The crime of robbery is one of the complex structures. It consists of two separate crimes, namely theft and coercion. Robbery is forcefully taking what does not belong to you. Criminal law theory treats robbery as an aggravated type of theft. Criminologists who study the thieves’ trends have identified four types of robbery offender’s namely chronic offender, professional, intensive, and occasional robbery offenders. The chronic, intensive, and occasional offenders are those thieves characterized as occasional, opportunistic who carry out their activities with little planning and skills in order to meet their pressing financial needs. They are often broadly referred to as opportunist robbers or amateurs. They are characterized by their tendency of using impulsive violence with low sophistication of their operations, i.e., their operations lack caution and have poor planning. Mostly, the offenders are typically young juveniles males.
Their incidences of robbery target the weak, poor, and elderly. On the other hand, professionals approach their stealing activities as an occupation. The characteristics associated with professional robbery include that the offenders have synchronized technical skills used to carry out their operations. In addition, the offenders enjoy the status accorded by society and the law enforcement department. In most cases, the offenders are in an established criminal organization where they share their values with their followers. They not only learn from each other but also protect each other. Their groups have clearly defined roles and rules. They target banks and other larger financial institutions. Violence is only used when it is typically required.