During the past decade, HIR has grown more commonplace, as vicious predators have introduced variations to established methods of operation. Opportunistic offenders often gain entry into a residence through an open garage door. Following a victim home from a nearby shopping center also has become a popular method of selection. In most cases, however, the victim simply is duped into opening the door to the home invader through any number of ruses. Home invasion groups may be organized street gangs, whose members may be racially mixed and who often use drugs.
Homogeneous groups tend to target victims of similar ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The groups almost always are highly mobile, often extending their crime sprees into several jurisdictions. Contributing Factors T he growth of HIR in South Florida might be explained best within the context of several contributing factors. Ironically, the most obvious is the development of enhanced technology to combat robbery and theft in traditional target areas, such as convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, and banks. As a result, the frequency of convenience store robberies has declined considerably in recent years. Other traditional targets have borrowed many of these measures and are developing their own unique methods to combat robbery and theft.