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Armed Robbery in Australia: 2003 National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program Annual Report

NCJ Number
209949
Author(s)
Maria Borzycki; Yuka Sakurai; Jenny Mouzos
Date Published
2004
Length
61 pages
Annotation
This report presents summary information on armed robberies, armed robbery victims, and armed robbery offenders derived from the National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARMP) in Australia for the reporting year of 2003.
Abstract
The National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARMP) was implemented in response to a 1999 resolution of the chief law enforcement officers in Australia and New Zealand. The program was established in order to better understand the use of weapons in the commission of a crime. Specifically, the NARMP’s objectives are to monitor trends in armed robbery, particularly trends in weapon use, identify changes in trends, and provide insight into the factors underpinning these trends. This annual report summarizes the findings that emerged from analysis of the first year of NARMP data, January 2003 to December 2003. The NARMP contains information describing nearly 9,000 reported cases of armed robberies. The report examines and provides data on the characteristics of armed robbery which include; incidents, offenders, and victims. Major findings from the NARMP show that Australian armed robberies in 2003: (1) occurred mostly in retail or other public spaces; (2) involved mostly threats with knives; (3) took place mostly in the evening and early morning; (4) netted robbers different types of property, with cash the type of item most commonly taken; (5) resulted in large variation in the value of offender takings, ranging from $0 to $500,000; (6) were mostly perpetrated against organizations and by predominantly males between the age of 15 and 34; and (7) were slightly different in form depending on whether victims were individual persons or organizations. Tables, references, and technical appendix