FREE Sample Criminal Records Search!
|
|
Want a FREE Sample Search From Our Top Rated Site?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* We will NEVER rent, trade or release your information to any third party for any reason - ever.
|
|
Burglary - Unlawful Entering
What is burglary? Although easily associated with
theft,
burglary can have different motives and is not in all cases the crime
we think it is. Find out when it is not and which elements actually
make up burglary as a crime.
Burglary
is a crime that involves breaking into another person’s
private property such
as a house, school, place of worship, business place, motor vehicle,
stable,
garage, or air craft with the intention to commit a crime. Thus,
burglary is
also referred to as breaking and entering.
Burglary
is often related to theft but can also relate to other crimes. However,
lawful
break-ins to a person’s property such as for the purpose of
human and/or animal
rescue, extinguishing fire, lawful searches, or police seizure and
confiscation
are not considered burglary.
Moreover,
the act of breaking-in should be committed against the will of the
property
owner. So a locksmith who picks a door lock so the owner can enter his
property
is not a burglar. Also, an individual who takes shelter in
another’s property
during life-threatening situations cannot be considered a burglar as
well.
Most
jurisdictions in the US treat burglary as a felony that involves
trespassing of
private property. The intent of burglary is not necessarily theft, but
vandalism, arson, kidnapping, rape, and even murder. As such, burglary
can be more
than just property crime.
As
a common
law violation though, burglary is defined as unlawful breaking into a
house at
night to commit theft. However, many jurisdictions already expanded
this
definition so as to include break-ins during the day and with the
intent of
committing felony.
Many
states
treat night-time burglary as a more serious crime. California for one,
used to
classify night-time burglary as first degree and day-time burglary as
second
degree.
However,
new statutes now use the building type where the crime occurred as the
basis
for the gravity of the cases. Burglary of residential dwellings is
treated as a
more serious crime than burglary of other building types.
The
elements
for the crime of burglary include:
Trespassing
– entering without permission and/or knowledge of the owner.
Mens
Rea – the state of mind of the offender when the crime took
place. It must be proven that the perpetrator broke in with the intent
of committing theft or other types of felony.
Punishment
for burglary can go up to 10 years imprisonment for non-dwelling
properties and
up to 14 years for dwelling properties.
For
cases of aggravated burglary, a maximum penalty of life imprisonment
can be
imposed. Burglary becomes aggravated when the offender is proven to be
in
possession of, not necessarily used, a weapon of offense, a firearm (or
even imitation
firearm), and/or an explosive upon breaking into the property.
Burglary -
Dwindling Trends
While
burglary
continues to be rampant, studies show that the number of burglaries
have been
declining over the years. Also, the risk of a person being burglarized
has been
reduced to half since 1995.
Nevertheless,
millions of burglaries happen every year and the yearly cases still
tend to outnumber
the estimated figure for that given year.
It
should also be noted that the more populous regions of Southern US have
the
highest number of burglary offenses. Also, metropolitan areas have the
highest burglary
rates of all types of community accounting for more than 80% of total
nationwide burglary cases.
===
We all want to think we are safe but are we? If you want to know more
about the
different types of crimes committed today, RecordsSiteReviews.com
is offering FREE ACCESS to
its Criminal
Records Information section.
If you have a nagging suspicion on someone, run
a criminal check on him or
her today !
|
