Introduction
Over the years, there has been an increase in the rate of property and computer crimes. Some of these crimes include; kidnapping, robbery, theft, burglary and internet crime. The introduction of computers and internet has accelerated the rate at which these crimes are taking place. For example, most people have taken advantage of the internet to conduct illegal businesses such as drug trafficking and others use it to rob people off their money in the name of trade. According to Siegel (2008), a computer crime can be defined as the intentional access to any computer system or network for the purpose of developing or performing any scheme or pretense, to swindle, extort, and obtain money or property from another person. This paper will give an in-depth analysis of kidnapping, false imprisonment, robbery, burglary, theft and computer crimes.
Kidnapping
This is the taking away of an individual forcibly against the person’s will. If the kidnap involves a woman, it is referred to as abduction while kidnapping of children is called child stealing. Kidnapping is a criminal offence liable for jurisdiction in common law. However, this varies from nation to nation which is determined by the law of jurisdiction applied in that nation (Jacobs & Judge, 2006). Kidnapping has been implied to mean the act of leading someone away by force or fraudulent persuasion. It can also be implied to mean the secreting or holding a person in place where he is not likely to be found.
Kidnapping can also be said to be the unlawful grabbing of a person with the intention of carrying him/her away. It is a problem that has been a cause of alarm in many nations’ especially United States. The most common victims of kidnappers are women and children since they are easily manipulated. Kidnapping comes in different forms and level all of which attracts diverse castigations. In United States, jurisdiction of kidnappers is based on the length and purpose of the kidnap, for example if one individual abducts another person for the purpose of ransom, such kind of a kidnap is referred to as first degree kidnapping. The second degree kidnapping is a less serious offence compared to the first degree and it attracts an imprisonment of one to eight years.
False Imprisonment
This is a restraint on the liberty of a person (without lawful cause) either by under duress detaining the party in the streets (against his will) or by impounding him in jail without due cause. False imprisonment can also be defined as the privately carrying off of a person and keeping him/her in a confined place. It is an offence which is punishable by law. Key elements in false imprisonment are: intention, total restraint of the claimant and awareness of the claimant that he is been unlawfully imprisoned.
Many people take false imprisonment to mean, the detention of a person without cause either by the government or private entity. Examples of false imprisonment include: restraining of bank employees and customers by robbers, detention of customers by shop attendants or owners, detention of individuals by police without lawful cause, among others (Walston-Dunham, 2008). False imprisonment can be considered as an act of crime against a person or the public in general. It can be said to have two elements: a criminal act and an evil intent. The government (which refers to the people) prosecutes the offenders on the basis of the intent to commit the criminal act. If a person is found detaining another person without an intention to do so, such a situation cannot be termed as false imprisonment.
Robbery
Robbery is a criminal act that involves forcibly taking or trying to take another person’s property by enacting fear upon the person. In law, robbery takes the definition of permanently taking property from an individual. In most cases, people are robbed off their properties that are of value such as stocks from a shop, money, home appliances among others. In some instances, robbers use weapons such as guns in order to threaten the persons being robbed.
There are three common types of robberies namely: armed robbery, aggravated robbery, and Highway robbery. Robbery is a criminal act performed with the intention of forcibly taking property from other people for another person’s benefits. It is a serious offence and punishable by law in accordance to the extent of the crime (Boldrewood, 2009). If the offenders are found committing the crime, they can be shot if they fail to surrender or if they run away from the police.
Burglary
Burglary is a criminal act that involves breaking a building and entering in to commit an offence. The offence that is usually committed is theft. There are various elements that are involved in the offence; they include but not limited to trespass, breaking, and entry, dwelling, nighttime, and intent. Trespass occurs when a person enters a building without the consent of the owner. In most cases, it occurs through misrepresentation of a person’s identity (Siegel, 2008). After trespassing, the law offender creates an opening into the building which he uses to enter into the dwelling of the victim (dwelling refers to the house where the victim sleeps even if he may not be in during the time of the burglary).
Burglary normally occurs at night when everybody is assumed to be asleep, however, some jurisdiction have ceased to recognize nighttime as one of the element in burglary arguing that it can also occur during the day time especially when the victim is deemed to be absent. In common law, a person’s intent to commit the crime is investigated before he is persecuted. Almost all the above elements have to be present before jurisdictions takes place. Burglary differs from robbery in that, in robbery there is neither building involved nor entry which are major constitute in burglary.
Theft
Theft is taking other person’s property without permission, either by force or peacefully. It is a criminal act that is punishable by law. A person is said to have stolen another person’s property if he takes it without due consent of the owner. The term theft is also used as a short form of robbery or burglary. A person who carries out the criminal act of theft is referred to as a thief and the act itself is referred to as stealing. The criminal jurisdiction of theft can take the form of the two examples of crime described above (robbery and burglary) depending on the circumstances surrounding theft.
Computer / High-Technology Crimes
There are various types of computer crimes which uses high technology such as cyber crime which includes, on-line pornography, drug trafficking, among others. Internet drug trafficking has been facilitated by the lack of face to face communication. Most businesses have adopted e-business form of marketing. It has made marketing easier because one does not have to move to the physical location of the end users. In the tradition setting, information regarding drugs was kept secret and was only revealed to specific people. In the modern society everyone can access information concerning drugs from the internet.
Pornography is defined as an overt representation of literature or films which are expressive of sexual activities. Online-pornography therefore refers to overt representation of sexual activities through the use of internet. Pornography in all of its forms is meant to stimulate erotic feelings as opposed to emotions (Smith, et al. 2004). Computer based crimes are difficult to investigate because the offenders use high technology devices that are able to delete the messages after communication is over. However, the government, through technology, has devised ways of detecting the offenders if such crimes take place. Their jurisdiction is dependent on the type of crime committed and its consequences to the victims.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that property crimes have been rising due to lack of an efficient security system. People have lost most of their valuable assets such as home appliances and business stocks through theft. Kidnapping refers to taking away of an individual forcibly against his will or the unlawful grabbing of a person with the intention of carrying him/her away. On the other hand false imprisonment can be defined as the privately carrying off of a person and keeping him/her in a confined place. Robbery refers to the criminal act that involves forcibly taking or trying to take another person’s property by enacting fear upon the person. Burglary differs from robbery in that; the former involves breaking a building and entering in to commit an offence. Theft is taking other person’s property without permission, either by force or peacefully. It can occur in the form of robbery or burglary. Last but not least, computer crimes refer to the use of high technology such as use of the internet to commit offenses. They include drug trafficking, on-line pornography among others.
Reference List
Boldrewood, R. (2009). Robbery under Arms. Middlesex: Echo Library.
Jacobs, T. & Judge (2006). What are My Rights? (EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition. New York: ReadHowYouWant.com.
Siegel, L. J. (2008). Criminology. New York: Cengage Learning.
Smith, R. G., et al. (2004). Cyber criminals on trial. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Walston-Dunham, B. (2008). Introduction to Law. New York: Cengage Learning