LOTS of the "everyone knows" data on crime is dead wrong. For home burglaries, try this (all under the numbered titles are quoted, some have links maybe). Disagree: fine. Do as you will.
1) Definition. TL;DR: Def: Home Invasion is a robbery of a dwelling.
In general, home invasion robberies have the following five features:
- Offender entry is forced and/or unauthorized (except in some drug-related robberies)
- Offenders seek confrontation (i.e., the intent is to rob)
- Confrontation occurs inside dwellings
- Offenders use violence and/or the threat of violence
- Offenders demand and take money and/or property4
2) Time of day. TL;DR: majority during the day
In the United States, most residential burglaries—about 60 percent of reported offenses—occur in the daytime, when houses are unoccupied.
11 This proportion reflects a marked change in recent decades: in 1961, about 16 percent of residential burglaries occurred in the daytime; by 1995, the proportion of daytime burglaries had risen to 40 percent.
12 This change is generally attributed to the increase in women working outside the home during those decades—leaving houses vacant for much of the day. Thus, burglaries are often disproportionately concentrated on weekdays.
3) Burglary vs Robbery. TL;DR: Burglars want your stuff, not you.
Occupancy. Most burglars do not target occupied houses, taking great care to avoid them. Some studies suggest burglars routinely ring doorbells to confirm residents' absence. How long residents are away from home is a strong predictor of the risk of burglary,
26 which explains why single-parent, one-person and younger-occupant homes are more vulnerable. The following houses are at higher risk:
- Houses vacant for extended periods. Vacation or weekend homes, and those of residents away on vacation, are particularly at risk of burglary and revictimization.27 Signs of vacancy—such as open garage doors or accumulated mail—may indicate that no one is home.
- Houses routinely vacant during the day. Houses that appear occupied—with the lights on, a vehicle in the driveway, visible activity, or audible noises from within—are less likely to be burglarized.28 Even houses near occupied houses generally have a lower risk of burglary.29
- Houses of new residents. Neighborhoods with higher mobility—those with shorter-term residents—tend to have higher burglary rates, presumably because residents do not have well-established social networks.30
- Houses without dogs. A dog's presence is a close substitute for human occupancy, and most burglars avoid houses with dogs. Small dogs may bark and attract attention, and large dogs may pose a physical threat, as well.31 On average, burglarized houses are less likely to have dogs than are non-burglarized houses, suggesting that dog ownership is a substantial deterrent.32 (Security alarms, discussed below, are also a substitute for occupancy.)
4) Targets of Home Invasions. TL;DR: Robberies are vastly more risky that burglaries so it better pay off with drugs or cash, and often unreported.
Drugs are usually the common factor in home invasions. Saucier said marijuana dealers can be targeted because that drug fetches more money on the streets. The captain said sometimes a crew would work together to target dealers.
There are several common motives for home invasion robberies. The most obvious is to steal valuable items, such as cash, drugs, or property, which can be sold for cash. Another is retaliation, such as against a rival drug dealer, gang member, or domestic partner; robbery is part of the retaliation. Another is sexual assault in which robbery is committed incidentally. In some communities,
home invasion robberies are principally drug rip-offs in which the target is cash or drugs, or both, and both offenders and victims are involved in the illegal drug trade.
5
They prefer victims about whom they have inside information and, long before the robbery, may monitor them or talk to others who know their routines.
23 In drug-related home invasions, offenders often conduct surveillance before the robbery. Some even meet with victims days before the attack to ensure that drugs and cash will be on hand during the robbery...
24
Home invasion robberies have captured local headlines in recent months: a Parkland woman was sexually assaulted and a lone robber held a Lauderhill family at gunpoint in a bedroom.
These cases are shocking, but they are the exception, police say.
Most home-invasion robberies happen among drug dealers and gang members, meaning victims are not usually targeted at random. For more typical scenarios, investigators point to cases in which robbers stormed makeshift marijuana labs in Miami-Dade County to steal from rival drug dealers, and gang members in Palm Beach County robbed and beat each other.
“The majority of victims have some association with their attackers,” said Sgt. George Grosso, with the Palm Beach County Violent Crimes division. “Most of our home invasions are drug-related — they know where they can get the drugs or the money.”
[Note, even cases that are reported as innocent nice suburbanites as above, later it is always revealed IME that they had some shady connections so there was an expectation of finding illicit goods or ill gotten cash]
