What Is Opportunistic Crime? Useful Strategies to Prevent It

By Dr. Matthew Loux and Bryce Loux  |  10/28/2025

Opportunistic crime occurs in any society. It differs from premeditated crime characterized by advance planning, because it is impulsive and circumstantial.

Opportunistic crimes range from acts of simple theft to extreme acts of violence. Since these types of crimes are impulsive, an offender acts in a setting without shields and with a target.

However, studying these types of crimes can have its benefits. Understanding opportunistic crime can lead to creating better crime reduction policies that improve public safety and the environment.

Defining Crimes of Opportunity 

There are various categories of common opportunistic crimes:

• Petty theft – A thief steals a bike or other valuable item left unattended. A thief may also swipe money from the contents of a purse or backpack when the chance is available.
• Burglary – Someone passes by a home with an open garage door and takes advantage of an opportunity to remove a random item from the vulnerable garage.
• Vandalism – Vandals see items that they can damage by throwing hard objects or painting with spray paint.
• Shoplifting – A thief takes an item from a store shelf while a cashier is not paying attention.
• Credit card fraud – A criminal swipes a credit card and uses it for financial gain before the card is reported lost or stolen by the original owner.
• Assault – One person bumps another on a sidewalk and an argument occurs, followed by a violent fight.

Opportunistic Crimes and Their Causes

Opportunistic crimes typically have several causes, including:

• Situational factors
• Social and economic conditions
• Psychological triggers

Situational Factors

The lack of effective security systems, such as poor visibility, the absence of cameras, and inadequate security monitoring, may facilitate opportunistic crimes. For instance, scholars Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson's Routine Activity Theory emphasizes that crime takes place when three things come together:

• A motivated offender
• A suitable target
• The absence of a capable guardian

Social and Economic Conditions

Poverty, spousal joblessness, and rampant social deprivation can act as the motives to commit burglaries or other crimes. An offender, for example, can experience frustration due to a lack of funds. As a result, this frustration makes the offender more willing to disregard what is wrong and to steal when the need arises.

Psychological Triggers

Opportunistic crimes are sometimes accompanied by an emotional state, such as:

• Anger
• Frustration
• Excitement (seeking thrills)

The use of drugs and alcohol typically influences a criminal's self-control, lessening social constraints and increasing the likelihood of a moment's impulse to commit a criminal act in a situation. The offender is only concerned with feelings at the moment and does not consider that he or she will be caught by law enforcement.

The Consequences of Opportunistic Crime

Opportunistic crime has multiple consequences, including: 

• Individual impact – On a personal level, the damage to a victim or to a perpetrator may be emotional, psychological, financial, or physical. In certain circumstances, the impact can be quite severe, such as hefty fines or jail time.
• Community impact – Opportunistic crimes erode social trust in neighborhoods, heighten residents’ anxiety, and create additional costs for safety precautions.
• Economic costs – Petty theft and shoplifting cost businesses billions each year. As a result, consumers pay higher prices and pay for loss prevention measures.
• Legal systems burden – Opportunistic crimes add to police workloads and court case assignments.

Preventing Opportunistic Crime

Opportunistic crime is only possible where there are important, unguarded opportunities. Other methods of preventing this type of crime involve:

• Target hardening – Locks, surveillance cameras, and other loss prevention systems can make offenders think twice by reducing opportunities for theft.
• Environmental design – Increasing the security of an outdoor environment through better sight lines and motion-activated lighting can deter potential offenders.
• Public awareness – People can practice victim prevention by staying aware, making better security choices, keeping an eye on their possessions, and securing access to their vehicles.
• Community policing – Collaboration between the police and the public enhances the visibility of crimes and encourages a joint spirit of social responsibility and order.
• Increased technology – Artificial intelligence and predictive data analytics can be used to advance the understanding of crime patterns. Knowing where crimes occur most frequently can be useful in distributing police resources to certain areas.
• Behavioral interventions – Providing targeted instruction to would-be perpetrators on self-regulation, dispute settlement, and resolving conflicts could reduce impulsive offenses in many areas.
• Social investment – Dealing with some of the basic causes of crime – such as poverty, joblessness, and drug dependency – can help to reduce the possibility of opportunistic crimes.

Because crimes of opportunity are spontaneous, they are more difficult to forecast and avert than organized crime. In addition, law enforcement agencies are often underfunded, which makes responding to acts of petty crime or assault more difficult.

Ultimately, the goal is to reduce risk to protect society, businesses, and individuals. However, situational crime prevention integrated with being committed to long-term social change in the present can create more effective, robust societies in the future.

The B.S. in Criminal Justice at AMU

For students interested in improving their knowledge of criminal justice, American Military University (AMU) offers an online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. Taught by experienced instructors, this program offers courses in criminal profiling, crime analysis, and criminal investigation. Other courses include ethics in criminal justice, constitutional law, and criminal law.

For more details on this B.S. in criminal justice, visit AMU’s criminal justice degree program page.

Note: This degree program is not designed to meet the educational requirements for professional licensure or certification in any country, state, province or other jurisdiction. This program has not been approved by any state professional licensing body and does not lead to any state-issued professional licensure.