Grave tendency towards violence
‘Violent crimes’ refer to ‘the crimes with violent means or with threat of using violence’. In the investigations of crimes in 1993 and 1996, the share of violent crime remained rather low: 26.0 per cent and 28.4 per cent respectively, but it rose substantially to 43.9 per cent in 1999. This shows the recent trend that criminals tend to use violent means or threaten to use violence while committing crimes. Figure 11.7 shows the tendency of criminals to use violence.
Figure 11.7 % of violent crimes
Separate statistics on teenage criminals (Figure 11.8) show that the tendency to violent crimes is even more serious with teenagers. This is reflected in the fact that the share of violent criminals in total teenage criminals in 1999 increased by 22 percentage points as compared with 1993, exceeding the growth rate of 17.9 per cent for all criminals during this period. Furthermore, the share of teenage criminals using violent means in total teenage criminals reached 51.6 per cent in 1999, much higher than 43.9 per cent for all criminals. Comparatively speaking, teenage criminals tend more often to resort to violent means or threaten to use violence while committing crimes. The whole society should pay special attention to the fact that half of the teenage criminals resort to violence.
With violence Without violence
Figure 11.8 Violent crimes committed by teenagers
Analysis of the preparations for committing crimes Many criminals make careful preparations beforehand:
hiding and keeping watch, stealing and duplicating keys, exploring the way, looking for confederates, careful planning, preparing tools, surveying the objectives/targets, preparing traps, learning the skills needed, purposely establishing a relationship with or creating conflict with victims, and so on. The investigations show that three-quarters of the criminals make at least one kind of preparation before committing their crime (Table 11.9).
Table 11.9 Prior preparation for committing crimes
Year 1 kind 2 kinds 3 kinds 4 kinds 5 and No Unclassified Total
more kinds preparation
N % N % N % N % N % N % N N %
1996 884 40.6 296 13.6 169 7.8 112 5.1 94 4.3 620 28.5 0 2175 100
1999 571 41.2 305 22.0 118 8.5 28 2.0 12 0.8 353 25.5 0 1387 100
About 60–70 per cent of the criminals make one to three kinds of preparations for committing crimes, and this proportion is on the rise in recent years. This shows that the criminals are getting psychologically more mature and usually make elaborate plans before committing crimes. This also reflects, to a certain extent, a tendency to become more professional. Among the most common types of prior preparations, the following three are at the top: ‘surveying the objectives/targets’; ‘preparing tools’ and ‘careful planning’; and ‘looking for confederates’.
1993 1996 1999
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
With violence Without violence
Analysis of tools used
It has become a distinct feature to use tools to realise criminal objectives in modern society (Figure 11.9).
Figure 11.9 Use of tools in committing crimes
Figure 11.9 shows that the proportion of criminals that did not use tools dropped from 45.3 per cent in 1993 to 42.2 per cent in 1999. In other words, the number of criminals using tools when committing crimes is on the rise.
Many criminals use various kinds of tools when committing crimes: military firearms, gunpowder firearms, electric guns, false firearms, explosives, various kinds of knives, police appliances, poisonous substances, narcotics, transportation instruments, telecommunication instruments, production tools, clubs, rope, computers, contracts, trademarks, financial or commercial bills, forged bills, printing machines, etc. The most frequently used tools in committing crimes are gunpowder firearms, electric guns, fake firearms, various kinds of knives, transportation instruments, telecommunication instruments, and production tools.
Table 11.10 shows that the number of criminals using the first three kinds of tools was on the rise if we compare data in 1999 with 1993.
Table 11.10 Use of tools in committing crimes
Year 1 type 2 types 3 or more types No tools Total
N % N % N % N % N %
1993 1927 49.9 165 4.3 17 0.4 1750 45.3 3859 100
1996 1939 43.0 394 8.7 94 2.1 2085 46.2 4512 100
1999 1615 47.9 283 8.4 48 1.4 1423 42.2 3369 100
Without tools Without tools
CONCLUSION
The patterns in change of crimes in Tianjin in the past decade show that criminal cases are becoming more and more serious in many respects during this period of rapid economic development. Our public security is facing a rather grim situation. The characteristics of transitional society are objective reality independent of human will. For any country in the world, it is hard to avoid these costs during the modernisation process.
Lewis Shirley, an American criminologist, argues that countries in all the main continents are recently experiencing a transition from rural society to industrialised and urbanised society.1 Though the developing countries vary somewhat because of their different social, cultural, political and economic features, hardly any country can avoid an increase of crimes – one of the striking results of this development process. With the launching of the modernisation drive, various countries where criminal incidence was originally rather low began to suffer from a substantial increase in crime. Crime has become a serious threat to urban order and the social development process.
Confronted with the trend to more serious crime, on the one hand, we should understand its inevitability during the period of social transition, and realise and prepare for the new issues concerning crime that will follow China’s WTO accession. On the other hand, we should consciously and proactively seek to minimise the costs of modernisation. We must strengthen scientific research on contemporary patterns of crimes and the changes of the above-mentioned four patterns of crimes during the social transition, which is of great significance in exploring measures of crime control. The pattern concerning the change of criminals should make us devote more attention to rural crimes, crimes committed by immigrants, middle-aged and elderly criminals, and female criminals. The pattern concerning the objectives and types of crimes should make us conduct serious research the rapid increase in cases of robbery, murder and injury, and economic crimes. The pattern concerning the time of crimes provides a scientific basis for deciding the focuses of crime control and the disposition of the police force. The pattern concerning the means of crimes shows the importance of attaching enough attention to violent crimes, especially those committed by teenagers. Only by field research can we find out the patterns of crimes and hence gain the initiative in crime control.
1 Crimes and Modernization: Impacts of Industrialization and Urbanization on Crimes, Qunzhong Press, 1986, p. 52.