In the past two to three months, there has been a surge in “part-time jobs related to robberies” around the Tokyo and Saitama areas.

The crime involves recruiting part-time workers online, obtaining personal information such as driver’s licenses, and using this as leverage to coerce individuals into committing robberies as “executors.” The criminals break in by smashing windows or by pretending to conduct equipment inspections to gain access, after which they tie up and assault residents in violent acts. This is an appalling and unforgivable crime. For those living in or owning property in the Greater Tokyo area, this must be a cause for great concern.

Various crime prevention measures are being introduced in the news and elsewhere to avoid becoming victims of such violent crimes. Classic, physical security measures include additional locks and security cameras, as well as precautions such as not allowing strangers into your home. In the case of the recent part-time jobs related to robberies, a hypothesis can be made:

Living in a condominium might actually be a form of crime prevention.

The targets of the recent part-time jobs related robberies were mainly suburban single-family homes. Unlike condominiums, single-family homes are easily accessible right up to the front door. While some large estates may have long paths from the gate to the front door, most single-family homes that face public roads can be approached directly, walking right up to the front door without any issues.

This is not the case with condominiums. If there is an auto-lock system, the intruder would have to break through that first. Even in buildings without an auto-lock, there are usually multiple apartment doors in the open hallway. Walking past those doors is more likely to raise suspicion than walking on a public road. In addition, while anyone can walk on a public road freely, walking through the interior of a condominium building without reason constitutes unlawful entry, which is a criminal offense in itself.

In the past, it was thought that while condominium communities had weak ties among residents, suburban single-family homes had the advantage of having the watchful eyes of local residents in the neighborhood, which acted as a form of security. However, today, suburban neighborhoods with single-family homes often have many vacant houses, reducing the security provided by local residents’ vigilance. Meanwhile, condominiums, with their physical security measures in place, are more secure in terms of crime prevention.

Of course, compared to urban apartment buildings, suburban single-family homes are more likely to be inhabited by elderly couples, which may have made them more likely to be targeted. However, the fact that it is easier to break into a single-family home from a security standpoint could also be one of the reasons why they were targeted in these dark part-time job robberies.

In the first place, considering the convenience of shopping, transportation, and the effort involved in maintenance, there has been a demand for elderly residents in suburban single-family homes to move into urban condominiums. With a string of robberies targeting suburban homes, this trend of moving from single-family homes to condominiums may accelerate even further.

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