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find below tips on How to survive an Armed Robbery
Crime victims should beg for their lives and tell the
robbers to take everything, in which case their lives might be spared, an
academic has told a public lecture at the People were also advised to have a panic button in the bathroom, since most men were held in bathrooms while robbers went through the house.
This was the advice of Dr Rudolph Zinn, of Unisa's department of criminal and forensic investigations. This advice was based on interviews with 30 convicted house robbers in
"Don't speak to robbers"
According to the criminals who participated in the
study, victims' lives would be spared if they remained calm, didn't fight
back, kept their hands visible, maintained their original position and
only spoke when asked a question."However, if the victim doesn't play along and follow orders, they make it look like they are hiding lots of money in the house and the longer the robbers stay in the house, the greater the chance of a rape occurring.
"Give them what they want so they can disappear quickly," said Zinn. These criminals also felt that if they used more violence, they got more loot from their victims.
Respect
Zinn said the youngest hijacker he spoke to was 9 years old, and the youngest hijacker who had shot and killed his victim, was 13. "He said the victim had not respected him as a man."
Thirty-two percent of the respondents said they want no eye contact with victims, and expect victims to follow orders.
Furthermore, the study showed that between 53% and 79% of house robberies take place thanks to the insider-information they obtained (from, for instance, a domestic worker), and that 17% of security guards and 17% of police officers were involved in house robberies.
It also emerged that the robbers drove through neighbourhoods at night and by day, to observe the security measures in place, and whether it would be easy or difficult to get in and out at a possible target.
About cash and jewellery
Zinn said the criminals saw farm attacks as just another form of house robberies. "The police usually take longer to get there and these are easy targets."
"They also target [people of] any race, and studies have shown that former black neighbourhoods are hardest hit by crime."
"There are usually four criminals per house robbery, and eight per farm attack."
A total of 83% of house robberies are about getting cash and jewellery, and robbers spend their loot on luxuries like expensive clothes and fancy cars.
According to these criminals, it didn't matter how a home and family was secured - if robbers wanted to get in, they would.
This story was written by Virginia Keppler and
published on the News 24 Website on 03/09/2009
Inside The Mind of a Robber
- One in three house robbers have murdered and on average
they commit 104 crimes before the law finally catches up with them. And
with each crime perpetrated over an average period of seven-and-a-half
years, they become more and more violent.
- This is the disturbing profile of a convicted house
robber revealed in a study conducted by senior forensic investigation
lecturer at Unisa, Dr Rudolph Zinn. It was a research project that left
Zinn, an ex-police officer, shocked at how willing this category of
criminal was to resort to violence.
"They strike when their victims are still
awake"
- House robberies are on the increase; they have risen by
more than 13,5 percent in the last year, according to police.
- In total, almost 15 000 house robberies were committed
last year, half of them in
- Zinn found that most house robbers are aged between 19
and 26, but that their criminal careers, began when they were in their
teens.
- "I discovered that the youngest person committing
house robberies was 12. I also found that the younger the person when they
began their life of crime, the more violent they were later in life,"
explained Zinn.
- In the course of his two-year long research project,
Zinn interviewed 30 convicted house robbers who were serving time in six
high security prisons around Gauteng. "I found that 30 percent of
them had murdered while committing a house robbery. They simply said that
they have to use violence. I think those criminals who respect human life
would probably stop before they become house robbers," said Zinn.
- "Easy come, easy go" His study also exposed
the myth that most house robbers were black and foreign. "About 17
percent of them were foreigners, the rest came from all race groups and
cultures across
- Another myth dispelled was that their victims were
mainly white. Their targets were usually affluent home owners who
displayed their wealth with jewellery, double storey residences and fancy
cars.
- Their modus operandi, Zinn's subjects told him,
revolved around gathering intelligence about their intended victims,
usually from a domestic worker. "If they don't have inside
information, they will keep the house under observation for a long time.
"They might send an accomplice into the house to check it out, he
might pretend he is there to inspect TV licences." Part of their
reconnaissance also includes establishing which security firms operate in
the area, how often they patrol and how long it takes for them to react to
a call out. The observation of their victims continue right up until they
are ready to commit their crime, often they will hide in the garden
watching the house.
- "They strike when their victims are still awake,
at night or in the morning. They use the noise of TV sets, or cooking as
cover. At this time they told me, most people haven't armed their
alarms," Zinn explained.
- Usually four members make up a house robbery gang. The
modus operandi is for one of the gang members to gain access through a
small window. The tools used to break in, are usually scavenged from the
home owner's shed. House robbers, Zinn's research found, don't carry house
breaking tools, as they believe it makes it easier for police to spot them
while they make their way to their target.
- The random use of excessive violence has so puzzled
researchers that currently, says Zinn, several academics are conducting
studies to try and ascertain why.
- Zinn would not disclose, for security reasons, just how
much on average house robbers would make from a robbery. He has, however,
been able to break down what they spend their money on. "Easy come,
easy go is what one of them said. Most of their earnings are spent on
luxuries, branded clothing, parties and prostitutes."
This article was written by Shaun Smillie originally
published in the Pretoria
In Summary:
- The average age of a house robber is between 19 and 26
years.
- An average of 30% of all house robbers have either
committed murder, or won't hesitate to commit murder.
- Most victims or targets are affluent persons who openly
display their wealth, e.g. expensive cars, jewellery, upmarket homes.
- Much intelligence is gathered about the target home and
its residents by means of inside information supplied by domestic workers.
- Eighty percent of residential robberies are committed
with the help of information from domestic workers, gardeners and former
employees.
- The robbers will monitor the home and movements for as
long as is needed to formulate a plan of attack - sometimes up to two weeks.
- All gangs research and monitor the response times of
armed response companies.
- Most attacks occur between 19:00 and midnight as people
are relaxed, busy cooking or watching TV, and the security systems and
beams are not activated. But robberies continue until 04:00 in the
morning.
- (Given that they strike when alarm systems are switched
off) Robbers do not regard alarm systems as a deterrent. Electric fences,
closed-circuit TV (CCTV) and detection beams do deter robbers, however the
biggest deterrent confirmed by robbers themselves, are small dogs that are
kept inside the home.
- The average robber commits 104 robberies over seven
years before being caught.
- A staggering 97% of all robbers are armed and on
average there are four members in an armed robbery gang.
- Most attackers' homes or bases are a 10 to 30 minute
drive from the target address.
- Women are more often tortured or hurt during house
robberies.
