Theft and Burglary Arrest
Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a crime. It is an offense against possession and habitation. Night time used to be an element of burglary, but in today’s world, this is no longer a factor as burglary can occur at any time of the day The definition of burglary comes from state laws and because of this some states may have other definitions of what constitutes burglary. In Washington, DC, the government must prove that the defendant entered the dwelling, building, or room of another used for sleeping and that the defendant intended to commit a crime at the time of entry.
In Virginia, the government must prove the defendant broke and entered the dwelling house of another, the defendant did so at night time, and he did so with the intent to commit larceny or felony offense. According to the FBI, burglary made up 23. 6 percent of all property crimes reported in 2009. The rate of household burglary decreased 56% from 1994 to 2011, from a peak of 63. 4 victimizations per 1,000 U. S. households in 1994 to 27. 6 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2011. From 1994 to 2011, the rate of completed burglary decreased by at least half across households headed by persons of all races and Hipic origin.
Burglary clearance rates seem to below for a number of reasons. At the top of the list is that burglaries are usually not discovered until hours after it occurs. Burglars can usually quickly dispose of property and there are rarely witnesses to burglary. Most burglars are professional and usually do not leave any physical evidence. So what can be done to improve the clearance rate of burglaries? In my opinion it is very hard to determine what can be done to improve the clearance rate of burglaries. I would suggest community policing in the areas where burglaries are known to happen.
The police can work with the citizens to create an effective neighborhood watch program which will watch out for burglaries and report suspicious people hanging around. When responding to a burglary call, the officer should look for any evidence the perpetrator may leave behind and take notes, and identify all items that were taken. The officer may find that the evidence or notes will led them to a particular burglar based on the MO. If the officer can develop an MO which leads to related burglaries, upon finding a suspect, he can usually get a conviction, based on that evidence.
Many suspects are convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is the form of physical clues and scientific analysis. I believe that circumstantial evidence is better than an eyewitness in cases like burglary. Circumstantial evidence can involve the defendants’ motive alone. Say for instance the suspect was there earlier in the day just walking around and needed money. He had a motive, the means and the opportunity. This circumstantial evidence is enough to convict, if the defendant can’t prove he was elsewhere at the time the burglary happened.
Now should there be a criteria for making an arrest for burglary. I would have to say yes, there needs to be a criteria to make any arrest. Among the most important criteria’s for making a burglary arrest should be probable cause. The officer needs to have factual circumstances that leads to them believing that the suspect committed a burglary. It should be noted that probable cause may allow the officer to make an arrest, it does not always lead to a conviction. What constitutes as probable cause to the officer may not constitute to probable cause for a judge.
So now that we have our burglary suspect in custody and we’ve found some of the property he has stolen, where is the rest of the stolen property? The defendant states that he sold some of the stolen property online. How can we recover the stolen property that the burglar sold online? One would think it would be hard to recover stolen property online. Upon researching, I found a couple of websites where you can list your stolen items. I also found out that eBay will help you recover your stolen goods if you can prove they are yours. The other way to recover stolen objects is to check the pawn shops, second hand stores, and flea markets.
