flash rob
{{Short description|Robbery with many robbers at once}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
A flash rob, also known as a multiple offender crime or flash mob robbery, is an organized form of theft in which a group of participants enter a retail shop or convenience store en masse and steal goods and other items.{{cite news|last=Murphy|first=Pat|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0816/7-11-flash-mob-Maryland-police-investigate-store-robbery-VIDEO|title=7-11 flash mob: Maryland police investigate store robbery (Video)|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=16 August 2011|access-date=17 May 2012}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/possible-flash-mob-robbery-in-germantown/2011/08/15/gIQAmZFvGJ_blog.html#pagebreak|title=Police probe Germantown flash-mob thefts|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=15 August 2011|access-date=10 March 2013|author1=Justin Jouvenal |author2=Dan Morse }}{{cite magazine | url = https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/12/flash-mobs-turned-criminal-the-rise-of-flash-robberies/ | title = Flash Mobs Turned Criminal: The Rise of Flash Robberies | author = Erin Skarda | date = 12 May 2011 | magazine = Time | access-date = 18 June 2014}} Typically, store workers and employees in these cases quickly become overwhelmed by the large number of participants and cannot stop the theft.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/05/26/136578945/flash-mobs-arent-just-for-fun-anymore|last=Dade|first=Corey|title=Flash Mobs Aren't Just For Fun Anymore|date=26 May 2011|work=NPR|access-date=22 January 2013}}{{cite news|last=Vaughan|first=Annie|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/teenage-flash-mob-robberies-on-the-rise/|publisher=FOX News |title=Teenage Flash Mob Robberies on the Rise|date=18 June 2011|access-date=22 January 2013}}
The National Retail Federation does not classify these crimes as "flash mobs" but rather "multiple offender crimes" that utilize "flash mob tactics".{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8hHFZx_tUhcC&q=flash+mob&pg=PA163 | title = Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America | author = Jeffrey Ian Ross | date = 2013 | publisher = Sage Publications | isbn = 978-1412999571 | access-date = 18 June 2014}}{{cite web | url = https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/Documents/Multiple_Offender_Crimes_1.pdf | title = Multiple Offender Crimes | publisher = National Retail Federation | date = 2011 | access-date = 19 June 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714233433/https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/Documents/Multiple_Offender_Crimes_1.pdf | archive-date = 14 July 2014 | url-status = dead }} 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 mobs, where a group of people assemble quickly, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act, and then disperse.
In Chile this kind of robbery is known as turbazo.[http://www.24horas.cl/nacional/turbazo-la-nueva-forma-de-robar-en-farmacias-y-supermercados-2016970 "'Turbazo': La nueva forma de robar en farmacias y supermercados"]
In Brazil 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 (the illegal taking of items), these crimes more closely fit the definition of robbery 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, and the participants do not all necessarily know each other personally.
=United States=
{{Expand section|date=June 2011}}
Flash robs have occurred in places such as Chicago, Illinois,{{cite web|author1=Jargon, Julie |author2=Brat, Ilan|date=9 June 2011 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304778304576375661383528354 |title=Chicago Police Brace for 'Flash Mob' Attacks |work=The Wall Street Journal {{Subscription required}} }} Portland, Oregon,{{cite web | url=http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Flash-mob-shoplifts-SE-Portland-mini-mart-146823375.html | title='Flash rob' like theft in Portland on rise in U.S. | publisher=KGW News (Portland, Oregon) | date=10 April 2012 | access-date=24 May 2012 | author1=Hanrahan, Mark | author2=Iboshi, Kyle | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412051114/http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Flash-mob-shoplifts-SE-Portland-mini-mart-146823375.html | archive-date=12 April 2012 | url-status=dead }} Houston, Texas,{{cite web | url=https://abc13.com/archive/8460708/ | title=Flash mob robbery caught on camera at Galleria area store | publisher=KTRK-TV (Houston, Texas) | date=9 December 2011 | access-date=17 May 2012 | author=Azad, Sonia}} Jacksonville, Florida, Germantown, Maryland,{{Cite web|title=Police Investigate Silver Spring 7-Eleven Mass Theft|url=http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/Police/News/NA_details.asp?NaID=6217|publisher =Media Services Division, Montgomery County, Maryland|date =21 November 2011|access-date=22 January 2013}} Beverly Hills,{{Cite news|title=A new breed of brazen takeover robbers hitting California luxury retailers, raising ire|date=23 November 2021|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-23/the-new-breed-of-takeover-robbers-hitting-luxury-retailers|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url-access=subscription|access-date=20 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817213126/http://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-23/the-new-breed-of-takeover-robbers-hitting-luxury-retailers|archive-date=17 August 2023|url-status=live|language=en-US}} Los Angeles , San Francisco, and Walnut Creek, California.
= 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, when hundreds of young people ran together in a mass to rob beach goers.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/noticias/2010/11/101122_arrastoes_jc_pai.shtml|title=Sociólogo vê alarme exagerado com arrastões no Rio de Janeiro|website=BBC Brasil|date=22 November 2010 }}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqgYBXLOLmw "Arrastão na praia - Rio - Copacabana - Ipanema"], YouTube, 18 October 1992.
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.{{cite news|url=http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2014/01/12/actualidad/1389559949_135207.html|title=¿Apartheid en los centros comerciales de São Paulo?|author=Martín, María|date=12 January 2014|work=El País|publisher=Grupo PRISA|access-date=15 January 2014}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2014/01/1396818-dez-jovens-serao-intimados-por-rolezinho-no-shopping-itaquera-em-sp.shtml|title=Dez jovens serão intimados por 'rolezinho' no shopping Itaquera, em SP|author=Gomes, Camila|date=13 January 2014|work=Folha de S. Paulo|publisher=Grupo Folha|access-date=13 January 2014}} In some rolezinhos, the police were called and crowds were dispersed with tear gas and flash grenades.{{cite web|url=http://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/noticia/2014/01/policia-usa-bombas-de-gas-e-balas-de-borracha-em-acao-contra-rolezinho.html|title=Polícia usa bombas de gás e balas de borracha em ação contra 'rolezinho'|date=11 January 2014|work=G1|publisher=Organizações Globo|access-date=13 January 2014}}