All this happens because many owners themselves are to blame for drawing attention to their homes.
For example, they themselves talked about the valuables they had in their house, from which they subsequently stole, or they did not install good locks and doors.
Many people living on the first and last floors do not put bars on their windows.
But it is precisely this fact that entails theft.
But sometimes, the criminals themselves reach an incredible degree of ingenuity and intelligence and commit thefts from places where it would seem impossible to penetrate.
Let's talk about burglaries.
Criminological characteristics
The theft of property from an apartment occurs without the knowledge of its owners.
The criminal’s choice of theft methods is directly influenced by external and internal factors.
External factors are related to:
- the presence or absence of a connection between the target of the attack and the criminal;
- the nature of the object of the illegal act (it could be an apartment, cottage or dacha);
- location of the room;
- the state of personal property;
- the nature of the weapon used for the crime;
- the presence of accomplices.
Internal factors include:
- location of the crime target;
- availability of knowledge about the location of premises, entrances and exits, locks, places of storage of property,
- the victim's daily routine;
- having experience as a thief;
- individual characteristics of the criminal.
Qualifying features
Like any other crime, burglary has its own qualifying characteristics. These are aggravating circumstances that increase the punishment. Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation summarizes the list of such factors.
Burglary and theft
This sign is not used when the thief is a person who can easily enter the premises. These could be acquaintances, friends or relatives of the victim.
Burglary involves secretly breaking into a residence or storage unit to take someone else's property. Most often we are talking about hacking. They break open the door to a living space by selecting keys and master keys. They can enter the apartment through windows. Such a criminal act is often associated with damage to a lock, window units, roof or doors.
Note!
For residential burglary, the offender is liable in accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Group of persons
Other qualifying signs of burglary include a crime committed by a group of persons. In this case, responsibility is assigned to each participant in the theft. There can be any number of them. Roles between members of the criminal group are distributed in advance.
Large size
The punishment is affected by the amount of damage. If it is less than 2.5 thousand rubles, the offender will be punished under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, there are concepts of significant (more than 5,000 rubles), large (more than 250 thousand) and especially large damage (more than 1 million). The amount of the stolen goods is determined based on the average market value. In some cases, experts are brought in for this.
Concept
Apartment burglary is, logically, a theft that was committed in an apartment .
Statistics show that about thirty percent of the total number of thefts committed are of this type.
There is nothing strange here.
It is apartments that are most often left unattended and thieves try to break into them and steal from the apartment.
Theft from a home is a fairly common crime in this category.
The Criminal Code classifies theft as one of the types of theft.
Article one hundred and fifty-eighth reveals all types of punishment for this crime in general; any theft carries the meaning of secret theft.
If the theft had not been committed secretly, the crime would have had a completely different name.
Thus, theft is a criminal act that is committed secretly, without the use of violence and is aimed at one single goal - namely, the seizure of someone else's property without legal rights and grounds.
Thus, theft is an illegal act and is classified as a crime.
Methods for thieves to enter a house
Thieves can get into a home using several methods. Let's consider them in order of prevalence. First of all, this is lock picking. About ¼ of attackers use this method. About 14% of violators enter an apartment by selecting keys or using master keys.
12% of thieves enter premises through balconies or windows. An unlocked door can lead to theft in ten percent of cases. Doors are broken down least often (in just over 2% of cases).
If homeowners were more attentive to the security of their property by installing secure locks, closing doors and windows, or installing surveillance cameras and alarms, then there would be much less burglary.
Arbitrage practice
many examples in judicial practice .
Thus, in Kaluga, a burglary was committed, as a result of which the criminals profited from cash and jewelry.
However, the criminals climbed into the apartment through the window and at the moment when the thief was already getting back out, the owner of the apartment came through the door and managed to catch the man who had found him in the window.
The victim himself brought the criminal to the police station.
An incident involving staged burglary took place in the northern capital of Russia.
There, the owners, having previously given the guest a drink, made it seem like theft, turning everything over in the house, and they themselves left for another place.
Upon arrival, they allegedly found the apartment's lock and called the police.
What a surprise the police officers were when they saw the alleged “thief,” very drunk, sleeping peacefully on the sofa.
After much clarification, the owners of the apartment themselves were held criminally liable.
Theft is a crime from which no one is immune.
But you can protect by installing strong window bars, a good steel door and using electronic security services.
Investigation methodology
After a burglary has been discovered, an investigation into the crime begins. It includes several main stages.
Inspection of the place where the crime was committed
The inspection usually begins with the door or window from which the entry was made. After this, they move directly in the footsteps of the criminal. It is during the inspection that you can determine the thief’s skill level and detect such basic evidence as fingerprints, microparticles of clothing, and grains of soil from the soles. The approximate weight and height of the person who committed the crime is determined from the footprints of the soles.
Note!
Inspection of the premises plays a special role, because... allows you to see how the attacker acted (carefully or hastily), after which you can create a psychological portrait of him.
If the thief is a professional, he will not make noise and attract attention, but will try to remove material assets quietly and quickly.
Alcoholics and drug addicts will look for money, jewelry, alcoholic drinks and medications and may not pay attention to rare and fashionable items. If alcoholic drinks and food were stolen, then a homeless person could be operating in the premises.
By carefully analyzing the evidence found, you can create an image of the offender and recreate the picture of the theft. Based on this, a protocol for examining the scene of the incident is drawn up.
Questioning of property owners and people living there
Conducting a conversation with people living in the robbed premises, the investigator can establish:
- whether there were receipts, technical documentation, tags and passports for the stolen items;
- description of stolen material assets down to any signs, color, size or technical characteristics;
- the date of acquisition of the property and its approximate value at the time of theft;
- the presence of security measures taking into account the place and method of storing material assets;
- persons who knew about the presence of property;
- suspects who, in the opinion of the victim, could have committed a crime;
- measures that the homeowner took to protect property from robbery;
- availability of sets of keys to the apartment, as well as the likelihood of their loss or theft;
- reliability of door locks and window locks;
- the presence of possible witnesses to the crime;
- the opportunity to visit the home before the theft by strangers;
- the likelihood of surveillance of the apartment by strangers in the yard or directly at the entrance of the house;
- the likelihood of a crime being staged by persons to whom material assets were transferred for storage.
Interrogation of crime witnesses
Witnesses can be people who saw suspicious people entering the house and then taking out property, who tried to prevent the theft, and helped in catching the intruders.
In some cases, employees of pawnshops and jewelry stores that accepted jewelry and used goods may be questioned as witnesses. Conversations with them are important in order to establish whether the thieves were trying to sell the loot.
Note!
Witnesses can describe the appearance of criminals, pointing out distinctive features, talk about their number, methods of appearance (they moved on foot or in a car). Based on the results of the interrogation, a protocol is drawn up and signed by the witness.
Conducting a search
If a suspect appears, in addition to his interrogation, a search is carried out of his home and the place of residence of his relatives who may be involved in the commission of this act. This is done suddenly so that the suspect cannot hide the evidence.
Law enforcement officers inspect and confiscate the items found, after which the results of the search are recorded in the protocol. The subsequent stages of the investigation of residential burglary are similar to the procedure carried out when committing other types of theft.
Models
Another way to protect against burglary is to install a flashing LED in the door frame. The small circuit works for a long time on one battery.
Before leaving, turn it on and let everyone think that the apartment has a very cool alarm system.
Buy a dummy video camera and secure it away from teenagers, for example, under a driveway canopy. Be sure to inform all neighbors that you have installed a video camera to monitor the entrance. Thieves will avoid such an entrance.
What attracts the attention of thieves?
The property that is most often attempted to be stolen may differ depending on the region. In Moscow and other large cities, the targets of attacks are money, valuables or fashionable items. In small towns and villages, items of theft include livestock, food and household items. If ancient icons are stolen in villages, then in cities they are trying to remove books that are 50 or more years old.
About 2% of thieves are interested in antiques, but such crime causes significant material damage to property owners. Such thefts are carried out by professionals who know how to disable alarms and bypass other measures to protect material assets.
Before carrying out their plans, attackers carefully select the desired living space, paying attention to the presence of air conditioners, satellite dishes and expensive windows. The presence of an expensive personal car is also taken into account.
Note!
Thieves often act on a tip and pay attention to those people who make purchases in jewelry stores.
Don't say too much
If you are going to leave, even for a few days, then don’t tell anyone except your trusted neighbors about it.
Burglars have excellent communication skills. They can chat with grandmothers at the entrance, introduce themselves as a social worker and find out everything they need.
Among your acquaintances in the yard or even at the entrance there may be people who are not entirely trustworthy. While drinking in some company, they may blurt out that you have been away for a long time and, thus, lead robbers to your apartment.
A tip is the most common reason for robbery. If your departure has become obvious to many, then it is better to lie that you are transporting things and will arrive today.
Your safety is on your tongue! Do not spread your plans to everyone - this is one of the best protections against burglary.
Do not show your wealth, do not turn up the volume of your home theater and music center. Don’t give away your wealth, the spotters are not asleep, and they will know exactly what they can profit from from you.
Do not allow random acquaintances to enter your apartment. Rest assured that it will be examined from all angles. Solve all problems in the corridor.
Don't show off expensive smartphones, gold chains and other acquisitions. Envy does not lead to good things - you will inform the gunner about yourself.
If you have a nice and expensive car, it’s better to say that you spent your last money on its purchase. I might mention in passing that you should only keep your money in the bank.
Remember, the quieter you live, the less attractive you are to the criminal world.
Who is hiding under the mask?
According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the number of professional thieves of the total number is about 15%. Often a criminal act of this kind is committed by citizens without a permanent place of residence, people in a state of alcoholic intoxication. Thefts from citizens arriving from outside Russia have been observed.
Not in all cases, attackers have a developed plan. That is why any opposition can frighten them and force them to abandon the implementation of their plans.
Signs of a staged burglary
Often, theft and burglary of locks is staged by the owners of the premises themselves. They do this for various reasons. Some people need to punish and illegally accuse another person, others want to get more money from another accused or illegally incriminate a person and cover up the traces of another crime, and others just want to get insurance for stolen property.
Signs of staging very often include the absence of fingerprints of the criminal and strange actions of the attacker. For example, an imaginary thief steals hidden jewelry and does not take a wallet that is lying in plain sight. In such cases, as a rule, there is no CCTV footage, and there are almost always no witnesses.
Distinction from related crimes
Theft is the secret theft of property .
If the entire entrance is watching how a robber is trying to snatch a bag from the owner’s hand in her own apartment, this is no longer a theft, but a robbery.
Theft is also often confused with robbery .
However, during theft, violence is not used and there is no threat of its use, unlike robbery.
These signs are the significant differences between these crimes .
Prevention of burglary
To prevent this type of theft, special attention should be paid to preventive measures. To ensure that the doors cannot be knocked down or hacked, you need to install a reliable system. There are several classes of doors depending on the level of strength.
The door of the first level can be easily hacked using available means, the second level allows you to open it using special tools. The door of the latest, fourth level, can withstand all burglary devices and even firearms.
If the crime was started by a professional burglar, then even the strongest door will not save the owners, especially if a simple lock is installed on it. If two or three types of locks are installed, the opening process in this case will become significantly more complicated.
Note!
To make it more difficult to break into a window, it is better to install not ordinary, but “heavy-duty” double-glazed windows, but in any case, it is better to close the windows before leaving home.
In addition, to prevent thieves from entering the entrance, you need to install an intercom door, and for complete security it is better to install a security alarm.
If you have become a victim of a burglary and do not know how to behave correctly after its discovery, seek help from qualified lawyers of our company. Thanks to their experience, you will be able to correctly initiate investigative actions and competently file an application to initiate a criminal case. As a result, you will have a real chance of finding the criminal and returning stolen material assets.
Punishment and responsibility
Severe punishment is provided for residential burglary.
As a rule, this is imprisonment for up to five years, as well as a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles.
If a crime is committed , aggravated by qualifying characteristics, then the sentence increases to eight years and the fine to five hundred thousand rubles.
Minors
The subject of the theft can be a citizen who has reached the age of sixteen, that is, a minor.
He is also subject to serving a sentence, albeit for a shorter period - up to three years and not in a general regime colony, but in a children's correctional colony.
In this case, a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles is imposed on the child’s legal representatives.
Read the full article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Theft.
