Criminals brandish meat cleavers as a scare tactic in armed burglaries

SURVEILLANCE footage and police reports on home burglaries have revealed a dangerous trend among criminals who commit armed burglaries: the use of meat cleavers as a scare tactic. Short or long, meat cleavers are the preferred weapon among robbers, according to a trove of surveillance videos making rounds on social media websites. According to Al-Riyadh daily, footage of robbers brandishing meat cleavers in front of terrified victims has prompted experts to call for stricter penalties against armed robbers. Lawyer Muhammad Al-Timyat said the Shariah prohibits the use of weapons to threaten and scare people. “Criminals who do this should be punished severely and deterred. This is what the Shariah ordains us. We should not show any mercy to someone who threatens the security and safety of the general public,” he said. Khalid Al-Salih, the head of Lawyers’ Committee in Asharqia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said armed robbery is a serious felony because the person who carries a weapon and threatens people with it has the intention to steal and kill. “It is natural that criminals change their methods for breaking into private property. Today, people who do it belong to gangs. It is, therefore, important that there should be some harsh punishment to give others a lesson and deter them from following suit,” he explained. Sociologist Ahmad Al-Saad, however, said instead of rushing to punish criminals, a study of the criminals’ behavior patterns, the environment they grew up in and the factors that influenced their personalities must be carried out. “We have to focus on the main reasons why a person carries a cleaver and even thinks about killing someone else for money. No doubt that such people are dangerous to society and deserve to be punished, but no person is born a criminal. The environment he grows up in and the peers he keeps company with can influence his behavior positively or negatively,” he explained. In his opinion, parents should monitor their children’s behavior and raise them to be good citizens because this is the only solution for eradicating such crimes from society. Activist Abbas Al-Mayoof believes unemployment is one of the reasons behind the rise in the number of armed robberies. The second reason is the way parents raise their children and what types of values they instill in them. He called for civil institutions to join forces with the concerned authorities and work hard to curb violent crimes. Psychologist Dr. Modi Al-Aed also supports the call for studying the behavior patterns of criminals to find out the root causes behind their actions. “Most of the criminals caught while trying to break into a shop or a house are young men who seem to be amateurs,” she said. “When you look at them, you cannot help but wonder why those young men carried a meat cleaver and committed armed robbery. I met some of them and they looked scared and frightened after being caught, which indicates that they did not do something like this before,” she added.