Criminology

The crime pattern planned by Jay along with his two friends to assist him was now underway. They entered the restaurant washroom, put on their masks and after checking their weapons, entered the restaurant, fired a shot in the air, and yelled for everyone to get down on the floor face downwards.

Everyone present complied. Tim, who had been assigned the task of getting the money, whilst Jay and John held off the others, obtained the keys and tried opening the safe.  An alarm was triggered off, and this panicked the three who ran out of the restaurant and made their getaway in the waiting taxi.

Their meticulously laid out plan had failed, as they had not anticipated the alarm. The sudden triggering of the alarm and the confusion it created when the safe was touched, led to their abandoning the proposed theft.  Little did they know that as part of the Police strategy in crime prevention in the area, the public had been advised to take steps in crime prevention. The restaurant had on its part, through the advise of security consultants, put in place additional security measures. The setting up of an alarm system, which did not allowing the opening of the safe or tampering with it, was one .  The system required that it first be disarmed before the safe was opened. This was known only to the restaurant manager and the cashier. In his rush to get the money, Jays accomplice had triggered off the alarm, by trying to open the safe.

The police who were at the crime scene within five minutes, got a full version of what had transpired and were able to arrive at some definite evidence. They first surmised that the crime had been committed by non-professionals, probably first timers. This was evident from the fact that they had not considered security systems and disabling them. Secondly the manner, in which they panicked and ran, indicated to the police, that they had not been in such a situation prior to this. Police also concluded that their efforts at theft had been based on what they had seen and planned. This indicated that they had been to the crime scene before. All this information was useful in profiling the criminals. The Police concluded from the available evidence that their  prevention measures had disrupted and prevented a crime from being carried out.