Property Crime - Thou Shalt Not Steal

Larceny is the theft of personal property. In some states, larceny in which the property equals or exceeds a specified amount is considered grand larceny. Larceny involving lesser amounts is known as petty larceny. Many larcenies are crimes of opportunity: a car door is left unlocked, a woman is not watching her purse, an aisle in a store stands deserted.

There were 7.1 million larcenies in 1973, increasing steadily in the 1980s to 8.1 million in 1991. Then they fell slightly, began another increase, and then began to fall again in 1996. They currently stand at 6.9 million.

The two leading types of larcenies are thefts from motor vehicles and shoplifting (they're highlighted in the panel). Thefts from motor vehicles made up 25% of all reported larcenies in 2000. It's easy to see why cars draw thieves like magnets. A laptop may be lying on a backseat, a cellular phone on the front, a stack of CDs may be inviting, a purse, a gym bag with potential valuables inside it — cash, an ID card. Or the car door may be open with shopping bags from the last mall inside — while the owner is shopping some more in this new mall.

Shoplifting accounts for 14% of reported larcenies. There is no typical shoplifter, but he or she is usually young. Men and women shoplift at roughly equal rates. In one recent report, shoplifters claim they are caught once for every 49 times they steal. For some people, such crime is a lifestyle. One professional shoplifter caught by Target Corp. claimed he made $120,000 to $150,000 cash per year. He never "worked" weekends and took vacation from Thanksgiving to Christmas. (Instead of asking him "What do you do for a living," should he be asked "What do you take for a living?")

Number of Larcenies, 1980-2000

Bicycle theft fell in the mid-1970s and then again in the early 1980s. Now no one parks a bike without a lock. Thefts from buildings saw some brief increases in the 1990s. (Disgruntled employees?) Some crimes have remained constants. After 1982, both purse snatching and pocket picking have each made up 1% of the total reported larcenies.

The decline in thefts may be influenced by simple population issues. Many of these crimes are committed by and against juveniles. Their population fell steadily over the period. There were 20.5 million teenagers between 15 and 19 in 1981, 18.9 million in 1984 and 17.1 million by 1992. The pool of potential victims shrank as well. Those between 12 and 24 years of age see the highest rates of property theft. Their numbers fell from about 40 million in 1981 to 39 million in 1984 to 36.7 million in 1992.

But the population of these age groups are forecast to grow in the late 1990s. Will larcenies begin to swell?

Source: Chart: data comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigations at http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook. Note: the category coin operated machines was not included on the panel. It was 1% from 1973-2000. "Shoplifting Facts and Figures." Virginian-Pilot, July 14, 2002. Population figures come from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.