Because people are aware of this fact, they often try to protect their valuables from looters. However, this is dangerous because if looters are willing to break the law to steal someone else`s property, they may have no problem hurting those who stand in their way. The loot applies above all to what is taken from the victims of a disaster. During a disaster, the police and army are sometimes unable to prevent looting when overwhelmed by humanitarian or combat problems, or they cannot be called due to damaged communication infrastructure. Especially during natural disasters, many civilians may be forced to take what does not belong to them in order to survive. [8] How to react and where the line lies between unnecessary “looting” and necessary “looting” is often a dilemma for governments. [9] [10] In other cases, looting by governments for political or other reasons, including religious, social or economic, may be tolerated or even encouraged. After looting during Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana lawmakers made looting a particularly serious crime with penalties far harsher than the underlying crime of theft. In 2022, international observers accused Russia of carrying out large-scale looting during the Russo-Ukrainian war, reporting widespread looting of food from industrial facilities. [37] Despite the publication of numerous photos and videos of Ukrainian journalists and civilians, many Russian commanders such as Gareo Novalsky have denied these allegations.

International observers have speculated that this looting is either the result of direct orders, despite Russia`s claims to the contrary, or because Russian soldiers did not receive enough food and other resources from their commanders. [38] Despite international prohibitions on the practice of looting, the ease with which it can be carried out means that it remains relatively widespread, especially during riots where the rules of war may not yet apply. The 2011 Egyptian revolution, for example, caused a significant increase in the looting of antiquities from archaeological sites in Egypt, as the government lost the ability to protect the sites. [32] Other modern looting, such as the looting and destruction of artifacts from the National Museum of Iraq by Islamic State militants, can be used as an easy way to express their contempt for the concept of the rules of war as a whole. [33] However, looting that takes place during an officially declared state of emergency is punishable by a minimum penalty of $5,000 and imprisonment for a minimum of three years and not more than 15 years, without parole, parole or suspension of sentence. However, burglary during the state of emergency is looting, punishable by up to one year in prison and at least 180 days in prison. Even if a person was only granted probation for the underlying burglary, they could still have to spend at least 180 days in jail for the looting. Looting can also be common in cases where civil unrest takes place largely within a country`s borders or in peacetime. The unrest following the 2020 George Floyd protests in many U.S. cities has led to an increase in looting, with looters taking advantage of the delicate political situation and the unrest surrounding the riots themselves. [35] Looting, combined with poor military discipline, has sometimes been the downfall of an army, as troops dispersed to loot an area can become vulnerable to counterattacks. In other cases, such as the Wahhabi sack of Karbala in 1801 or 1802, the booty contributed to new victories of an army.

[19] Not all looters in wartime are conquerors; the looting of the Vistula by the retreating Imperial Russian Army in 1915[20] was one of the factors that weakened Polish loyalty to Russia. Local civilians can also use a breakdown of order to loot public and private property, as happened at the Iraq Museum during the 2003 Iraq War. [21] The novel War and Peace by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy describes the widespread looting by the citizens of Moscow before Napoleon`s troops invaded the city in 1812, as well as the looting by French troops elsewhere. In ancient wars, the spoils of war included defeated populations, who were often enslaved. Women and children could be accepted into the population of the victorious country as concubines, eunuchs and slaves. [14] [15] In other pre-modern societies, objects made of precious metals were the prime target of war looting, mainly because of their ease of transport. In many cases, looting offered the opportunity to obtain treasures and works of art that would not have been available otherwise. Beginning in the early modern period and culminating in the era of the new imperialism, European colonial powers frequently plundered the territories they conquered in military campaigns against non-European states. [16] In the 1930s, and even more so during World War II, Nazi Germany participated in large-scale and organized looting of art and goods, particularly in Nazi-occupied Poland. [17] [18] In the upper echelons, the proud display of looted booty was an integral part of the typical Roman triumph, and Genghis Khan was not uncommon when he proclaimed that the greatest happiness was to “defeat one`s enemies.” to steal their wealth.” [13] During the ongoing conflict in Kashmir, looting of Kashmiris trapped between the militarized Indian and Pakistani zones is common and widespread. [36] Examples of looting often appear during or after a natural disaster.

While one of these reasons may be that the perpetrators consider it an occasional crime, other people loot because they need items they could not otherwise buy when the stores are empty. For example, if a father needs food and toiletries for his children, but no one is there to take care of the store, he can simply steal the items he needs instead of forcing his family to leave without them. One bank robber might say to the other, “You`re watching customers! I`m after the prey! Loot mostly means money, especially the kind of money you didn`t get legally. Prey is at the top with loot and loot in the family of words for things stolen or looted. When used as a verb, loot refers to the act of stealing, such as when an angry mob loots the local grocery store during a riot. Private security guards, barbed-wire fences and barricaded windows to prevent looting of department stores in New York during mass riots in the United States, June 7, 2020 A hurricane has just hit. An earthquake has just shaken the earth. A demonstration turned into an uproar. The police are busy. Inevitably, you will see reports of stores being robbed, vandalized and looted.

In the event of a sudden change in the government of a country or region, it can be difficult to determine what constitutes looting, as opposed to a new government taking custody of the property in question.