Effective Factors in the Prevention of Violent Crimes in Mashhad (Case Study: Snatching)

The crime of snatching (pickpocketing and mobile-pickpocketing) is one of the most violent crimes common in Mashhad city. By examining the statistics, the growing trend of violent crimes - every year compared to the previous year - can be seen; a point that is not pleasant for a metropolis like Mashhad, which annually welcomes more than five million pilgrims from all over the country and even neighboring countries, and will have negative consequences. Therefore, the current research seeks to explore the effective factors in police prevention of the violent crime of snatching in the city of Mashhad with an exploratory approach and also provide solutions in this regard.

In terms of its objectives this study is of an applied research type and in terms of methodology it is considered as a descriptive-analytical type that was conducted using a qualitative approach. The participants of the research to identify effective factors in the prevention of the violent crime of snatching were managers and law enforcement experts related to the subject, and a semi-structured interview was conducted with thirteen of them until theoretical saturation. In order to increase internal and external validity, expert participants were employed. Also, multiple rounds of interviews were completed. Textual data was analyzed by thematic content analysis using MAXQDA software.

Using experts' opinions, "criminal", "situational" and "social" factors in preventing the violent crime of snatching in Mashhad city were calculated. The number of identified criminal, situational and social factors was 25, 75, and 51, respectively.

Looking at the results of the research, criminal factors include judicial factors and legal factors, and situational factors include human and organizational resources, information systems, management principles, and employee training. Public awareness, intra-organizational interactions, extra-organizational interactions and environmental factors were included under social factors