A flash rob, also known as a multiple offender crime or flash mob robbery, is an organized form of
theft
Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...
in which a group of participants enter a retail shop or convenience store
en masse
Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Eng ...
and steal goods and other items.
Typically, store workers and employees in these cases quickly become overwhelmed by the large number of participants and cannot stop the theft.
The
National Retail Federation
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, multi-level marketing companies and vendors. ...
does not classify these crimes as "flash mobs" but rather "multiple offender crimes" that utilize "flash mob tactics".
In a report, the NRF noted, "multiple offender crimes tend to involve groups or gangs of juveniles who already know each other, which does not earn them the term 'flash mob'."
Etymology
The term often used by the media for this type of event is "flash rob", which originates from
flash mob
A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organize ...
s,
where a group of people assemble quickly, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act, and then disperse.
In
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
this kind of robbery is known as ''turbazo''.
In
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
this kind of robbery is known as "arrastão".
Flash rob dynamics
Flash robs operate using speed and sheer numbers in order to intimidate any resistance and complete the act before police can respond. While often viewed as a form of ''theft'' or ''
looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
'' (the illegal taking of items), these crimes more closely fit the definition of
robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
because the large crowd creates an ''implied threat of violence'' should employees or bystanders attempt to intervene. Many investigations into these robberies have shown that they are planned ahead of time using
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
, and the participants do not all necessarily know each other personally.
United States
Flash robs have occurred in places such as
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
,
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
,
Germantown, Maryland
Germantown is an urbanized census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 91,249 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous community in Maryland, after Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland, Col ...
,
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
,
,
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
and
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...
.
Brazil
Brazil has seen mass flash robberies since the early 1990s. In a phenomenon known as
''arrastão'' (trawling), mobs will steal money, telephone, watches, rings, bags and sometimes even victim's clothing. The most infamous case of trawling took place on 18 October 1992, on
Ipanema beach in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, when hundreds of young people ran together in a mass to rob beach goers.
As a result of mass flash robberies, shopping malls in Brazil have heavy security, and typically prevent large crowds of young from entering the private property, which has been called a form of soft-apartheid.
In 2013, a ''
rolezinho'' (strolling) protest movement arose amongst youth, where thousands of young people coordinated their simultaneous entry to normally inaccessible upscale shopping malls.
In some rolezinhos, the police were called and crowds were dispersed with tear gas and flash grenades.
See also
*
Steaming
Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American Southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...
*
Convenience store crime
*
Crime in the United States
Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time. Most available data underestimate crime before the 1930s (due to incomplete datasets and other factors), giving the false impression that c ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Flash mob
Robbery
Crime in the United States by type
Robberies in Brazil
Looting