1996 Larceny

Larceny is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession of another. It includes crimes such as shoplifting, pocket-picking, thefts from motor vehicles, thefts of auto parts and accessories, horse thefts, and bicycle thefts, in which no use of force, violence, or fraud occurs. In the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, this crime category does not include embezzlement, "con" games, forgery, and worthless checks. Motor vehicle theft is also excluded from this category in as much as it is a separate crime index offense.

Larceny is the most common index offense, and one of the few to show no clear long-term trend. Perhaps as many as 50 percent of all larcenies committed are never reported to the police, making analysis of this crime difficult.

Fueled by the dramatic decrease in the three categories that generate the most numbers-shoplifting (-21%), larceny from motor vehicles (-22%), and larceny of bicycles (-8%)-the crime of larceny registered a 10 percent decrease when compared with 1995 figures. The final larceny total of 2,973 incidents represents the first time since 1980 that the crime has fallen below the 3,000 level. For the fifth consecutive year, larceny accounted for nearly 60 percent of all serious crimes in Cambridge.

As stated in the 1996 First Quarter Report, the fluctuations in larceny statistics are more closely aligned with weather conditions than any other crime types measured by the Crime Analysis Unit. The series of snowstorms during the first quarter of 1996 left cars buried in drifts, fewer people about in public, and buildings with limited access. The ultimate result of these conditions was a significant reduction in the number of potential crime targets.

Type	1995 Total	1996 Total	Change
Larcenies from Buildings	915	1032	+12.8%
Larcenies from Motor Vehicles	891	698	-21.7%
Larcenies of Bicycles	510	470	-7.8%
Larcenies from Persons	372	375	+0.8%
Shoplifting	428	338	-21.0%
Other Larcenies	197	60	-69.5%
Total Larcenies	3313	2974	-10.2%

After a resounding 28 percent decline in 1995, this theft category rose 13 percent in 1996. The 1,032 incidents of this crime, however, remain well below the 1,400 to 1,500 totals at the beginning of the decade.

Historically, larceny from buildings has been the major crime in the Kendall Square and Harvard Square business districts. From 1989 to 1993, nearly 1,000 larcenies from buildings were reported in the vicinity of Kendall Square-an average of 200 per year. That number fell to 95 incidents in 1995 and to 93 in 1996. Increased internal security and employee awareness have had a major impact in curtailing this type of theft.

The modus operandi of the building thief has remained constant over the years. The career criminal hits offices at opening, lunch time, and closing, when he can enter a relatively empty building inconspicuously. Often, he will pose as a maintenance, repair, or delivery person. Over the last four years, the laptop computer has become the favorite target of these thieves.

Larceny from buildings totals continue to decline in Harvard Square. Since 1994, this larceny category has declined 60 percent in this business area. As in the other business districts, much of the decrease can be attributed to internal security. A variation in the Harvard Square thefts is to target the wallets and employee property in the rear of retail establishments.

The 55 percent increase in larceny from buildings in Cambridgeport can be traced to a series of incidents at hotels on Memorial Drive. Larceny from buildings in the Alewife area continues to emulate the Kendall Square scenario: thieves are targeting laptops at research and consulting firms.

Throughout 1996, the Cambridge Police Department assigned a high priority to the early interdiction of larceny from motor vehicles patterns. The Department flooded target areas with directed patrols in order to combat these spatial and temporal trends. A significant portion of the 33 percent decline in larceny from motor vehicles in East Cambridge resulted from high patrol visibility along First and Rogers Streets on weekday afternoons, and on Hurley, Bent, and Binney Streets on weekends. Larceny from motor vehicles plummeted 67 percent in the MIT Area, as Cambridge and MIT Police targeted the 200 to 300 block of Vassar Street, made several arrests, and produced the lowest larceny from motor vehicles total for this neighborhood in 15 years.

The major larceny from motor vehicles pattern of 1996 emerged in Mid-Cambridge. This pattern, which occurred over the summer, occupied the area bordered by Prospect Street, Cambridge Street, Trowbridge Street, and Massachusetts Avenue. The thieves in this series of incidents favored weekend nights between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. Cellular telephones, bicycles, and bike racks became favorite targets. Major hot spots included 290–350 Harvard Street, 900–1000 Massachusetts Avenue, and 400–440 Broadway. In September, the arrests of teenagers from Somerville, Revere, and Cambridge eradicated the pattern.

West Cambridge produced the most significant increase in larceny from motor vehicles; total incidents rose from 34 in 1995 to 71 in 1996. The re-awakening of a long dormant hot spot just west of Harvard Square caused this sudden rise: Throughout the 1980s, the side streets off of Mount Auburn Street and around the Sheraton Commander Hotel experienced regular victimization. After a five year hiatus, thieves targeted the area again in 1996. The Cambridge Police Department plans to target high priority "Park and Walks" at this pattern in 1997.

For the second consecutive year, larceny of bicycles declined in Cambridge; the eight percent decline for 1996 follows a 13 percent drop in 1995. Hopefully, this represents the start of a new trend. Between 1989 and 1994, bicycle theft exhibited a sharp upward ascent, soaring from an average of 270 per year in the 1980s to 575 in 1993. The recent declines reflect, perhaps, the increased publicity given to this crime, the greater availability of bicycle racks, and a crime-prevention conscious public.

The higher average numbers in the 1990s bespeak the increasing "professionalization" of bicycle theft. The Cambridge Police Department has, on several occasions, arrested teams of thieves working out of vans, stealing four to eight bicycles a night. Like automobile parts, bicycle parts have proven profitable for fencing. Bicycle "chop shops" now number almost as high as automobile "chop shops" in some areas. Interestingly, the 1990s leap in bicycle thefts parallels the comparative drop in automobile thefts.

About 80 percent of bicycle thefts fall between May and September, when bicycles pack the streets and sidewalks. August traditionally holds the most thefts. They occur most often between 4:00 p.m. and midnight. The police arrest suspects in a scant two or three percent of the incidents; generally, the thief goes unseen. Locks present little difficulty to bicycle thieves, who often bring bolt cutters or pry bars with them; about half of all stolen bicycles had locks on them at the time of theft.

Bicycle theft remains densest in the Harvard Square area, including Brattle, Eliot, Winthrop, Church, Dunster, JFK, and Bennett Streets, where pedestrians often find it difficult not to trip over the masses of bicycles parked there during the summer. By far, this area holds the highest concentration. Other significant clusters appear around the Cambridgeside Galleria, MIT, Porter Square, Central Square, and Kendall Square, along lower Massachusetts Avenue, and around the various schools in the city.

The Cambridge Police Department recovers an average of around 75 bicycles each year. Of the recovered bicycles, the department can trace only three to five percent back to their original owners via serial number. The department sponsors an annual program which disposes of the remainder by giving them to school children.

In 1995, the 58 percent increase in larcenies from persons became one of the most disturbing trends that we analyzed. In 1996, the crime registered a slight (one percent) increase, with the total number of incidents rising from 372 to 375. Nearly two out of every three pickpocket reports citywide come from Harvard Square, Central Square, and the Cambridgeside Galleria. Larceny from the person soared 32 percent in Harvard Square in 1995, and despite a 10 percent reduction in 1996, this type of larceny remains one of the major crime problems for the area. Pickpockets use public transportation; over the years, Harvard Square has become their favorite stop.

The pickpocket's favorite target is someone who is preoccupied: the bookstore browser, the sightseer, the diner who leaves her purse under the table. Time frames for these incidents have not changed from previous years: the greatest number of incidents occur between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, and between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on weekends.

Heightened awareness of patrol officers in Central Square over the final six months of 1996 slowed the surge in pickpockets experienced during the first half of the year. The Central Square pickpocket works on weekdays between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. at bus stops, retail stores, and along the street.

Larcenies from persons at the Cambridgeside Galleria leveled off over the final six months of the year, ending with a six percent increase, after soaring 152 percent between January and June. Extra security paid off with the arrest and dispersal of known theft offenders. Larceny from the person occurs at the mall on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Purses hanging over the backs of chairs at the Food Court remain the primary target of these thieves.

Over 75 percent of the shoplifting arrests are made at a few select locations in Harvard Square and at the Cambridgeside Galleria in East Cambridge. Mall security scared away a large percentage of the shoplifters by concentrating their efforts on two distinct temporal patterns. A very high percentage of shoplifting arrests are made between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays and between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on weekends. The renovation of the Harvard Coop in Harvard Square effected the decline of shoplifting arrests in this area. The vast majority of shoplifting incidents are unseen and are therefore never reported. The actual number may be six to ten times our statistic.