Employee Theft Characteristics

Study Notes

Few employees who steal from employers have a long-term commitment to their employers or are in dire financial straits at the time of the offense.
Motives for employee theft include:
- Explanations of offending differing between types of staff and their circumstances.
- Debt, opportunities, and feelings of unfair treatment.
- Revenge for perceived injustices, inadequate remuneration, self-enrichment, and assistance to others.
- Awareness of other employees stealing, personal financial difficulty, remoteness of being caught, and belief that if caught, they will not be prosecuted or punished.

Critics say that situational crime prevention causes displacement (moving the crimes to another location).
Different forms of possible displacement include:
- Temporal: committing the intended crime at a different time.
- Spatial: committing the intended crime in a different place.
- Target: switching the crime focus from one target to another.
- Tactical: committing the intended crime using a different method.
- Functional: committing a different type of crime from the type initially intended.

The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) aims to influence the operations of various departments, including Safety, Justice, Correctional Services, Welfare, Defence, Intelligence, Health, and Education.
The strategy includes joint decision making by directors-general and ministers of NCPS departments.
The four crime prevention pillars or models are:
- Integrated criminal justice model
- Crime prevention by means of environmental design and control
- Promotion of community values and education
- Prevention of transnational crimes

Focus:
- Restricting the opportunities to commit crimes, especially those with low detection and prosecution rates
- Security for homes and shopping centers, upgrading existing areas and security for new structures
- Encouraging overall environmental security through information and publicity campaigns
- Urban development, transport systems, and residential areas
Programmes:
- Effective administration and communication programme
- Identification system for marking articles to prevent fraud and theft
- Programme for combating vehicle theft
- Programme focusing on corruption and commercial crime

Basic premises:
- Inform the community about how the criminal justice system functions
- Promote community values and norms that reject crime and violence
- Teach non-violent solutions to conflict in the community
- Make members of the community aware of steps they can take to reduce the risk of victimisation
- Implement school-based programmes that teach life skills, non-violent problem-solving techniques, how the criminal justice system functions, and respect for human rights
Programmes:
- Public education programmes
- School programmes
- Information disseminated via the media
- Mediation programmes

Objectives:
- Control the smuggling of various commodities, such as drugs and diamonds, and control the trade in protected species
- Control the influx of illegal immigrants
- Prevent organised crime
- Prevent money laundering
Programmes:
- Cooperation with neighbouring states and international organisations, such as Interpol
- Cooperation with other departments and the public
- Increased policing and intelligence control

The station commissioner is responsible for managing crime combating and crime detection functions within the station area, including:
- Crime prevention
- Support services
Operational services respond reactively after a crime is reported or uncovered by the unit.
Crime intelligence and crime detection services investigate crimes and provide additional assistance in the investigation of such cases.
Support services, such as management, financial, and administrative services, human resource management, and logistical services, fulfill a support function to assist members of the operational and investigative units.