A larceny means stealing others\' properties, as one of crime types most closely
connected with common people. Along with fraud, it is the mostly common property
crime; in particular, the largest number of people are exposed to a burglary.
This study aims to find the schemes to utilize private guards according to the
characteristics of burglary. To do so, a questionnaire survey was conducted into an actual
condition of official statistics of burglary and into the criminals of burglary, with a view
to understanding the behavioral characteristics of burglary and suggesting defense
mechanisms to prevent the crime. Burglary is not just a major crime to be dealt with by
public guards like the police but also one to be handled increasingly more by private guards.
It is why this study intends to identify how to utilize private guards in preventing the crime.
Investigations were made into 208 burglars, who were inmates of 10 correctional
institutions (prisons or detention houses) across the country.
It is found that only about 24% of burglars committed the crime through rational
choice, about 60.7% were feared of their arrest at the time of their crime, and a very
high percentage (69.9%) of them were assured of their successful crime.
Burglaries usually happened at night, mostly in a summer day when everybody goes away from
home for vacation. Primarily, the crimes took place in a private house of urban residential quarters.
What burglars considered mostly for target selection includes ‘profitability,’ followed
by ‘surveillance’ and ‘risk.’ Most (42%) of them committed the crime for the first time
ever. Generally, they were not inclined to commit the crime while under the influence
of alcohol or drug, which might prevent them from making reasonable decisions. 73.9%
of the criminals said that they committed the crime singly without any accomplices.
Key Word : Burglary, Private Security, Rational Choice, Correctional Institution, Target
Selection