Petrol Service Stations as Victims of Crime: Their Risks and Vulnerabilities

While research into crimes against specific business sectors has begun to grow in recent years, differences in the experience of crime between individual types of business within a sector may remain obscured. This is problematic because it can result in an averaging effect and may mask real differences in levels of crime. This paper builds on recent findings concerning the nature and extent of crimes committed against petrol retail outlets, to provide a more complete picture of their risks of robbery compared with other types of retail business, the psychological consequences of crime and levels of repeat victimisation. Drawing on nationally recorded data plus survey data, it is shown that petrol service stations in Australia have been facing an increased risk of robbery in recent years, and that the financial and psychological costs of crime at petrol station outlets are substantial. It is argued that identifying risk factors which differentiate victims from non-victims is essential if crime prevention strategies are to be appropriately targeted.