Train Robbery

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Scott Decker,Rick Ruddell
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016817702192
• Date: 01 December 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Train Robbery: A Retrospective

Look at an Obsolete Crime

Rick Ruddell

1

and Scott Decker

2

Abstract

There has been recent interest in applying contemporary criminological theories to better under-

stand historical criminal behavior and events. Retrospective studies—much like case studies—can

be a useful methodology to help us understand the justice system responses to crime and in par-

ticular what strategies “worked” or were ineffective. This study examined 241 train robberies that

occurred between 1866 and 1930 and found that routine activities theory can explain the origins,

growth, and eradication of this violent and often costly crime. Reducing offender motivation and

target attractiveness as well as increasing capable guardianship of shipments of attractive goods

explains the eradication of this form of crime. Implications for a criminology of public transportation

are discussed.

Keywords

robbery, routine activities theory, historical crime, criminology of transportation

There has been recent scholarly interest in using modern analytical techniques and theory to interpret

historical crime data, offender histories, or the responses of criminal justice systems to these

offenses and offenders. Rafter (2004, 2005), for instance, analyzed Victorian-era crimes and crim-

inologists to trace the development of criminological theory. Other scholars have used historical data

to analyze patterns and trends in violent offenses (Bowman & Altman, 2002; Leonard & Leonard,

2003). Moule and Decker (2013), for example, examined data from the Bos ton Special Youth

Project in the 1950s in order to understand contemporary gang dynamics. Knepper (2015) also

analyzed changing patterns of crime in the 1920s and the impacts on justice systems—and used

those analyses to refine theoretical development of contemporary crime trends. Altogether, taking a

retrospective look at offenders and their offenses provides an opportunity to apply 21st-century

analysis and understanding to crimes that challenged early justice systems.

One very problematic form of crime was train robbery. Train robberies resulted in considerable

loss of life and property, disrupted public transportation, and hindered the movement of people and

goods across the United States. While most of our understanding of train robbery is from the

portrayal of these offenses in films, it was a violent crime that became obsolete by the 1930s. Train

1

University of Regina, Regina, Canada

2

Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Corresponding Author:

Rick Ruddell, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada.

Email: rick.ruddell@uregina.ca

Criminal Justice Review

2017, Vol. 42(4) 333-348

ª2017 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016817702192

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robbery was a distinctively American form of predatory crime that emerged shortly after the Civil

War and plagued railway companies and law enforcement for over two generations. Train robbery

disrupted banking and commerce, but also had considerable human costs, as rates of injuries and

death could also be high, especially since many trains were derailed as part of the robbery. Success-

fully eliminating these offenses not only stabilized rail transportation but also in part signaled the

taming of the “Wild West.”

It is important to understand why some crimes have been eradicated. There may be lessons for

contemporary efforts to deal with crime in the historical evolution of crimes and crime types. The

fact that some crimes have been eradicated is intriguing for a number of reasons. First, some crimes

have been eradicated due to technological advances. Check kiting, for instance, is a type of fraud that

relied upon the deposits of checks with insufficient funds to perpetrate a fraud on financial institu-

tions. Offenders relied upon the lag betwee n the depositing checks and when the funds would

actually be taken from the account, which is called the “float time” (see Starkey, Park, & Novak,

2005). When this lag was based on checks that were mailed or couriered between banks, offenders

were able to successfully defraud these financial institutions. But, electronic deposits and with-

drawals have reduced this time lag and have made kiting a crime that occurs less frequently today.

Some scholars have argued that electronic benefit transfers (EBT) and the use of debit cards is

reducing street robbery, another example of the impact of technology on crime (Garcia-Swartz,

Hahn, & Lane-Farrar, 2006; Wright et al., 2014).

Other offenses became obsolete because of changing social, economic, or cultural conditions that

affect enforcement or prosecution. Adultery, sodomy, and possessing pornography, for instance,

were once crimes that were regularly prosecuted. Changes in cultural mores, values, and norms,

however, have made these acts less threatening to the social order (Posner & Silbaugh, 1996). While

some of these offenses remain “on the books” in some jurisdictions, they are rarely prosecuted: The

acts still occur but are no longer treated as crimes.

In some cases, acts once considered as crimes have been redefined. Government-operated lot-

teries, for instance, now fund education or social programs in many jurisdictions. Purchasing a

lottery or sweepstake ticket, however, was once a crime but governments had littl e success in

reducing demand. An inability to control the illegal lottery enterprises operated by organized crime

led to state-operated lotteries. Not only does the state reap the economic benefits of ticket sales, but

patrons are ensured that they will receive their winnings, law enforcement and government corrup-

tion is reduced, and another source of revenue for organized crime eliminated, although illegal

internet gaming generates significant revenues (Williams, Wood, & Parke, 2012).

Perhaps the most interesting categories of obsoletecrimesarethosethathavebeeneradicated

by justice systems. Kidnapping for ransom, for instance, has generally falle n out of favor in the

United States, although is common in “war-torn and destabilized nations or countries where the

rule of law is weak” (Pires, Guerette, & Stubbert, 2014, p. 784). This success in the United States

was due, in some degree, to extending the jurisdiction of this offense to the Federal Bureau of

Investigation in 1932 and since then, noncustodial kidnappi ngs are rare. When justice systems

successfully eradicate a crime, we question whether these strategies can be applied to other

offenses. Moreover, does displacement occur and do offenders shift their attention to other

offenses with less risk or greater rewards?

It is possible that taking a retrospective look at crimes that have been eradicated can inform

current criminal justice policies. Crime is dynamic and shifts in form and nature in response to

changing technology, economic factors, and social conditions. The dynamic nature of crime can be

seen particularly in forms of robbery, which have been altered dramatically by changes in technol-

ogy and social practice. It is worth noting that robbery was created as a crime when the concept of

private property emerged (Hall, 1935). As robberies of stage coaches were replaced by attacks on

trains, both offenses eventually were replaced by bank robberies (Wellman, 1961). Although there

334 Criminal Justice Review 42(4)