Looting

Looting of food aid

Looting of food aid

Looting is theft that occurs during an apparent, usually temporary, absence of authority and order, resulting in loss of property due to this theft, and usually destruction of other property in order to steal. This lapse of can be caused by either lack of resources(e.g., terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001), lack of organization (e.g., 1992 Los Angeles riots), or absence of a command structure(e.g., 2003 invasion of Iraq and Hurricane Katrina). Causes of these events range from a natural disaster, a war, an evacuation or a blackout. The instability caused by these events to a society, and the possible damage to infrastructure creates an environment where government resources are somehow restricted, due to their own evacuation, or due to their already being committed to the destabilizing event, and also due to the failure of deterrents such as phones to report incidents, lighting to discourage them, and security systems to detect them.

Reasons behind looting

Looting is often opportunistic. The apparent lapse in authority enables people to believe that they won't be discovered or charged. Looting also cascades through a group of people as one person believes that his contribution to the crime is lessened because someone else is looting, too. People may also believe that if the goods are not stolen, then they will simply be wasted, and see their act as a lesser of two evils. Finally, a looter may believe that if he doesn't steal the property, it will simply be stolen by someone else and he will gain nothing from his obedience. Looters are usually locals of the site of the disaster, and as such, may have lost a lot of their own property. This further encourages them to steal as it is reducing the negative impact of the disaster.

In many countries, even in Western democracies that otherwise ban the death penalty, extraordinary measures may be taken against looters, during times of crisis. Looters may be summarily shot by the police, army, or property owners. Extraordinary measures, combined with an impressive show of force, help to discourage looting and to disperse crowds that would now find a normal show of force non-threatening. This is also common police practice in discouraging potential riots, which are often associated with looting, from escalating.

The shooting of looters is also to prevent further damage to the economy. However, this also shows that many societies value the economy more than human life.

Looting in the world

Without a police presence, looting will nearly always occur in large scale disaster situations.

Following the death of Valentinian III in 455, the Vandals invaded and extensively looted the city of Rome.

Another example of looting occurred during the Civil War. The New York Draft Riots (New York City, July 13 - July 17, 1863) began as protests against President Abraham Lincoln's Enrollment Act of Conscription drafting men to fight in the ongoing United States Civil War. Considered by some to be the worst civil unrest in American history, the riots included 50,000 participants and lasted several days, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying millions of dollars in property. The violent demonstration could not be contained by the civil police force, and required the intervention of regiments of the New York State Militia, who marched back to NY from the battlefield of Gettysburg, to restore civil order. Some critics now claim that members of the Mississippi and Lousiana National Guards currently serving in Iraq should be recalled to the United States to assist in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

During the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 many ATMs were robbed in New York City.

After the United States occupied Iraq, the absence of Iraqi police and the reluctance of the US to act as a police force enabled looters to raid homes and businesses, most notably the Iraqi National Museum. During the war, many hospitals were stripped of nearly all supplies.

See also

• Anarchy
• Ramraiding
• Looting (gaming)