A New Era Of Coin-Op Crime And Punishment

Crime is down across the board according to the latest statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In its latest Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, the FBI noted a significant drop in the category of Property Crime with offenses from January to June 2014, compared with data for the same period of 2013. Burglary offenses dropped 14%. There was a 5.7% decrease in the number of motor vehicle thefts, and a 5.6% decline in larceny offenses.

While this sounds like great news, the stats just aren't consistent with what many vending and amusement operators are experiencing on the street. Anecdotal evidence shows a definite uptick in coin-op and vender crimes. This includes robberies of bulk venders, ATMs, skill cranes, and even full-line food and beverage machines. Indeed, ATM robberies of the "crash and grab" variety have become a particularly high-profile trend in the U.S. and abroad. This is because they are often carried out in spectacular fashion and frequently recorded on surveillance video. There's a dramatic quality about crashing a stolen car through a plate glass window to snatch an ATM, pulling it out with a tow chain at 50mph, or using a backhoe to smash through a wall that captures the public's attention.

But let's be clear. These are not master criminals. They're not even the so-called Pink Panther gang famed for robbing upscale European retailers with military precision. These are largely crimes of desperation committed by the desperate. Ocean's Eleven they are not. One need only to look at the mug shots to see there isn't a "George Clooney" in the bunch.

If operators' firsthand experiences are inconsistent with the official stats, it is not because the FBI is cooking the books. I would speculate it's because the vast majority crimes against coin-op equipment go unreported (not ATMs). In all but the most extreme cases, such as the recent bulk vender thefts in New York City (see page 63), the thefts are largely chalked up to the "cost of doing business" by operators. For many, the time, effort and overall hassle of reporting a robbery far outweigh the anticipated benefits. To a lesser degree, this is also true for operators of full-line venders, kiddie rides and skill cranes.

The crimes here are rarely "one-and-done" crimes. It's fair to say that no criminal retires in style from the ill-gotten gains of a bulk vender's cashbox. And once criminals find a successful revenue source they are likely to keep at it until apprehended. So while the single robbery may not be worth the hassle of reporting, the aggregate loss to an individual operator and industry is substantial.

What is needed is a new standard for crime reporting by the industry. This means both documenting the thefts and filing timely police reports. I would suggest that this approach would solve a few problems. Most immediately, it would alert law enforcement that there is a problem. Secondly, the documentation can be used in the prosecution of those criminals apprehended. This is no small thing, showing a pattern of robberies can mean the difference between a slap on the wrist with probation and jail time.

A third suggestion is an informal sharing of news of criminal activity with other operators in the area. The benefits of this type of sharing dwarf any perceived negatives about tipping off the competition. Most significantly, criminals possess a natural geographic advantage over many police departments. Thieves operate freely across many jurisdictions, so a crime in one county or city may be part of a much larger, multi-city pattern that goes unnoticed by law local enforcement.

There is nothing new about coin-op crime. But that does not mean operators cannot find new ways of combating it.