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Targeted vs Opportunistic

Definition

Targeted offences are aimed at a specific victim for who they are. Opportunistic offences pick whoever is accessible at the moment. Different scenes, different suspect pools.

Related terms

Risk Level
A three-band code (low, medium, high) describing how exposed the victim's routine made them to becoming a target. Based on lifestyle, occupation,...
Victim-Blaming
Treating the victim's choices as causes of the offence. Distinct from victimology, which treats them as access vectors for the offender. The...
Victim-Offender Relationship (VOR)
A spectrum from stranger through acquaintance, friend, family member, to intimate partner. Most Indian homicides fall toward the known end of the...
Victimology
The sub-field of criminology that studies crime victims: their characteristics, the victim-offender relationship, the impacts of victimisation, and the adequacy of legal...

Explained in

  • Victim Profiling and VictimologyTargeted offences are aimed at a specific victim for who they are. Opportunistic offences pick whoever is accessible at the moment. Different scenes, different...

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