplifting. Even though many are reported a lot of shoplifters are never reported or are never caught stealing the category of shoplifting there are two types: professionals and amateurs. The professionals commit this type of crime a lot and have a set and strategic plan of how to commit the crime, while amateurs do it for things they want or specific things they need and it is more of a spur of the moment decision. There are many things in place in order to try and deter people from shoplifting but at the same time the places of business have to be careful that they do not become to over cautious about protecting from shoplifters.

d. Bad checks

i. This is when a person tries to cash a check that is from an account that either does not exist or does not have enough money in it to meet the checks needs. Most people who do this come from the middle class that were not really involved in crime before. The reason for this is because they usually fall on hard financial times and need a way to get money quick. This is most of the people who try to pass bad checks. However there is a small group that are professionals and they make their income from passing bad checks.

e. Credit card theft

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i. This is when people steal others credit card numbers and account information in order for them to use the money on the card without paying back the debt. This also includes when people use fake identities to set up accounts with phony credits and background stories. They then use these accounts to the fullest without any debt accumulating around their real identity.

f. Auto theft

i. This like shoplifting is another common form of stealing. There are 700, incidents of auto theft a year. The auto thieves focus on stealing cars like Honda Accords and Civics and also Ford trucks. Auto thieves are divided into two tags showing the prices of the goods that they are stealing so that they know what are valued items and how much they can then resell them for also allows them to plan out their strategy during business hours which they would not be able to do at a house.

d. Careers burglary

i. There are some burglars that are able to perfect the trade so much that that is their way of income. They are able to steal well valued items and they have good contacts in order to resell the items that they steal. They have also learned how to evade being caught or arrested.

Explain the following concepts of the arson

a. Juvenile fire starter

i. These are children who start fires for many different reasons. Some of the children who are really young start fires because their guardians left matches and other flammable things out. Other children start fires because they are going through a tough emotional time. Some adolescents start fires with things just to be retaliate against others. The worst of these are the children who start fires that are obsessed with fire and are disturbed.

b. Professional arson

i. These are adults who are professionals at starting fires. They often start fires for a profit. They have perfected their methods of starting fires to the point that they can make it seem accidental.

Critical Thinking Questions

Differentiate between an occasional and a professional criminal. Which one would be more likely to resort to violence? Which one would be more easily deterred? a. Occasional criminals are those who commit crime infrequently and usually do it because they are in hard times or they are in a moment of passion. They would be more likely to resort to violence than a professional criminal. I also believe that they would be more easily deterred because they do not live in a constant criminal lifestyle. On the other hand, professional criminals live in a criminal lifestyle all the time and consider it their profession or job. They do not resort to violence because they rely more on their skills and wits to commit crime. What crime occurs when a person who owns an antique store sells a client an “original” Tiffany lamp that the seller knows is a fake? Would it still be a crime if the person selling the lamp was not aware that it was a fake? As an antique dealer, should the seller have a duty to determine the authenticity of the products he or she sells? a. I believe that this crime is either forging or trying to sell under false pretenses. I think that it is a crime when the person themselves know that it is a fake and are selling it under a lie/ false pretense that it is the real or original thing. I do not think that it is a crime if a person who does not truly know that it is a fake tries to sell the good. The dealer themselves should have a way to determine if the goods that they are buying are actually the originals or a fake.

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