Home Invasion

Home invasion is the offense of forcibly entering an occupied dwelling with the intent to commit a crime inside while confronting or threatening the occupants, a term many jurisdictions use for a distinct, aggravated form of burglary or robbery that specifically targets a residence known or believed to be occupied at the time of entry. It is distinguished from ordinary burglary chiefly by this direct confrontation with the people inside, which most statutes treat as substantially more dangerous than an unlawful entry into an empty or believed-empty structure, and accordingly punish more severely, often as an aggravated form of burglary, robbery or both rather than as a wholly separate offense with its own elements. Because the offense combines unlawful entry, the threat or use of force, and direct contact with occupants, it is frequently charged together with related offenses such as assault, robbery, kidnapping or unlawful weapon possession arising from the same incident. Home invasions are a particular focus of situational crime-prevention research and residential-security practice because of the acute risk they pose to occupant safety compared with an unoccupied-structure burglary.