Protecting public property and maintaining the public peace has always been one of the primary functions of the criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies. However, there are a countless number of acts that can deprive people of their property or violate the public peace. The purpose of criminal law in this regard is to prevent people from committing crimes that may deprive a person from something that belongs to them or disrupt the public peace. Crimes such as these fall in the category of property and public order crimes, and there are many different types of property and public order crimes that are being committed today.
Property crimes are crimes against property in which the victim’s property is intentionally, or as a result of neglect, damaged, destroyed or stolen, such as burglary, fraud and identity theft, larceny and motor vehicle theft, shoplifting, etc ("Property crime"). In certain crimes there are no victims in general but they are still regarded as offenses and are referred to as public order crimes, such as human trafficking and prostitution. Public order crimes are regarded as crimes because they tend to offend the larger community, or a powerful and vocal segment of it, and thus, the larger community or the segment as a whole is the victim of such crimes (Mathewson, 2009).
Section 9 of the Theft Act 1968 describes what burglary actually is ("Theft act 1968"). Burglary can be defined as the act of unlawfully entering someone’s real estate property, such as a business, home, or any other structure, with the intention of committing some crime inside, whether theft, larceny, or any other offense. On offender may not need to break in and enter in order to commit an act of burglar, the crime can be committed by trespassing through an open door. Burglary should not be mistaken with robbery, since a burglary is committed in the absence of people, fear or force is not used, and technically there are no victims.
According to Section 1028 of the United States Code ("18 usc §"), identity theft takes place when someone knowingly steals someone else’s identity with the intention of unlawfully possessing it and using it commit a crime, aid in the committing of a crime, or to connect the other person to a criminal activity. The Code of Federal Regular (CFR) ("16 cfr 603.2") defines identity theft as the unlawful use of someone else’s indentifying information to commit or attempt to commit a fraudulent activity. Someone who has committed identity theft can further commit several other crimes such as bank fraud, document fraud, immigration fraud, and crimes such as burglary or regular can facilitate the offender to commit identity theft as well.
Larceny is another name for petty theft where no violence is involved, and so there are no victims. Larceny is committed when a person takes someone else’s property without that person’s permission with the intention of stealing it. Possessing another’s property and depriving that person of it is the usual intention of larceny. Vehicular theft also falls under larceny and when the value of the vehicle is greater than $100, it is regarded as grand larceny and a felony. In terms of larceny, vehicle theft may not be limited to merely the physical theft of a motor vehicle but can also include vehicular registration or title theft to unlawfully acquire possession of a vehicle.
Shoplifting is the most typical nonviolent crime. Shoplifting is a form of property and public order crime which refers to the theft of property, such as items, merchandise, and/or products that are offered for sale. Shoplifting can cost a business significantly, but fortunately certain characteristics (Dabney, Hollinger & Dugan, 2004) can help in identifying shoplifters. For instance, declining assistance and seeming nervous, walking throughout a shop with an item in their hands, watching sales staff intently instead of looking at merchandise on sale, wearing unusually heavy clothes even when the weather is pleasant, and any other suspicious behavior indicate that a person is about to or has already shoplifted. Just about anyone who enters a shop or store can be a potential shoplifter.
Prostitution is the most prominent example of public order crime that is a part of the linked to the commercial sex business. While prostitution itself is may be regarded as a victimless crime, but human trafficking, which the primary means of acquiring individuals, primarily females, and forcing them into prostitution, cannot be considered a public order crime. Human trafficking, of course, refers to the criminal act of coercing and/or forcing someone into forced labor or sexual exploitation. Primarily, prostitution falls under public order crime because the society as a whole, or at least a major part of it finds this activity offensive, and even though there may not be any victims, rather the one committing prostitution is the one being victimized, but there is always a power imbalance (Davidson, 1998).
Defining public order crime is not an easy task. A diverse array of offenses falls under the category of public order crimes. Unlike major offenses, especially those that involve the use of violence, public order crimes are regarded as less severe offenses because of their nonviolent nature. Even though public order crimes are not violent they are still considered offensive and have a dire impact on society. Moreover, even though property crimes are also nonviolent in nature, but they still do result in the physical loss of personal possessions and financial loss as well. The bottom line is that despite their complex and nonviolent nature, they are crimes nonetheless.
References
Theft act 1968. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/section/9
Property crime. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/property-crime/property-crime
18 usc § 1028 - fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1028
Dabney, D. A., Hollinger, R. C., & Dugan, L. (2004). Who actually steals? a study of covertly observed shoplifters. Justice Quarterly, 21(4), 693-728.
Davidson, J. O. (1999). Prostitution, power and freedom. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
16 cfr 603.2 - identity theft. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/603.2
Mathewson, J. (23, Oct 2009). Public order crimes: Defined, explained, and positions argued. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/public-order-crimes-defined-explained-and-positions-argued
