Figure 7: Robberies with firearms 1998

The crime type robbery with aggravating circumstances also includes car hijacking, hijacking of trucks, robbery of cash-in-transit and bank robberies, which explains the high firearm usage in this crime category. The incidence of car hijackings reported to the police increased from 12 860 in 1996 to 15 111 in 1998, an increase of 17.5%. During 1998, an average of 1259 cars were hijacked each month. The number of trucks hijacked in 1997 (4296) increased by 16.3% over the 3694 reported in 1996. A total of 5773 truck hijackings were reported in 1998, which is an increase of 34.4% over the cases reported in 1997.

The table below lists the targets of the 1998 robberies:

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