Halifax robberies more violent if robber knows victim

When it comes to robberies in Halifax, it's the people you know who will hurt you the most, according to the regional police.

If a person gets robbed by a stranger on the street, most times they'll only be threatened with violence and not hurt. But if the robber knows the victim, that person stands a greater chance of actually being attacked.

"I've seen people that are known to each other get more injured in a street-level robbery where they recognize one another andthere's a demand for cashor drugs or whatever," said Det. Greg Robertson of the Halifax Regional Police.

"I've seen those victims sustain more injuries than your total-stranger, street-level robbery."

The offence of robbery is defined byviolence, either the threat of injury, or an actual attack whensomeone tries to take another person's property. It differs from theft, which doesn't involve violence.

Most people robbed on the street

Statistics obtained by CBC News through freedom-of-information laws show that from Jan. 1, 2012, until June 30, 2017, 960 robberies were reported to the Halifax Regional Police.

Many of those robberiestookplace late at night when people were walking home, Robertson said.

Since the start of 2012, 306 people were robbed on the street.

Robbers are often motivated by the desire to feed an addiction toillegal drugs, pay off debt, get extra cash or occasionally as a last-ditch effort to get necessities like food, Robertson said.

Victims are sometimes simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or they're targeted because they're wearing an expensive set of headphonesor are spotted with a phone that the robber wants, Robertson said.

In other cases, robberies are planned well in advance.

"I've seen it, you know,where the robbery is related to something that happened two to three days ago or a week ago and they know that the victim is going to this event and they meet them there," said Robertson.

The social media-home invasion connection

Home invasion robberies often target someone therobber knows. Many times the robber has been to the victim's home before and spotted something desirable, so a plan is hatchedto rob the person, said Robertson.

There were 126 robberies in people's homes in the last fiveand a half years.

Robbersdon't always need to get insidea home to know there's something they want inside, as people sometimes display their belongings a little too prominently online, Robertson said.

He's even seen people posting pictures on social media ofstolen or illegal goods such as drugs or weapons.

"If you do display these things, you do pose a greater risk of home invasion," said Robertson.

Robbery hot spots

While most robberies tookplace on the street or in homes,Haligonians ran into trouble at a few other common sites over the last five and a half years, including:

• Convenience stores and gas stations - 97 robberies.
• Parking lots - 90 robberies.
• Open fields, woods and parks - 90 robberies.
• Bars and restaurants - 36 robberies.
• Banks and financial institutions - 24 robberies.
• Other commercial/corporate places - 125 robberies.
• Other locations - 66

The most commonly stolen items werecash, purses or wallets, phones and large electronics like TVs and stereos.

Robertson said robbers usually steal cash from businesses rather than people on the street because they know most people don't carry much cash anymore.

"Street-level robberies you're more so looking at what's being displayed on the person as they walk by if they have a purse or they have a set of nice headphones or they're on their phone, flashy jewelry, stuff like that."