The Crime of Looting

What is looting? It is the act of taking goods (stealing) during unusual circumstances such as the occurrence of a natural disaster,  unrest (e.g, during a riot), and others. Looting is charactereized by the mob mentality; i.e., because others are doing it, others are encouraged to join the foray.

Looting is more than just stealing. It is used interchangeably with plundering and pillaging and refers to the stealing of goods during or after a war, natural disaster or other violent and unforeseen catastrophes and incidents. A more modern sense of looting happens when huge corporations or strong-arm governments take private assets and belongings.

Whenever a natural disaster occurs, there is also an increase in the frequency of looting. It may be because a natural disaster throws everything into chaos, with a visible lack of order. With no law enforcement around, the chances of being caught and prosecuted for stealing during this time is highly unlikely. Looting in cases of natural disasters is also characterized by groups of people engaging in the same activity. This bandwagon mentality makes it easy for them to assume that since everyone else is doing it, it makes it okay to do it yourself too. However, in more extreme cases, looting may be critical for the survival of the individual and his or her family, especially if food and medicine are the items that are taken.

Looting - The Extreme Side

Unfortunately, the same extreme circumstances may apply when meting out justice to looters during times of natural calamities. There may not be any time and resources to go through a fair but lengthy trial and in some countries, looters could get shot in the process of carrying out their crime.

It is the same chaos and disorder that works against them, since private citizens may not be able to wait for law enforcement officials to arrive and could just take matters into their own hands. Sometimes, shots may be fired by officials, not so much to cause any harm or injury to anyone, but simply as a call for the crowd to disperse and for massive looting to cease. When the numbers increase, the looting could escalate into a riot and more people could get hurt as it happens.

Looting - What’s Being Done To Prevent It

Once the situation normalizes and looters are caught by the police, then there could be strict sanctions imposed. For starters, there could be imprisonment for the guilty party for periods from five to ten years.

The widespread looting that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans has forced lawmakers to take a long and hard look at the sanctions on looting, especially since it became an uncontrollable problem following the natural disaster. While capital punishment has been suggested, it is generally regarded as too harsh a method of punishment for what is generally a method of stealing. But stringent impositions have to be placed to prevent a repeat of what has happened and to ensure that citizens are more aware of their actions and the dire consequences they could face afterwards.

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