Armed Robbery in Australia: 2007 National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program and Annual Report

• NCJ Number: 231582
• Author(s): Lance Smith; Erin Louis
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 57 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: AIC Reports: Monitoring Reports 11

Annotation

This report presents findings from the National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARMP) on armed robbery in Australia for 2007.

Abstract

Key findings from the National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARP) for 2007 include: first, while the number of victims of armed robbery has fluctuated from year to year, there has been a decrease of approximately 6 percent in the number of victims compared with 2006 data. Second, the average age of an armed robbery victim was 30 years of age with 64 percent of male victims and 51 percent of female victims under the age of 30 years. Third, organizations or commercial premises accounted for 26 percent of victims recorded in NARMP, and fourth during 2007, there were 6,086 incidents of armed robbery recorded in Australian States and Territories. Fifth, unspecified retailers were the most common site of incidents involving both an organization and an individual victim (32 percent). Sixth, firearms were used in a higher percentage of robberies in banking and financial settings than in other locations (49 percent). Seventh, the highest average gains for offenders were from incidents where a firearm was use ($1,726) and the lowest average was associated with 'syringe' robberies ($483). Eighth, in 2007 data suggests multiple individual victims were more likely to be targeted by multiple offenders. Ninth, firearms were more than twice as likely to be used in a high-yield armed robbery when compared with other robberies, and tenth high-yield armed robberies, involve some level of planning and organization with a carefully selected target that is likely not to be in the offender's local area. This report from the NARP examines all armed robbery victims and the armed robberies they were involved in which were reported to police in all Australian jurisdictions in 2007. Key findings are reported in three sections, victim-based analyses, characteristics of armed robbery incidents, and characteristics of armed robbery offenders. Tables, figures, references, and appendix