CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT

1996 ANNUAL REPORT

ROBBERY

Robbery is the taking or attempted taking of anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. This crime includes muggings, purse-snatchings, and bank hold-ups.

A robbery is considered a violent crime because it involves the use of force, or threat of force, to obtain money or goods. Robbery is a serious crime because the life of the victim is threatened; the actual value of the property taken is not considered when deciding the punishment for a robbery.

Robbery is usually committed on the street, in the dark, by an armed offender or offenders whom the victim does not know. The confrontational, threatening nature of the crime has a strong influence on the behavior of the public. It is the crime most often considered by a citizen when he or she gauges the general "safety" of an area.

If other index crimes declined this year, Robbery absolutely nose-dived. Its 23 percent decrease, which brought it to the lowest level in over 30 years, is the most pronounced of the 1996 index crimes. Unlike many of the other index crimes this year, the decrease in robbery cannot be attributed to the unusually cold weather in the first quarter; in fact, our first quarter robbery level was virtually unchanged from 1995 to 1996. The sharp decrease, rather, occurred during the third and fourth quarters. An analysis of incidents per month shows that October, which ranked second in 1995 with 28 street robberies, came in last in 1996 with only 10-proving once again that robbery, a crime of opportunity, has no season.

For the purpose of analysis, the crime of Robbery is divided into two categories: Commercial Robbery and Street Robbery.

Commercial Robbery

Commercial Robbery describes the taking or attempted taking of anything of value from the care or custody of a commercial or financial establishment. Specimens of this crime include the bank heist, the cab stick-up, and the convenience store hold-up.

From 1970 to 1990, Cambridge averaged 100 Commercial Robberies annually. Since then, the number has plunged to 24% of that average. Nationally, commercial robbery accounts for about 30 percent of the robbery total; in Cambridge, commercial robbery measures only 11 percent of the total. Clearly, our city is enjoying a respite from this type of crime-a respite that began between 1991 and 1992, when it dwindled from 90 robberies to 54. These vast decreases in commercial robbery can be attributed primarily to the decline of convenience store robbery. In 1992, convenience stores accounted for 60 percent of the commercial robbery targets; in 1996, they accounted for 21 percent. In the past year alone, convenience store robberies fell from 12 incidents to five.

Bank robberies have remained rather even over the years. For every year between 1991 and 1996, Cambridge has experienced from six to eight robberies of banks. Taxi cab robberies have fluctuated from between one and four in the same period-a comfortably low statistic for an age in which New York reports several dozen cab drivers murdered and Boston reports over 200 cab robberies per year.

Cambridge statistics reflect the national decline in commercial robberies since the 1980s. A number of factors account for this trend, including increased security measures at gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores, and banks; the Cambridge Police Park and Walk program, which increases police visibility; and the disappearance of the particular breed of criminal that commits commercial hold-ups.

Geographic Breakdown of Commercial Robberies

With only 24 total commercial robberies, there were few patterns-although several of the bank robberies were part of a regional pattern that crossed several communities. For instance, in a highly-publicized affair, a Taunton man (called "Typo" by the police for his poorly spelled hold-up notes) was arrested by the Revere Police Department after a string of some 20 bank robberies, including as many as three in Cambridge. The only other Cambridge pattern was a pair of hold-ups in late February, at the Friendly's restaurant on Alewife Brook Parkway. An Arlington resident, identified by witnesses when he returned to the restaurant a third time, was eventually charged.

Street Robbery

After a slight two-year increase, street robbery fell to 203 occurrences in 1996, barely edging out 1993's 206 incidents to become the lowest statistic since the 1960s. The crime has been in general decline since it peaked at 329 incidents in 1990.

Street Robberies, 1987–1996

A long term trend analysis of street robberies in Cambridge reveals ten frequently recurring scenarios:

ATM Robberies: An offshoot of Predatory Robberies (below), ATM robberies are generally committed late at night, just after the victim has withdrawn money from an Automatic Teller Machine. The predator, who has observed the transaction, stops the victim as he or she emerges from the ATM vestibule and demands the cash.

Bikejackers: In this scenario, any number of attackers will approach a young (10–15) male victim on a bicycle and, through force of numbers, knives, or other weapons, demand the victim's bike. Often, the attacker simply shoves the victim off the bicycle and takes it. In a good portion of Bikejacker robberies, the victim knows his attacker(s).

Bully Boys: Juvenile robberies of intimidation. In most occurrences, the victim knows the perpetrators. Committed by and against school-aged youths, they occur on the way home from school, or at playgrounds, ponds, malls, parks, and skating rinks. Two to four juvenile males usually strong-arm their victim, stealing such things as his jacket, hat, or lunch money.

Carjacking: In this scenario, a lone predator will approach a victim as he or she enters or exits his or her car, or when he or she is stopped at a traffic light. In no uncertain terms, the robber will order the victim out of the vehicle and demand the keys.

Dial-a-Victim: These are robberies of delivery service personnel. A delivery person is intercepted before entering a phony location, by suspects either brandishing a knife or a gun. Arrests made late in 1993 have had a major impact in curtailing this type of robbery.

Domestic: The domestic robbery is a relatively new scenario which has emerged more over the past few years. In these incidents, the perpetrator is usually an ex-boyfriend, who uses force in street confrontations to take back jewelry or cash. Family robberies are also on the rise: husband from wife, brother from sister, and estranged child from parents. Many of these robberies involve past debts.

Homeless: The homeless robbery is a sad scenario reflecting urban life in the 1990s-homeless people robbing each other. The majority of these robberies occur in the vicinity of Central and Harvard Squares, or at various shelters. The victim is usually acquainted with the perpetrator, and in many cases both are intoxicated. Property taken ranges from a bottle of wine to a blanket to a pair of shoes. Like domestic robberies, homeless robberies are sometimes precipitated by real or imagined past debts. Many robberies of this type are probably never reported.

Pack Robberies: In this situation, a group of three to eight young males will stalk victims around shopping malls, MBTA stations, streets, and recreational areas. The majority of these robberies occur on Friday or Saturday nights, when the "pack" is returning from a dance or party. The robberies are not always premeditated, but the victim-typically a male between the ages of 15 and 25, walking alone-simply ends up on the wrong place at the wrong time. Weapons are seldom used, but strong-arm tactics are applied. Usually, the victim is knocked to the ground or ordered to lie down.

Predatory Robberies: This type of street robbery has the most pronounced effect on a citizen's perception of safety. Predatory robberies are psychologically synonymous with the term "mugging." In the typical scenario, one or two men approach the victim with a knife or gun and demand cash. The danger of serious injury is ever present. In recent years, predatory robbers have become cruder and less controlled, pushing and kicking their victims.

Purse Snatch: The purse snatcher is generally unarmed, and has little intent to cause injury. After "casing" a victim-a female carrying a purse, bag, or wallet-this robber approaches quick from behind-on foot or on a bicycle-and snatches the item out of the victim's hands or off her shoulder before she has a chance to react. Victims who manage to hang onto their belongings usually emerge unscathed; the purse snatcher usually flees upon meeting resistance-though in 1995, a woman was brutally stabbed in the arm when she tried to hang on to her purse.

Geographic Breakdown of Street Robberies

The Area 4 and Cambridgeport neighborhoods remained the most saturated street robbery locales, with the majority of incidents along Massachusetts Avenue, in or near Central Square. The Square is a target area for this crime because of its high pedestrian traffic, its numerous commercial establishments, its proximity to bars, and its MBTA subway stop. Area 4 did however, experience a notable 17 percent decline. Other hot spots in Area 4 lie along Windsor Street, Washington Street, and Bishop Allen Drive. Clusters in Cambridgeport appear along Green, Franklin, and Pearl Streets.

After leaping from 11 incidents in 1994 to 25 in 1995, East Cambridge saw a slight decline to 22 street robberies in 1996. About two thirds of these were Pack or Bully Boy Robberies committed in or near the Cambridgeside Galleria by juveniles. A cluster of robberies that hit Fulkerson Street last year, however, did not appear again.

Agassiz's 57 percent increase can be attributed to a pattern of Pack Robberies in the neighborhood in January and February.

The street robberies near M.I.T., in Mid-Cambridge, in the Inman/Harrington area and in the Peabody neighborhoods are scattered randomly, with no discernible patterns. Cambridge Street remains the hot spot for the Inman neighborhood. Peabody witnessed a heavy drop of 45 percent, as several of the Pack Robbery patterns that plagued Cambridge Common, Danehy Park, and Upland Road last year disappeared.

North Cambridge, Riverside, and West Cambridge show amazing lows this year, dropping 53, 57, and 62 percent, respectively. The serious Pack and Predatory Robbery problems experienced in North Cambridge's Russell Field and Linnear Park were severely abated, with only two incidents in that area. Porter Square, upper Massachusetts Avenue, and Rindge Avenue accounted for the rest of the incidents in this neighborhood. In Riverside, police Park & Walks have completely eradicated the robbery patterns that have historically beset Hoyt Field. Finally, robberies in the Harvard Square area mysteriously vanished this year, accounting for the decline in the West Cambridge total.

Finally Cambridge Highlands and Strawberry Hill maintained last year's zero street robbery level. Both neighborhoods registered an average of around five robberies per year between 1990 and 1994.

Street Robberies in 1996

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