The surge in Gauteng mall robberies suggests that crime syndicates vary their targets and their tactics according to risk -- and that fighting such crime must take these strategies into account. Organised crime syndicates often carry out their own "risk assessment", shifting location and type of crime when police crime-fighting efforts make one kind of crime, and particular areas, too risky, says Johan Burger, a researcher at the Institute of Security Studies.
Michael Broughton, the crime prevention director for the National Goods Council of South Africa (NGCSA), said this variation in criminal tactics is known as "displacement". "It's like water: crime moves to where it's easier," he said. At least three people have died in recent attacks on Gauteng malls. Eliminating opportunities for syndicates to hit shopping malls will be a key priority for owners, Broughton said. In recent years shopping malls have been targets for store robberies and cash-in-transit attacks, but syndicates have now taken to robbing mall patrons in restaurants and pubs.
Shopping-centre design and the use of technology are among the factors the NGCSA will be considering to prevent robberies.
Source: Mail & Guardian
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