Crime preparations are acts or actions performed by criminal offenders during any period of time before the actual crime is committed and range from mere intent to overt action. In some jurisdictions, the very act of preparing for a crime is a criminal offense in itself, though it is generally viewed as being natural behavior for lawbreakers. The preparations that criminals take prior to their illegal actions are very often prosecuted as inchoate offenses, described in law as the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common examples of an inchoate offense are conspiracy and the possession of tools necessary to execute the crime or crimes. "Inchoate offense" has been defined as "Conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done, provided that the harm that