1998 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.

Robbery is theft in which the offender confronts the victim and steals the victim's property through force or threat of force. It includes "muggings" and "hold-ups," though the offender does not need to display a weapon (and about half of them do not) for the crime to be categorized as a robbery.

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

For the purposes of analysis, the crime of Robbery is divided into two categories: Commercial Robbery and Street Robbery. Commercial Robbery makes up less than 10 percent of the robbery total in Cambridge. Unlike assault, robbery statistics are fairly sound; robbery victims are very likely to report the crime.

	1996	1997	1998	Change 97–98
Commercial Robbery	24	22	19	-14%
Street Robbery	203	154	189	+23%
Total	227	176	208	+18%

At the end of 1997, Robbery was at its lowest level in Cambridge since we began measuring crime over 30 years ago. In 1998, there was a rebound of 18 percent, but the total is still lower than any other year except 1997.

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

From 1970 to 1990, Cambridge average 100 commercial robberies annually, but starting in 1990, it began to swiftly plummet, totalling on 19 in 1998. Nationally, commercial robbery accounts for 24% of total robberies; in Cambridge, in 1998, it made up only 9%. A yearly total of 19 commercial robberies for a city the size of Cambridge is astonishingly low. An average city of our size has around 50.

Cambridge statistics do reflect a national decline in commercial robbery since the 1980s. A number of factors account for this trend, including increased security measures at gas stations (plexi-glass booths), convenience stores (drop safes, silent alarms), and banks (dye packs, better surveillance cameras, "man traps"); the Cambridge Police Department's Park & Walk program, which increases police visibility in vulnerable areas; and the disappearance of the particular breed of criminal who commits commercial hold-ups.

Type	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Bank/Armored Car	10	9	7	3	2
Bar/Restaurant	1	6	3	3	3
Cab	4	1	3	3	2
Convenience/Gas	7	12	5	8	6
Liquor Store	2	2	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Retail	11	8	6	5	6
Total	35	38	24	22	19

Bank and armored car robberies consistently numbered between seven and 10 incidents a year until 1997, when only three were reported. Convenience store robberies have shown a general decline since 1991, and cab robberies remain very low for a city of our size. Other establishments have also shown a consistent decrease in commercial robbery.

Among these 19 robberies, we did experience a single pattern: two hold-ups at clothing stores in September, one in Harvard Square and one in Central Square. In both cases, the robber entered the store and asked to speak to the manager before displaying a handgun and demanding money. The same robber also struck stores in Somerville, Braintree, and Watertown. He was never apprehended.

The Cambridge Police Department made arrests in three of the 19 commercial robberies, including a Harvard Square bank robbery. Two of the arrested men were homeless, one 30, one 42. The other was an 18-year-old from Medford.

With such low numbers, studying geographic patterns is near-meaningless. There was one surprise in 1998: the four commercial robberies in the Inman Square district, which included a bank robbery, a restaurant robbery, and two hold-ups at the same convenience store. One of the convenience store stick-ups resulted in an arrest (the 18-year-old man from Medford) that also cleared a series of street robberies.

"Street robbery" describes all robberies committed against individuals, as opposed to commercial establishments. Despite the name, a "street" robbery does not necessarily have to occur on the street, although more than 75% of them do. Examples of street robberies are "muggings," "carjackings," and "purse snatchings."

After years of steady decline, street robbery showed an increase of 23% between 1997 and 1998, from 154 to 189. The 1997 total was the lowest recorded in the city in over 30 years; the 1998 total was the second lowest. The crime peaked in 1990 at 329 incidents.

Acquaintance Robberies: Related to the Domestic Robbery and the Homeless Robbery (see below), Acquaintance Robberies are committed by someone the victim knows. Common scenarios include drinking buddies robbing each other after a night at the bar, friends turning on each other, drug disputes, and robberies between co-workers.

ATM Robberies: An offshoot of Predatory Robberies (see 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.

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

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, 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.

Carjackings: In this scenario, a lone predator will approach a victim entering or exiting his or her car, or when 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 brandishing a knife or gun. Arrests made in 1993 had a major impact in curtailing this crime.

Domestic Robberies: The domestic robbery is a relatively new scenario which has emerged over the past several 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: husbands robbing their wives, brothers robbing their sisters, and estranged children robbing their parents or grandparents. Many of these robberies involve past debts.

Home Invasions: One of the most serious robbery types, home invasions involve robbers entering their victim's homes, usually at night, subduing the residents (sometimes by tying them), and robbing the home. Fortunately, this type of robbery is rare in Cambridge.

Homeless Robberies: 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 stolen ranges from a bottle of wine to a blanket to a pair of shoes. Like domestic robberies, homeless robberies are sometimes precipitated by past debts, real or imaginary.

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 synonymous with "muggings." 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. Cambridge typically experiences more two-person predatory robberies than any other type.

Because of the frequency of this type of robbery, the crime analysis unit further subdivides predatory robberies into "crude" and "professional" robberies. "Crude" means that the robbers were edgy, unprepared, and unpredictable. In "professional" predatory robberies, the robbers are collected, efficient, and effective.

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, often effecting a "body check" in the process.

The four neighborhoods surrounding Central Square (Area 4, Cambridgeport, Mid-Cambridge, and Riverside) plus East Cambridge reported the highest street robbery totals in 1998. This is consistent with the geographic layout of street robberies prior to 1997. In 1997, however, these neighborhoods reported historical lows for this crime. The heavy percentage increases for most of these neighborhoods reflect the rebound as they returned, in 1998, to their usual levels. Why is Central Square such a street robbery hot spot? Several reasons, including its high pedestrian traffic, its proximity to bars, its MBTA subway stop, and its comparatively high "street" population.

East Cambridge is another dynamic. Between 30% and 50% of the robberies in this neighborhood each year involve juveniles robbing other juveniles. Generally, the victims and robbers are at, on their way to, or leaving the CambridgeSide Galleria when robbed. East Cambridge also suffered a brief series of purse snatchings during September.

Of the 13 neighborhoods in the city, only Agassiz and Riverside had higher totals in 1998 than their decade averages. Riverside showed clusters around Harvard Square, Central Square, and Hoyt Field. Agassiz suffered a spring series of robberies that resulted in the arrest of a Somerville man. Seven of the 10 robberies in Agassiz this year were part of this series.

As the graph to the right suggests, street robbery isn't subject to predictable seasonal patterns. During both 1998 and 1997, the peak months of the year were preceded or followed by the lowest months of the year. The graph does show what time of the year was most to blame for the 23% increase: August–November which, coincidentally or not, also showed the most activity in other crimes such as larcenies from motor vehicles.

We generally see higher numbers of street robberies during the months when the days are shorter (October to April). Street robbery is a crime of opportunity, and there is more opportunity in the dark than in the daylight.

Temporal analysis of street robberies is more revealing: more than a third occur between 8:00 p.m. and midnight, a quarter between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and a fifth between midnight and 4:00 a.m. Very few happen between 4:00 a.m. and noon. "Hot times" vary with the type of robbery. Predatory robberies (or "muggings") are most active between 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., while juvenile robberies and purse snatchings are more often a daytime occurrence between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Saturday is the most probable day for a street robbery, with 36 robberies on Saturdays throughout the year. Other than Saturday, no other day shows particularly high or low totals-each of the other six days ranged between 22 and 28 robberies for the year.

The Cambridge Police Department arrested 41 individuals for street robbery in 1998. All but two were males. The age of the offenders ranged from 13 to 59, with an average age of 25 and a mean age of 20. If acquaintance and domestic robberies are eliminated from consideration, the average age drops to 21 and the mean age to 18.

Seven of the individuals arrested were homeless. 14 were from Cambridge: nine from Area 4, three from the Inman/Harrington neighborhood, one from Cambridgeport, and one from Mid-Cambridge. Seven of those arrested were from Boston: four from Dorchester, one from Roxbury, one from East Boston, and one from Jamaica Plain. Three Somerville residents and two Malden men were also arrested.

Victims were 30% female and 70% male. A third of the robberies committed against women were purse snatchings; most of the rest were predatory. Both the median and average ages of the female street robbery victim were 40. Women were more likely then men to be victimized durng daytime hours (when most purse snatchings take place). Both the median and average ages of the male victims were 25.

The 19 commercial robberies were most often made by handgun, whether shown (eight incidents) or implied or threatened (two incidents). Commercial robbers were unarmed in six incidents, used a knife in two incidents, and wielded a broken bottle in a single case.

Street robberies are most often unarmed (114 incidents or 60% of the total cases). When a weapon was used, it was most commonly a knife (31 cases), followed by a shown handgun (13 cases), and an implied handgun (11 cases).

broken bottles, three baseball bats, two screwdrivers, a wrench, a pair of scissors, chemical spray, a machete, a chain, a rock, and a metal bar.

The likelihood of assault and injury was inversely proportional to the seriousness of the weapon. In none of the handgun robberies was anyone shot. The victim experienced injury in about 20% of the knife robberies, and in about 30% of the robberies with miscellaneous weapons. The greatest likelihood of injury came from unarmed robberies: 55% of unarmed robberies included an assault and battery on the victim. In half of these cases, in fact, the robbers "opened" the incident by punching or shoving the victim, without asking for valuables first. (This, of course, does not mean that victims should resist or struggle during handgun or knife robberies. Though the likelihood of assault may be small, the likelihood of serious injury or death if an assault does take place is quite high. Most victims, when confronted with a handgun or knife, sensibly hand over the cash without resistance, which is why injury in these cases is rare.)

1) Russell Field/Rindge Avenue: Almost all predatory robberies involving pairs or packs of men between 20 and 25. Victims are usually young male area residents walking home from the Alewife MBTA station or from the Fresh Pond commercial area. A traditional pattern area with a target time of 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.	2) Agassiz/Peabody: Not normally a pattern area, but when one robbery happens here, it is invariably followed by a host of others. The Crime Analysis Unit usually identifies one pattern per year in this area during the winter or early spring. In 1998, the pattern ran from January 29 to April 26. Suspects were a group of teenagers targeting people walking between Somerville and Harvard Square between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The arrest of a Somerville man stopped the series cold.
3) Harvard Square/Cambridge Common: An ecletic collection of robberies, with few similarities, reflecting the large and diverse commercial population in the area.	4) Quincy/Sullivan Squares: A couple of predatory and juvenile robberies over the year. No rhyme or reason. 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. most likely time.
5) Hoyt Field: a historical pattern area, robberies were not as numerous in 1998 as in previous years. Robberies here typically involve males in their early 20s robbing other men. All four robberies occurred between April and June, with 9:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. as the target times.	6) Cambridge Rindge & Latin School Area. A cluster of eight robberies. A couple of daytime (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) juvenile robberies is unsurprising, but this was accompanied by a January–March pattern of predatory robberies between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. that resulted in the arrest of five Boston and Cambridge teenagers.
7) Lower Cambridgeport: This is highlighted by a trio of daytime purse snatchings from the Hamilton/ Magazine/Pearl Streets area.	8) Central Square: A historical street robbery hot spot that affects four neighborhoods. Composed mostly of night time predatory, homeless, and drug-related robberies, this problem area has experienced dramatic reductions over the last 10 years, but still remains the city's most pressing street robbery phenomenon. The hot spot is Mass. Ave. between Sidney St. and Pleasant St., and two blocks on either side of Mass. Ave., between 8:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
9) Inman Square: One Sunday at the end of February, an 18-year-old Medford man robbed four people on the street in this area. He was arrested after robbing a convenience store in Inman Square (thus making an rare transition from street to commercial robbery).	10) East Camb./Harrington Border: An inexplicable collection of a predatory robbery, two carjackings, a purse snatch, and a bully boy robbery-all in close proximity, but with no other factors suggesting a relationship.
11) Galleria/First Street: Robberies in this hot spot are almost always juveniles robbing each other as they enter or exit the Galleria in the evening. We closed the year with a pair of such robberies on December 28, which led to the arrest of two Boston teens. Rounding out the robberies in this cluster are two purse snatchings tied to a daytime pattern that ran through East Cambridge in September.	12) Market Street Area: A couple of bully boy robberies in August and October, a dial-a-victim in April, and two domestic robberies.

Neighborhood	1990s Average	1997	1998	Change 97–98	% of 98 Total
East Cambridge	21	14	20	+43%	11%
MIT	6	2	1	-50%	3%
Inman/Harrington	14	9	14	+55%	7%
Area 4	50	21	36	+71%	19%
Cambridgeport	35	17	27	+59%	14%
Mid-Cambridge	20	20	20	None	11%
Riverside	17	16	20	+25%	11%
Agassiz	7	9	10	+11%	5%
Peabody	16	16	14	-13%	7%
West Cambridge	13	14	6	-57%	4%
North Cambridge	24	13	17	+31%	9%
Highlands	3	1	1	None	1%
Strawberry Hill	4	2	3	+50%	2%