Lance Martin
Herald Senior Staff Writer

Advertisement

Law enforcement officers and experts aren’t convinced a recent spate of armed robberies is tied to the economic conditions. The reasons may run deeper.

In the past two weeks, there have been eight armed robberies and one attempted robbery in the area, including five just this past weekend.

Three people have been injured in the robberies. One man shot in an armed robbery in Scotland Neck Friday remained in critical condition Tuesday at an undisclosed hospital. One person shot in a Weldon incident was treated and released and one person kicked in the midsection in a Saturday night robbery was also treated and released.

Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier doesn’t believe the frequency of these crimes are that unusual. “It’s nothing to lead us to that,” he said, of the crimes being economy driven. “It’s nothing more unusual than normal robberies that take place.”

While economic conditions can fuel crime there have been no instances in the county where people have been caught stealing food or money to feed their families recently, Frazier said.

“It’s people that don’t have respect for one another, people who think they can go out and rob people and make it. We’ve had splurges all the time. You can think back years and years where you’ve had seven or nine, a rash of things going on and they think they’re smarter then they get caught. It’s a shame store workers and owners fall victim to this.”

While some of these suspects don’t work, Weldon Police Chief Mark Macon doesn’t see the recent rash of robberies being linked to the economy. “Some of them have got to do with geographics,” he said, “Places that sit by themselves,  right off the interstate, places where there are no other businesses.”

Honestly, Macon said, it also comes down to people who don’t care about the repercussions.

Macon recently had two people in custody for break-ins. One of them was supposed to be getting his general equivalency diploma. Instead he was breaking into a residence when he was supposed to be in class. “It’s poor decision making by the person who commits the crimes. A lot of stuff is copy cats. In the past, we have seen robberies keep happening until the person gets caught.”

Some are just greedy, Macon said. “They don’t want to work. They want to steal. I think it’s tied more to social values, going back to the theory that more ethical demeanors have gone to the closet.”

Wes Terry, director of Criminal Justice at Halifax Community College, said there are long lists of why crimes are committed. “There are certain times when crime is driven by the calendar,” he said. “Thanksgiving and Christmas there is a rise during that season.”

Typically there are more shoppers out and the availability of higher cash reserves in stores. “Criminals don’t work. They have to money for Christmas gifts.”

Terry says if you look at the percentage of violent crimes committed in the area the crime rate is “very low” compared to the state. “They are well reported and well documented.”

While there is no denying there is a rash of crimes, there’s nothing to base them on being driven by the economy. “I think it was our turn,” Terry said. “If it was related to the economy you would see an overall spike in the quantity rather than isolated incidences.”

Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Jeff Hinton said there could be a possibility these crimes are driven by the economy. Most, however, remain crimes of opportunity, “Whether it’s people leaving property unsecured, not locking doors to vehicles. It’s not like people are stealing food to feed the family or money to pay the rent. A lot of people we’ve talked to in the past say they don’t have a job but when you ask deeper they really have not been assertive to find any gainful employment.”