Theft

Definition: Illegal taking of money or property from others with the intent of depriving rightful owners of their possessions

Significance: The most frequently committed crime in the United States, theft takes many forms and costs Americans billions of dollars in annual losses.

Theft is an inclusive term for various forms of taking property from others, including organizations and institutions, with the intent of permanently depriving the rightful owners of possession. Criminal codes in the United States classify theft under a variety of forms, but the underlying thread throughout all definitions is the same: the illegal taking of property with the intent of depriving rightful owners of their possessions.

Definitions

English common law defined two types of theft: grand larceny and petit larceny. The line separating the two hinged upon the value of the goods stolen. Grand larceny is a felony, while petit larceny is a misdemeanor. In common law, in which “theft,” “larceny,” and “stealing” are used interchangeably, specific conditions must be met for a theft to occur. First, something must be taken with the express intent of stealing it. Under this principle, thieves must take the property into their possession, thereby securing control of it. Next, the stolen goods must be moved from their rightful place, and a trespassing must occur in which the goods are removed from the rightful owner’s possession. Also, the stolen property must be something tangible, such as money or watches, and must belong to someone else. Finally, there must be an intent to steal.

Other variations of theft include using false pretenses, which occurs when an individual makes false representations, either spoken or written, with the intent to cheat or defraud a victim. The misrepresentation must be one of either past or present fact, and not of opinion or false promise. In addition, the offender must receive the title to the property, as possession alone does not denote a crime. Throughout legal history, gaining custody of property using false pretenses was called “larceny by trick.”

Another crime, similar to theft by false pretense but generally regarded as more serious, is a confidence game—or “con game”—known as “larceny by deception.” In this form of theft, falsehoods must take a more tangible form than mere spoken words. Embezzlement is often regarded as a form of theft, but slight differences exist. In embezzlement, the stolen property need only be legally possessed or accessed by the offender; in theft, the stolen property must actually be in the offender’s possession. An additional distinction centers on “conversion” of the property; that is, a sale or pledge regarding the embezzled property, or the spending of embezzled funds. Embezzlement commonly occurs in businesses, as when employees borrow money from their employers and never repay it.

Robbery is a violent form of theft that is often viewed as a combination of assault and battery and larceny—hence its definition, “aggravated larceny.” Each element of larceny is present in robbery, along with additional elements. Violence, or the threat of imminent violence, is the focal point of robbery, and the larceny must take place in the victim’s presence. Robbery may be said to occur when a person is forced under threat of violence to give something of value that the robber wants, such as money, jewelry, a watch, or a car. Moreover, the stolen items must be either on the victim’s body or nearby; otherwise, the larceny might be attempted without the threat of violence. For purposes of punishment, states distinguish between two different levels of robbery. Simple robberies occur when victims are verbally intimidated into handing over their possessions; armed robbery occurs when the offenders use deadly weapons in their crimes.

Burglary is a form of theft that involves unlawful trespass into a building with the intent to steal something of value. Force to gain entry need not be present for an offense to be classified as burglary. In most states, burglaries are classified in three categories: forcible entry, unlawful entry in which no force is used, and attempted forcible entry.

The passing of bad checks is considered a form of theft in all states, and this crime also takes a variety of forms. One form is the passing of a check from a financial institution in which one does not have an account. Another form is the passing of “short checks”—checks written on valid accounts that the check passers know to contain insufficient funds to cover their checks. Checks made out on such accounts “bounce.”

Receiving and buying stolen property are crimes when the receivers know that the goods they are getting have been stolen. Accepting stolen goods is a crime only when the receivers know that the goods have been stolen; merely suspecting that the goods might be stolen is often not enough to make the receipt of the goods a crime.

During the early twentieth century, a new form of theft became commonplace: securities theft, a crime in which fraudulent corporate securities are sold to unwary investors hoping to gain wealth. Every state has statutes requiring the licensing of sellers and registration of the securities to be sold. In addition, sale of unregistered commodities, the sale of securities by unlicensed agents, and the giving of false information are criminal offenses. In 1934, the Securities Exchange Act was passed, requiring registration, with a federal agency, of securities to be sold in interstate commerce, and providing for punishment of individuals for the sale of securities on the basis of false information.

During the late twentieth century, with the proliferation of credit cards and computers, identity fraud became a common crime. It, too, can be a form of theft. Offenders create fictitious identities or manipulate existing identities of other persons to evade detection or gain money illegally. Variations of identity fraud include identity theft, the appropriation of other persons’ individual identifying information; takeovers of personal accounts by appropriating social security numbers and personal account numbers; credit card fraud; and check fraud. The latter crime includes such offenses as check kiting, counterfeiting, and forgery.

History

Modern laws pertaining to theft have their origins in the ancient laws of larceny. For instance, trespass laws were designed to protect real property (that which is permanently affixed to the ground) from damage and destruction. Larceny laws were designed to protect movable personal property from being stolen. Until the Industrial Revolution, larceny was the only kind of theft defined in statutes and was a felony offense punishable by death.

Many famous law codes throughout history have dealt with theft. During the early eighteenth century BCE, the Babylonian king Hammurabi wrote at length about stealing. The code of Hammurabi contained 282 clauses detailing how Babylonians were to behave on a daily basis. Theft was punished severely, often resulting in the death penalty. Forms of theft punished with death included thefts from the palace entrance or temple treasury, receiving or selling stolen goods, making false claims regarding the goods of others, kidnapping (a form of theft), and burglary. However, the manner of death was not specified in the code. In the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, Moses received four methods of dealing with theft.

Before the twelfth century, all Western law originated in Roman law, also known as civil law. Much of that law is still used in European countries. During the late twelfth century reign of England’s King Henry II, court decisions were written down and cataloged for future use. When the courts heard new cases involving issues similar to those considered in earlier cases, they based their rulings on the earlier precedents. This practice became known as stare decisis, a Latin term for “let the decision stand.” Under this rule, once a legal issue has been resolved as it applied toward a particular set of facts, a court did not reconsider that legal issue in a later case if the circumstances were similar. Modern law is a continuation of this reasoning.

Prevalence

Although other types of theft still occur, identity fraud is the form of theft issue that is commanding the most attention in the early twenty-first century. Due to the phenomenal growth of electronic, or e-, commerce, the use of the Internet for bank transactions has grown exponentially. In 2012, Forbes reported that approximately one in twenty Americans had been a victim of identity theft during the year, 13 percent more than the previous year. In 2015, the US Bureau of Justice stated that approximately 17.6 million Americans sixteen years or older experienced identity theft in 2014. The US Bureau of Justice warned that the thefts cost Americans $24.7 billion in 2012 alone. The most common type of identity fraud is credit card theft, followed by making unauthorized purchases on existing accounts, phone and utility fraud, and bank fraud.

MasterCard and Visa, the two primary credit cards used in the United States, use similar definitions of what does and does not constitute fraud by identity theft. Both organizations consider identity theft to consist of two fraud categories—account takeovers and fraudulent applications. While the credit card companies use a narrow definition of identity theft-related fraud, federal and state law-enforcement organizations consider identity theft to pertain to virtually all categories of credit card fraud. The United States has suffered more credit card fraud than Europe and Canada; this is primarily because the United States' reluctance to implement the use of EMV (chip) cards. In 2012, card fraud in United States was a total of $5.33 billion, according to the Federal Reserve, a 14.5 percent increase from the previous year. However, US credit card companies had largely introduced EMV cards by the end of 2015.

Investigation and Prosecution

Theft investigations usually begin with complaints made to police. Investigators must first determine whether an offense has been committed, and, if so, under what section of the code it falls. Investigators must also determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant proceeding further. They then determine who the parties to the offense are. It is important to identify exactly who was involved in the offense and to what degree. This includes the perpetrator, aider, and abettor or counselor. These individuals have to identify any possible accessories after the fact, which are different from parties to the offense.

Each state has its own laws regarding the prosecution of theft, but uniform codes do exist. The criminal prosecution of thieves is contingent upon the types of theft for which they are charged.

Pickpocketing thefts include the removal of items such as wallets from victims’ purses and pockets. Pickpocketing usually occurs in crowded areas, public conveyances, and other places where the thieves can disguise their activities in the confusion of crowds. Similar to pickpocketing are thefts from persons who are unconscious, such as drunks. However, when the victims are physically manhandled or force is used that goes beyond incidental jostling, the thefts are prosecuted as strong-arm robberies. Closely related to pickpocketing is purse-snatching. As with stealing from unconscious victims, when more force is used than is necessary for merely snatching of a purse from a victim’s arm, then the theft is prosecuted as a strong-arm robbery.

Shoplifting is the theft of merchandise from business establishments. It differs from burglary in that offenders have legal access to the premises from which they steal, and no trespass or unlawful entry is involved. Shoplifting also includes the theft of merchandise displayed outside buildings such as department stores, hardware stores, supermarkets, fruit stands, gas stations, and other retail establishments.

In the federal Uniform Crime Reports, thefts of items from inside motor vehicles of all types are classified as larcenies; however, some state laws classify such thefts as burglaries. Items typically stolen from vehicles include cameras, clothes, and packages. Thefts of motor vehicle parts and accessories from the vehicles themselves are classified differently. Items commonly stolen include radios, tape decks, engines, hubcaps and wheel covers, manufacturers’ emblems, license plates, mirrors, and wheels.

Thefts from inside buildings can be prosecuted in several different ways. For example, thefts from buildings such as churches, restaurants, schools, libraries, and other public and professional offices during the hours when they are open to the public are treated as larceny thefts. However, if the same kinds of thefts are associated with unlawful entry, they are prosecuted as burglaries. Likewise, thefts from coin-operated devices and machines are treated differently if they are associated with illegal entry into the buildings in which the machines are housed. There are also a wide variety of miscellaneous forms of theft, such as thefts from fenced enclosures, boats, and airplanes.

Punishment

The lengths and severity of punishments for persons convicted of theft depend upon several factors. The first factor is the question of whether the crime is classified as a felony or misdemeanor. Felony convictions are punished by prisons terms, fines, or both. Misdemeanor convictions are usually punished by brief sentences to county jails, fines, or both. Punishments for theft in other countries can be far more severe. For example, in countries that follow Islamic law, thieves can be punished by having their hands cut off.

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