Criminal Activities Essays (Examples)

Criminal Activities
First and foremost, Alison's actions were clearly criminal. She was trying to find a lighter in order to smoke illegal narcotics, which is why she broke into the vehicle in the first place. Yet, the charge of burglary may be hard to stick, as she technically did not steal anything, nor did she ever really intend to. If anything, she could be charged with the petty theft of the lighter, although she never actually got to steal it because she passed out in the front seat. Still, there are more appropriate charges that would stick better. For instance, she could be charged with possession, breaking and entering, and vandalism. These would be more appropriate in regards to her destructive behavior and her destruction of private property.

Part II

Although Bernice is in a dire situation, with little help available to her if she remained honest regarding the amount of money she…

Female Drug Offenders and the Subculture of Drugs and CrimeAbout the Reading, the Author and her ExpertiseMy reading is about female drug offenders and the drug and crime subculture, specifically gender, stigma, and social control. It has been obtained from the book Rethinking Gender, Crime, and Justice. The author of the book is Susan E. Martin, specializing in clinical social work and a therapist based in Los Angeles, CA. the authors specialties are mood disorders, relationship issues, and anxiety. She works with individuals in transition to help them unlock their potential and uncover the best path for them.The Main Issue in the ReadingThe main issue in the reading is gender, stigma, and social control. Female drug offenders face greater stigma compared to male drug users. They are mostly labeled as failures both as mothers and as women in general. Moreover, they face more social controls concerning their behavior than formal…

S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. The legislation makes the provision of over $ billion in funding "for gang prevention, intervention and law enforcement programs over five years and establishes new crimes and tougher penalties to deter and punish members of illegal street gangs." (Feinstein, 2007) the legislation proposed by Feinstein would make illegal participation in a criminal street gang a federal crime. The legislation criminalizes violent crimes in furtherance or in aid of criminal street gangs and creates a new criminal offense for murder and other violent crimes committed in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Under the present law, "a felon's criminal street gang involvement can be treated at most as a sentencing enhancement, adding no more than 10 years to a sentence. This bill establishes far higher penalties for violent gang crimes, including the possibility of life imprisonment without parole for murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, or maiming. If…

If this is indeed the case, Leach is within his rights to appeal for an overturn of his conviction. The Fourth Amendment protects travellers from unwarranted police searches, which appears to be what happened in this case.
The Fourth Amendment then protects the rights of individuals to reasonable expectation of privacy. While Archibald Leach voluntarily yielded his luggage for investigation, the search itself was not conducted in a legal manner if there was neither warrant, reasonable suspicion or probable cause. The case does not mention any of these, based upon which the conclusion can be that Leach has sound grounds for appeal.

ources

Criminal Law Lawyer ource. (2009). earch Warrant. http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/terms/search-warrant.html

Farlex, Inc. (2009). Probable Cause. The Free Dictionary. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Probable+cause 'Lectric Law Library's Lexicon. (2009). "Confession." http://www.lectlaw.com/def/c274.htm

Rice, Beverly. (2009). When can the police stop and frisk you on the street? upreme Court Articles. http://www.legalzoom.com/legal-articles/when-police-frisk-you.html

Walker, Jayme . (1998, Dec 1). Moving and touching stowed…

Richard Allen, the state's prisons commissioner, said ednesday the change is meant to reduce overtime, and should save the state $3 million to $4 million a year. 'e don't have any choice about it,' Allen said. 'e've got to save money. e've got to do some things that are out of the box, and this is one of them'" (Diel 2008). Corrections officers have naturally protested this measure, citing the dangers of the job and the impact upon the quality of their health and financial lives.
Alabama is not alone. In Florida budget cutbacks were blamed recently when "A Florida correctional officer was killed on the job last week" (Ray 2008). Even though corrections officer positions have not been eliminated in the state of Florida, an expanding prison population coupled with a refusal to add more positions have lead to understaffed prisons and overworked, tired officers. In other states, cutbacks…

Whereas judicial decisions are more likely to concern substantive matters of law and definitions of legal concepts, legislative adjustments generally reflect social consensus, particularly over large spans of time. Admittedly, political access and the relative ability of specific individuals, communities, and entities to generate legislative changes beneficial to them are not, in any sense, equal when viewed from the microcosmic perspective. Nevertheless, over time, changes in the American criminal justice are largely functions of widely-shared societal concerns and social values in the United States.
In recent years, the American criminal justice system has changed in several significant respects: it has become increasingly federalized; it seen a dramatic increase in the privatization of criminal justice facilities; and it has become ever-more effective by virtue of its technological evolution. Likewise, concepts and principles of criminal reform have continually undergone cyclical changes, due in part to unanticipated flaws in prior approaches or simply…

A plea-bargain is frequently attained at this time in order to circumvent a trial. In the event that a plea-bargain is reached, the case does not move forward to a trial but failure to offer enough evidence to establish a plea bargain will mean that the case goes on to trial (Criminal Justice System Handbook, 2009).
The trail

Trials consist of a sequence of proceedings where the prosecutor presents evidence which will be used to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In felony cases, the defendant is given chances to admit their innocence but there are also times where they are presented that they may dispute the validity of evidence that has been presented by the prosecutor. Felony cases normally entail the services of a jury who listen to the case proceedings together with the judge and then after careful assessment of the evidence that is presented; they make…

Criminal Justice
The Criminal Type

What do you think of when someone talks to you about the 'criminal type'? Is there a specific 'type' of person that can be construed 'criminal?' According to Jessica Mitford, "Americans are preoccupied with crimes of the poor and as such the 'criminal type' has surfaced in American consciousness as a social creation." This paper is going to examine the concept of 'criminal types' and argues that anybody has the potential to be a criminal under certain definitions. We will also examine the concept of 'American ias' towards certain racial and socio-economic groups within the American justice system.

The word 'criminal' according to the Oxford Modern English Dictionary (1996) is "a person who has committed a crime." A crime, in the same dictionary is defined as, "a serious offence punishable by law" (Oxford, 1996). So it would be safe to assume from these definitions that a criminal is…

Under the stewardship of Police Commissioner Howard Safir, the NYPD began analyzing daily crime statistics collected from its 40,000 officers throughout the five boroughs of New York City and generating computer modeling of crime trends in a system dubbed CompStat that allowed the accurate identification of crime trends with pinpoint accuracy, often permitting nearly as precise predictive modeling via extrapolation (Safir, 2003).
The other main benefit and purpose of CompStat was that is enabled police administrators to grade the performance of every precinct according to any criteria defined by policy considerations. That aspect of CompStat is relied upon heavily by NYPD administration to the extent that Commissioner Safir reassigned, removed, or demoted fifty-four precinct commanders during his tenure as commissioner between 1996 and 2000 (Safir, 2003). Naturally, the technical means of data collection and analysis techniques differ quite profoundly from those available to previous generations of police administrators, but the…

To the extent that crime is a function of larger social issues, it is unrealistic to expect those underlying social problems to be rectified by law enforcement efforts. Even with respect to specific incidence of criminal behavior, law enforcement authorities must address two competing interests that fall within the purview and responsibility of law enforcement.
Specifically, poverty, unwanted pregnancy, lack of educational and vocational opportunities, and perceived social "disenfranchisement" within communities contribute heavily to crime in those areas but none of those social factors are capable of being redressed directly by law enforcement authorities. Likewise, even within the realm of law enforcement responsibilities, emphasis on quality-of-life-oriented policing and crime prevention-oriented policing conflict with the goal of preventing crime in light of empirical evidence and anecdotal experience demonstrating that efforts directed at the former do not necessarily achieve the goals of the latter appreciably.

In that regard, directed police patrols and crackdowns…

However, as criminals become more aware of undercover tactics, the covert officer is required to provide more and more proof that he is indeed a criminal- which leads to the officer committing acts that compromise his or her integrity for the sake of maintaining cover. y understanding the often conflicting nature of these goals, deception and integrity, we can see how an undercover officer can become confused, lost, and susceptible to temptation (i.e. criminal behavior).
y examining both aspects- environmental factors and personality factors- we take into account both sides of a complex relationship. These two groups of factors, when combined together, shed some light on the exact nature of criminal tendencies amongst police officers.

Definition of Terms

Covert: another term for undercover, meaning the use of deception for the purpose of gathering information or intelligence.

Non-covert: police officers that, even in plain clothes, maintain their own true identity instead of a false…

Criminal Decision Making: The Elements of the Culture of the Street and Party Life and Their elation to Criminal Decision-Making
Understanding offenders' lifestyles and the process by which they choose to commit criminal acts is critical particularly because it has important implications for crime control. Very often, certain elements of the street and party life influence the offender's assessment of the risks and rewards of crime. According to Shover and Honaker (1992), commitment to drugs and partying, as well as street culture, leads to alienation of offenders from mainstream society and pushes them away from a conventional life. Over time, they adopt a socially bounded rationality and become accustomed to a criminal lifestyle to a point where they break the law as a result of addiction, rather that free will. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the role played by these lifestyles in shaping the motivation for crime because it will…

e. height, weight, age, race, etc.), in connection with the investigation of specific criminal activity, that information allows authorities to narrow the search for individuals who match those identifying characteristics. The process is perfectly logical and obviously makes infinitely more sense than continuing to search for individuals who bear no resemblance to the descriptions provided by reliable sources.
However, the same legitimate techniques with respect to specific evidence of crimes also has a history of impermissible application in ways that deprive subjects of police investigation of their fundamental constitutional rights. For example, in the late 20th century, the U.S. Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration both made extensive use of what they called "criminal indicators" in connection with their efforts to apprehend criminal drug traffickers as they attempted to enter the U.S. At the borders (Schmalleger, 2007).

Among other criteria, those sets of indicators including Hispanic origin and language, age range,…

Patterns Juvenile Delinquency Throughout the World/How Determine Who Juvenile?

Patterns in juvenile delinquency also vary throughout the world, as do the way countries define "delinquency" among juveniles. The Japanese according to Platt (2005) have taken on a much more philosophical approach to juvenile delinquency, supporting a Confucian style structure of education and support, one that works toward educating children to become part of the larger social collective (p. 965). In this environment, children are encouraged to become more socially aware and to self-regulate, often given the opportunity to reform before they are punished for wrongdoings.

This conflicts sharply with juvenile delinquency programs and structures elsewhere in the world. In Australia, juvenile delinquency is often associated with being a member of a juvenile gang, which is defined as "youth hanging out on the streets with gang activity" or street activity that has the potential to lead to mischievous behaviors (Duffy & Gillig, 2004,…

The future technologies will assure authentication along with evidence. Another advancement that will assist to recognize the criminal is the "Face Software" that will help to create the image of the suspected criminal and it will be a great help for the police department. DNA profiling and fingerprinting is also under process for the purpose of identification of the criminals. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is the fluid present inside the human cell. DNA is the content of the human body that remains unchanged throughout the life, and every human has the different composition of the DNA form another human. Even the two identical twins with same physical features have different DNAs. Therefore, any person can be identified through his/her DNA profile. DNA is a powerful investigation tool for the Criminal justice system and the FBI to stop the anti-human activities in the world. The scientific progress will also help to…

In that regard, Agnew's version of strain theory no longer explains the marked difference in male and female homicide rates, simply because it downplays the importance of the types of strains described by Merton. Whereas Merton's strains were associated more with the types of failures more likely to be experienced by males, Agnew's strains included many types of strains that, at least arguably, could be said to plague females even more than males.
Merton conceived of the source of strain as predominantly a function of identity roles and social success as defined in the cultural environment; Agnew added the many other sources of potential strain that relate to expectations of the individual rather than necessarily of society (Macionis 2003). More specifically, Agnew (1992) suggested that individuals vary substantially from one another and form many elements of their ideal "role model" more autonomously: whereas some individuals (of either gender) may value…

Criminal Justice
Grade Course

To be honest I tend to think that crime has been trending in the late night news since the early 90s to an extent that it has become some sort of entertainment. It is mostly featured in the prime time news as a mass magnet for news corporations which are business entities and would therefore; capitalize on the expectant audience it has attracted. A large proportion of the crime reported is usually projected as individual subversions rather than socially motivated misdemeanors. It is from this perspective that criminals are feared beyond their capability without proper dissemination of the causes leaving an audience that is always pregnant with political, or sexual related crimes as a form of entertainment than a source of crime prevention issues that would go a long way in making their neighborhoods safer.

This paper will delve into the three main parts; the study of crime, Measuring…

This substantiates the concept that simply building more correctional facilities will only exacerbate the problem, as it will probably fill up even faster than it can be completed.
Moses Wright (2007) notes that there is light at the end of the tunnel. An increasing number of critics and professionals are recognizing the possibilities of rehabilitation as opposed to imprisonment. Rehabilitation has a number of advantages. Most notably, it will discourage repeat offending and thus reduce the number of prisoners who return to prison after only a short time. In addition, rehabilitation programs will both help those participating and other prisoners for whom an example is provided to become worthy contributors to society. Furthermore, rehabilitation will also relieve society of those repeat offenders who are never apprehended and thus continue to have the opportunity to commit their crimes. It therefore appears that rehabilitation programs could be much more effective in reducing…

Prosecutors consider several factors. For effective prosecution to take place there should be the required selected readings, methodology and analysis of the findings of the case (Siegel 2012). A standard case set is also crucial since it is a tool used for decision making in the criminal justice system. These tools enable us to understand how prosecutors view a case and how they come up with justified decisions.
The standard case set measures the level of agreement between prosecutors. Some of the well-known factors that contribute to the decision-making process of prosecutors categorized into two main types. These are legal and extra-legal. According to Siegel (2012), legal factors include the strength of evidence, culpability of the defendant and the seriousness of the offence. If the evidence against the defendant is strong, it is likely that the court will charge and convict the defendant for the offence. This also applies with…

"Approximately 27.5% of college women reported experiences that met the legal criteria for rape," even though some of them were not necessarily aware that the actions to which they were subjected satisfied such a definition (ape and sexual violence, 2013, NIJ).
According to the FBI, which defines violent crimes as "murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault," an "estimated 1,246,248 violent crimes occurred nationwide" in 2010 (ape and sexual violence, 2013, NIJ). There is obviously a great deal of overlap between the characteristics of populations that commit sexual assault and violent criminals, due to this definition. It should also be noted that although persons who commit violent crimes are disproportionately male and young (the example of stereotypes being validated by statistics); whites commit more such crimes -- 54% vs. 45% versus African-Americans. Also, "numbers also vary widely depending on the crime, with blacks responsible for more murders…

Criminal Justice
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

Supervising Attorney

Paralegal

John Ebersol

Determine whether Mr. Ebersol was guilty of shoplifting. If Mr. Ebersol was guilty of shoplifting, determine what he can expect his punishment to be.

FACTS:

Mr. Ebersol purchased a flathead screwdriver from the hardware store on Saturday, but purchased a Phillips head screwdriver by mistake. Mr. Ebersol returned to the store with the intention of purchasing screws for his new screwdriver. When he discovered that the hardware store was out of flathead screws, Mr. Ebersol left the flathead screwdriver on the counter and left the store with a Phillips head screwdriver in his pocket. Mr. Ebersol was detained, interrogated for 2 1/2 hours, and released with shoplifting charges against him.

ISSUES:

(1) Is Mr. Ebersol guilty of shoplifting?

(2) If Mr. Ebersol is guilty of shoplifting, what can his expected punishment be?

BRIEF ANSWERS:

(1) Mr. Ebersol is not guilty of shoplifting.

(2) If found guilty of shoplifting, Mr. Ebersol can expect to serve…

Use of technology would promote public knowledge about the spread of confirmed criminal activity or patterns of behavior that might place people at risk, whether that risk involved theft, credit card scams or other behaviors (Farber, 2006).
Participation in shared networking technological programs would be required of private businesses, community agencies and policing authorities to ensure a true community policing structure is established. Communities would work to create neighborhood watch groups in response to "non-sensitive" security data that would help them better protect their community and collaborate with law enforcement agencies (Farber, 2006, p. 110).

Before a hearing is set, a judiciary authority should be appointed along with a trained criminal justice psychologist to determine what factors contributed to the criminal activity, the severity of criminal activity and whether prosecution is warranted, or whether rehabilitative measures would prove more helpful in the long-term. A meeting should be established where the offender…

In addition, research shows that arrests actually dropped in San Diego after implementing COP policies, and even more dramatic, citizen complaints against police officers dropped, as well. Thus, COP activities seem to be more citizen-friendly than zero-tolerance policies, and they seem to bring dramatic drops in crime, as well.
Problem-oriented policing targets specific problem areas of crime, such as drug-trafficking neighborhoods or youth-oriented crimes. This type of policing strives to understand why crimes are occurring, and get to the root of the crime problem in specific areas. In Boston in the 1990s, youth-oriented homicide was a growing problem, and the city developed a POP program to address it. Called the "Boston Gun Project," the project targeted youth aged 24 and under, and it researched why there was a gun problem with youth in Boston, and then developed intervention and evaluating the impact of the intervention. It involved many different law…

Thus, police patrols that are directed to specific areas for specific purposes are often more effective than general police patrols.
Both of these articles do reach the same basic conclusions. They study many different types of police patrols and community policing, and discover that generally, common police patrols are not that effective in reducing and maintaining reduced crime levels. However, directed or hot spots police patrols, that are geared specifically toward cracking down on one area of crime, such as gun violence, are effective at reducing crime and altering crime rates for a specific target area. The authors cite different studies, but both cite studies from the past to help lead them to their conclusions. While they use different studies and methods, it is interesting to note that their conclusions are so similar. Police patrols may deter crime in specific areas, and increased police patrols help bring down crime statistics…

, 2005)
In the same way that traditional techniques of criminal identification have enabled law enforcement authorities to establish national fingerprint information databases for the purposes of connecting evidence to possible previous offenders, DNA-based forensic evidence has allowed the creation of similar databases greatly expanding the types of forensic evidence used to increase the security of sensitive facilities and restricted areas.

When combined with the ever-increasing power of modern computer technology to cross reference and match different types of physical evidence, law enforcement authorities have already developed the ability to establish terrorist watch lists incorporating forensic evidence of previous acts of terrorism with uniquely identifying features of perpetrators still at large. The continued evolution of such marriages between criminal forensics and identification techniques will greatly enhance homeland security, both at checkpoints and in terms of tracking the possible whereabouts and activities of persons of interest in connection with possible terrorism.

Popular Media epresentation…

In the meantime, new brain cells are constantly being developed, even into old age, but such alterations in the brain are largely contingent on what the individual has experienced in his or her environment" (Wright et al., 2008). Therefore, one of the factors that can impact adult propensity to commit violence is whether the brain had the opportunity to develop normally in very early childhood. Of course, both social and biological factors can impact early brain development.
In many ways, criminals are not thought to respond to external stimuli in the same manner as non-criminals, and it is believed that there may be an underlying biological basis for these differences. The auto-nomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the nervous system beyond the conscious control of the individual and is split into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for…

Another form of punishment is by restraint or incarceration. By keeping the person under state control, then the state can avert the person from committing another crime. On the other hand, many times incarceration is only a temporary answer. ehabilitation is an alternative when it is possible. The person who violates criminal laws gets punishment but also learns how to alter their bad behavior and work toward becoming a productive citizen. The last reason of punishment is retribution, or to make the person suffer for the pain caused to the victim and the victim's family. Many times, this reason is most relevant to the victim or the victim's family when a violent crime is committed (the Purpose of Criminal Laws, 2012).
Deterrence

In very broad terms punishment may be anticipated to affect deterrence in one of two ways. First, by escalating the certainty of punishment, potential offenders may be deterred by…

New Hampshire (1971) had mandated such.
This case had tremendous effect on our criminal justice system in that it removed the inadvertence requirement from one of the exceptions to the Fourth Amendment. This requirement had called for a search warrant to specify the items that were to be searched for and seized, and anything else that was discovered had to be done inadvertently. Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court had held that in order for the police to seize evidence not mentioned in a warrant, they must find it inadvertently and it must be in plain view, which is required by the plain view doctrine. The plain view doctrine is the rule that says a law enforcement officer may make a search and seizure without obtaining a search warrant if evidence of criminal activity or the product of a crime can be seen without entry or search. However, in Horton v.…

In addition, they could be effective in super high-crime hot spots, such as the bar the authors describe in Minneapolis, which recorded an astounding number of assaults throughout the year; roughly 1 in 4 patrons would suffer an assault during the study (Sherman et al. 44). Thus, random patrols in a hot-spot area like this could help deter crime and apprehend offenders. However, chances are that the very nature of the random patrol would be so random that it would not encounter criminal activity, and so, it would be less effective than other forms of patrol.
Interestingly, most patrol officers disagree with the findings of these studies. Author Kelling and his colleagues write, "Three-fourths of those surveyed in the South Patrol Division [in Kansas City] more than moderately agreed that routine patrol was the most important function of the department" (Kelling, et al. 38). This is not only because they…

The most common modern incarnation of this style has evolved into "community policing" including the establishment of specific units within police agency dedicated to public contact and community relations. Typical examples of the community relations element of service style approaches include making officers available to grade school presentations and the establishment of child safety seat checking facilities, inviting citizens to have their child safety seats inspected by officers to ensure correct use and optimal occupant protection.

According to many crime theorists (Ellison 2006), service style and community-oriented policing styles are not appropriate to all communities. In particular, high-crime communities are better served by more proactive, legalistic styles.

Surprisingly, while middle class communities provide the optimal environment for implementation of service style policing and community. On the other hand, more affluent communities manifested a definite preference for a more watchman-like policing style, preferring little or no direct involvement with police functions outside of…

In addition, after the Kansas City Patrol Experiment, the police department noted that it was going to develop a directed patrol system to help control and prevent crime in the city. This was a direct result of what the study found, that routine patrols did not help deter and prevent crime, and that other patrol methods, such as random or direct patrols, were better at deterring crimes, especially in certain hot spots in the city. Thus, the study showed that policing can have a positive affect on a city's crime rate, and it also showed that effective community involvement, combined with direct patrol, can be a serious deterrent to crime, especially in areas of known and continued criminal activity.

eferences

Kelling, George L., Pate, Tony, Dieckman, Duane, and Brown, Charles E. The Kansas City

Preventive Patrol Experiment: A Summary eport. Washington DC: Police Foundation, 1974.

Sherman, Lawrence W., Gartin, Patrick , and Buerger, Michael…

Discuss with your peers the issue of whether the protection of the 4th Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures has been seriously eroded by all these exceptions? Explain, in detail, why or why not?
(1) earch Incident to Lawful Arrest permits police to search persons who are lawfully arrested. This is a practical exception that does not seriously erode 4th Amendment protections, mainly because it does not interfere with the rights of citizens unless or until the other constitutional protections against unlawful arrest have been satisfied. In practical terms, lawfully arrested persons cannot be permitted to enter into the custody of the state without first ensuring that they are not in possession of weapons or other contraband.

(2) earch by Consent permits police to conduct searches of persons or property if they first obtain consent from subjects of those searches. Technically, consent obtained must be given freely and voluntarily and when…

" (Dunkelberger, 1) This is, of course, a statement of direct reflection on
the approach taken by lawmakers to building a lagging budget, which
determines to impose heavier fines and fees upon members of the public.
Rather than raising taxes, here the economic struggles are in a certain
matter only compounded amongst those who have in some manner run aground of
local or state law.
And as point of fact, the article points to another recommendation
which seems to reinforce this tack. As Dunkelberger tells, "one of the few
winners in the budget process was the Florida Highway Patrol, where
troopers will be in line for a 5 percent pay raise on Oct. 1. Lawmakers
approved the raise after hearing the agency was steadily losing personnel
to other law enforcement agencies that can pay higher salaries."
(Dunkelberger, 1) To say nothing of the fact that this pay raise was a
reactionary step designed to prevent a dangerous deficit in personnel in an
area where such…

In addition, gang activity and association is a big problem in many schools today, and many school systems are turning to local law enforcement agencies to help them combat school violence on a number of levels.
One of the activities that is being utilized across the country is the COPS is Schools (CIS) program, which helps local agencies hire school resource officers (SOs) to work inside the schools and develop community oriented programs that reach out to students, educators, and parents to identify and address violence issues in their particular schools. This can help the law enforcement agencies to identify the biggest problem schools in their area and address these schools with distinct problem oriented policing techniques geared to control the specific issues at a specific school, whether it is gang activity, truancy, or vandalism.

These SOs can also develop student programs that help students understand how they can help control…

Adverse circumstances and heated verbal attacks by angry citizens sometimes triggers a (natural) response on the part of police officers to respond in kind, or, at the extreme, with verbal abuse in the form of threats to use their lawful powers of arrest for intimidation purposes where, in fact, any such use of arrest powers is unlawful under the given circumstances.

Typical examples with potential to trigger verbal abuse by police would include responding to members of the public who are indeed complying with a lawful order to disperse, or to vacate a specific area, but who do so while expressing their verbal disagreement or displeasure with the officer's command. They may even choose to insult the officer personally, but provided their actions do not constitute a threat to the officer or a refusal to obey his lawful orders, and as long as their manner of expression does not constitute a…

Overcrowding also has deeper social, political and economic costs because through litigation it often forces states to build new facilities, whether the budget is available or not (Hanrahan, 2006).
Many scholars, in fact, conclude that the "lock em up" strategy is counter-productive to the overall system of criminal justice. Drug dealers figured out how to avoid getting caught "with product;" other criminals work the system so that it is the naive being preyed upon by both sides who end up incarcerated. Certainly, there are no easy answers to violent crime, to drug addiction and proliferation, or too innumerable other criminalization issues that exist within contemporary society. In fact, "Human Rights atch found that the United States is the only country in the world with such an array of restrictions" that are relatively ineffective (orrall, 2008, p. 174).

Perhaps modern society might take a hint from modern dentistry -- prevention is likely…

Criminal Law and Psychopathy I. Introduction
Various studies have in the past indicated that there is a high correlation between violence/criminal behavior and psychopathy. This would largely be expected given that psychological studies into the character and disposition of psychopaths has demonstrated that the need for control (or power) as well as egocentrism, which also happen to be the dominant character traits of psychopaths, are predictors for deviant or antisocial behavior. The debate on whether or not psychopaths should be held criminally responsible for their acts, and thus be subjected to criminal punishment, has been raging for a long time. On one side of the debate are legal scholars, lawmakers, and judges who are of the opinion that psychopaths have an existing predisposition to commit crimes as a result of their lack of concern or compassion of any kind for those they hurt. Psychopathy is on this front regarded as untreatable and…

In LA County, file appropriate STEP Act reports outlined in Manual of Policy and Procedures to alert CLEAR / HEAT / SAGE officers in your division
Since Internet gang activity is not limited to particular neighborhoods in any geographic location, Law Enforcement must respond in the same way. Gang officers will report intrastate activity to the DOJ and FBI but those agencies have resources all officers can use to recognize gang activity. Review these DOJ resources, because your local tip could lead to wider international terrorist activity. (11)

PoliceOne.com (Robert Walker) also has a centralized list of street gang home pages that may tie in with activity in your jurisdiction (12).

5. ACTION: If you believe you may encounter military-level threat of force from gang members, secure the scene and alert Gang Violence Task Force [____]

IF YOU ENCOUNTER OR APPREHEND combat equipment or tactics in gang-related contact, notify CLEAR / HEAT /…

Criminal Offending
In the past, any form of criminal activity was associated with low self-esteem that is why criminal activity was minimal. Paying for crime in the past involved ruthless means, including tying a criminal on a stone and throwing them into the river. Comparing the past with the modern world, a great contrast occurs. Criminal offenders in the modern world appear to be of very high self-esteem. The self-esteem arises from prior criminal activities, personal traits and participation in prison. It is so unfortunate because criminals do not fear the law, security officials and subsequently no regard for positive punishment.

Criminologists and psychologists have a task of establishing whether crime is in either way related to the human mind, behavior and psychology. Criminal activity is increasing by day, and the securities do not know what to attribute for especially, when correctional facilities are full of criminals. It is likely that…

criminal justice and American culture. Specifically it will discuss jail time served by Blacks, Hispanics and whites, and the lawyers who prosecute them. The statistics indicate that African-American men, especially between the ages of 25 to 29, are incarcerated at a higher rate than either Hispanics or whites. There are several factors that are associated with these statistics, including where these young men grow up, their income, and their education, among others. There is also the issue of racial profiling. This paper will look at these statistics and attempt to answer the question of why these young men serve more jail time than other American men do.
In most areas of violent and non-violent crime, African-American men are more represented in American prisons than any other race. Some people may feel African-Americans are more prone to crime and violence, but many studies point to several other factors in criminal activity.…

Latinos participations are low in CAPS, and most of their members are unaware of the strategies of CAPS. Their levels of awareness have been on a declining state since the year 1990. Their involvement in these meetings was driving by the levels of crime, moral decay on the community and at the level of social disorder. The problem with the Latino population is that they do not turn up in numbers to these meetings. The community's representation is low in these meetings.
However, research further shows that the community lacks representation in the district advisory committees that meet on a regular basis with the police department. Compared to the African-Americans and the Whites Latinos have young families are they are more likely to be working and having families at home. Their involvement with the police department is variedly mixed. There is evidence that their community avoids police contacts, including not…

The legalistic method of policing also provides laws and mandates that provide not only officers but citizens the ability to enforce social order. A citizen's arrest allows a citizen who has witnessed a crime to arrest the suspect even if an officer was not present at the time the crime was committed.

The watchman style, according to Wilson, is implemented by law enforcement officials that believe the most effective law enforcement comes from observation. This style of law enforcement provides observations through patrol beats, in patrol cars, on bikes and on foot. Most people have observed the style when they see patrol vehicles driving through their neighborhoods they are witnessing the watchman style of policing. If they see officers standing on a beach or in a crowded fair and observing everyone there it is the practice of watchman policing. When they see a suspicious activity or a crime being committed they…

criminal justice system comprises of key features that generally include the criminal act, investigations into it and subsequently arresting the suspect, abhorrence to suspect's rights in the course of due process, the trial as well as the sentencing after a guilty verdict has been passed. The sentencing of a suspect follows the guilty verdict and at this stage of the criminal justice process, the judge determines the suitable punishment. This is the most important aspects of the criminal justice system and pivotal in the pursuit of preventing crime. The sentencing stage is based on four key objectives that include deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and retribution.
Deterrence

In general terms deterrence in the criminal justice system is expected to have two effects. The clear certainty of action against offenders, potential law breakers should be deterred by the risk of arrest and second, the punishment may affect behavior change by the potential offender weighing…

Criminal Justice Policy Practice Determine Morality
Higher Than Utilitarianism

The passing and reformation of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, also known as the so-called "crack law," is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to be considered within the criminal justice system and its policy during the past two years. There are several aspects of this legal mandate that present a plethora of interesting situations and questions in regards to the morality of this particular issue, which has been at the forefront of mass media outlets ever since there were significant amendments passed to it in 2010. Interestingly enough, a fair amount of those changes may be attributed to the notion of morality revolving around this legal code, which was largely responsible for the rapid and prolonged imprisonment of minorities -- particularly African-Americans and Latino offenders. One of the most efficacious means of determining whether such a law may be deemed…

The consequences of impermissible detention and searches without sufficient probable cause or reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct can result in civil liability on the part of the police agency involved. The most serious types of criminal procedure violations, such as those depriving individuals of fundamental civil rights and freedoms can also trigger serious criminal violations under federal law in addition to civil monetary penalties (Schmalleger, 2008; Zalman, 2008).

Modern American criminal procedure establishes very strict rules that limit the authority of police to question or interrogate criminal suspects as well. Once an individual has been validly arrested, police must advise the individual of his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and of his Sixth Amendment right to the presence of legal counsel during any questioning before police conduct any interrogation.

The consequences of failing to understand the requirements of criminal procedure in this respect can potentially negate the entire value of all the…

Police oles and Functions:
Similar to the teaching and medicine field, policing is a field that has close or intimate connections with social life, change, and progress. Police agencies are part of the complex network of law enforcement in the United States. While these agencies are distributed across the local, state, and federal governmental levels, they have varying degrees of specialty. Despite of these differing degrees of specialty across the police agencies, they work closely with each other and other elements of the criminal justice system. In the United States, police agencies have a variety of functions that range from protecting the society to intercepting the transportation of illegal drugs. However, the role and function of a specific police agency is basically dependent on its location and jurisdiction in law enforcement. Nonetheless, policing and police agencies generally originated as a means of social control, especially to respond to the need for…

Social Control and the Life-Course Perspective
Social control theories attempt to understand crime by looking at the formal or informal social controls which lead most people to forego criminal behavior but simultaneously fail to hinder others. Of the various individual theories which fall under the umbrella of social control, perhaps one of the most disruptive and innovative for the sociological study of crime is Robert Sampson and John Laub's life-course theory, which posits that not only does childhood and adolescent behavior predict later criminal behavior, as suggested by numerous other theories, but that certain events throughout one's life may also serve to alter a person's trajectory towards or away from criminal behavior, such that one attempting to understand the social factors precipitating crime must necessarily examine an individual's life-course, rather than just his or her childhood behavior and development. To understand just how much Sampson and Laub's theory differs from other…

This new reformulation of the insanity defense, a kind of a fusion of the earlier M'Naghten and Durham tests, was intended to be a less constrictive version of the right-wrong and irresistible impulse tests. Today, "most states in the union allow this 'right-wrong' test and some states also allow defendants to argue that that they understood their behavior was criminal but were unable to control it. This is sometimes called the irresistible impulse defense" (Martin 1998).
Insanity defenses are controversial amongst the public, just like M'Naghten's acquittal. Yet despite the perception the defense is misused, "less than one percent of defendants plead insanity and, of them, only a quarter win acquittals" (Martin 1998). The majority of defendants acquitted by reason of insanity suffer from schizophrenia or some other mental illness (Martin 1998). To be criminally committed to a state mental institution is not a 'gift.' In almost all cases, a…

This essay discusses how the criminal justice system is an important part of the government, allowing for the prosecution, imprisonment, and rehabilitation of criminals. Apart from the court system and police, the criminal justice system has other components like criminal justice agencies that provide additional information for researchers to form studies and articles to help improve the criminal justice system as a whole. This Criminal Justice Essay will help students looking to understand what the system is and what components make up the system. By exploring the core of the criminal justice system, one can understand law and how the government carries out enforcement of the law within the country.
Titles

What is at the Core of the Criminal Justice System in the United States?

The Effects of the Criminal Justice System on Crime

Does the Criminal Justice System Need Change?

Selected Title: The Role of The American Criminal Justice System in Crime Prevention

Topics

Crime Prevention

Rehabilitation

Effectiveness…

Drug Courts: A Program to Reinvent Justice for Addicts
For the past several decades, drug use has had an overwhelming effect upon the American justice system, with drug and drug-related crime being the most common offense in almost every community (Drug Strategies, 1996). eyond the troubling ability of these problems to fill prisons to capacity, the traditional judicial system seemed to have no deterrent effect on these crimes (Drug and Crime Facts, 1994). A disturbing "revolving door" pattern had emerged, with drug offenders moving through the system in a predictable pattern of arrest, prosecution, conviction, incarceration, and release. In a few weeks, sometimes only a few days, the same person was back in the system again, arrested for drug possession or a drug-related crime (National Association of Drug Court Professionals [NADCP], 1997). A particularly difficult problem faced by the system was the growing use of crack cocaine in the 1980s (Miller…

positives and negatives of the criminal justice policy of surveillance in the age of homeland security is that it provides protection for citizens, but it also raises questions about privacy rights and causes citizens to be fearful that the government is spying on them. Thus there are both positives and negatives to the policy. This affects courts, corrections and juvenile justice in the sense that each has to be aware of rights of persons. The president's stance on this issue is that it is necessary to help combat the enemy. These policing concepts fit in with the concept of social justice because they promote safety and they help stakeholders to feel more secure (Friedman, Miles, 2002). This is imperative for promoting a society that rests on justice and tries to incorporate a framework for safety that protects citizens but also discourages criminal behavior by showing a strong framework for…

Criminals of the Bible written by Mark Jones in the year 2006. Criminals of the Bible examines and studies the subject matter of the different criminal acts committed by different persons in the Bible. These criminal acts in the book are considered as a measure against Mosaic Law, a law that was common for an extended period of time within which the Bible was written. In addition, Mark Jones, the author, takes into consideration peer studied assessments of criminal law theorists both in the 21st century and even before. The Bible is such an intriguing and interesting book. It consists of numerous stories from the creation story to the end of the world that can be fascinating and keep one enthralled with the different characters. The book offers a societal, legal and political context of the criminal acts that took place at that point in time (Jones and Johnstone,…

Juvenile Delinquency in Courts
Addressing Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is a current issue trending in the American Society, especially due to its impact on the social environment. A close examination depicts the changing role that the youth and children have taken up in the American Society. From previous research, courts have been on the verge of dealing with juvenile related cases, owing to certain domains responsible to the increased rates of juvenile delinquency. Such domain continues tagging along societal problem to social institutions such as schools, the neighborhood, and families related to the juveniles. In response to this social problem, a juvenile justice system featuring juvenile courts has been established to provide judicial methods, relations and facilities to the juveniles convicted. However, juvenile judicial proceedings are in dilemmatic positions in regards to the principle of parenspatriae. The latter enables juvenile court actions to act in lieu of parents and guardians unwilling…

Crime and Justice DQ
Comparison and Contrast

Governments around the globe have adopted different approaches to combating crime and delivery of justice to their citizens. The issue of liberal and conservative approaches to crime and justice are more vivid in Canada. The Canadian government had earlier favored liberal approach before 2006 when the approach changed back to conservative due to the Conservative government taking over (Phillips 2012).

The two approaches differ due to their contrasting views of human nature, moral values nature and the cause of criminal activity. They also contrast on the treatment of the criminals due to their differences. Liberals are based on the belief that man is naturally good. Evidently, there is no absolute standard of morality to be taught or adhered to by the citizens. They claim that crime is a product of deprivation due to poverty, and the society is responsible for criminal behavior as they prove the…

Freud's Psychosocial Development Theory Presumes That Adult Character Is Established By Age 5
Freud finds that we humans are extremely symbolic creatures; we have a common set of symbols that provide us a very effective language for our shared wishes. What case does he make that we are accustomed to symbolic experience and that we talk about these symbols in the bigger society of humankind? Freud's theory presumes that adult character is established by age 5, with the resolution of the Oedipus issue. Hence, it only explains character growth into adolescence. On the other hand, Jung regarded that character continued to develop across the lifespan and explains levels of mature growth not regarded by Freud. Both theorists highlighted the subconscious, but Erickson went beyond to talk about the significance of the combined unconscious; an idea Freud particularly refused. Both had little actual physical proof to back up their speculation. However, because…

Criminal Acts and Offender Behavior
Theoretical Dimensions of Criminal Behavior

Laws exist to maintain order and peace and provide for the safety and well-being of all members of society. Acts that disrupt and threaten this system of order are deemed criminal in nature and are therefore punishable by law. The psychology of criminal behavior addresses the thought processes that result in deviant acts and the motivations that drive them. It is believed that criminal types operate from a self-centered framework that shows little, if any regard, for the safety and well-being of others (Merton, 1968).

There are generally three broad theoretical models of criminal behavior: biological, psychological, and sociological. Most theoretical models overlap in their analysis and point to the genetic predisposition of some individuals toward criminal behavior, as well as environmental influences (Morley & Hall, 2003). Most commonly both play a part in developing a person's tendency to engage in criminal activity.…

Criminal Justice: Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is described as the participation of minors, usually under the legal age of 18, in criminal activities. Cases of juvenile delinquency have increased at an alarming rate in recent years. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP (2015), juveniles under the age of 18 are responsible for about 10% of all homicides. In the period between 1990 and 2003, violent crimes by juveniles declined significantly - but after 2003, the previous trend continued and about 30% of murder crimes were attributed to delinquency. Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) incarcerates more than 33000 minors under the age of 18 for different criminal offenses (OJJDP, 2015). The fight against juvenile delinquency is often inconvenienced by recidivism. ecidivism occurs when juvenile offenders relapse back to their criminal ways after they are released from residential care. Majority of juvenile offenders are rearrested within…

Choices, controlled by fear are another core principle that advocates for fear inducement that will enable individuals keep away from crime. This principle supports three strikes legislation, since with a repetition of crime it comes with a severe judgment that enables first crime offenders fear and keep away from crime. Core principle of severity calls for a severe punishment on a violent crime and depending on the nature of crime. The theory supports three strikes legislation, since a repetition of violent crime faces severe charges than the first time (Siegel, 2010).
Criminal policy proposal

Criminal justice, over the years, has faced many challenges in administering proper justice. Drug and substance abuse and mental illness are examples of disorders that need to be corrected to minimize crime rates. Criminals who prove to be mentally ill or under the influence of drug or substance should be treated different from criminals who are upright…

The reduction occurs through allowing the counties to acquire other methods of jailing apart from the prisons. This includes out-of custody rehabilitative treatments, which could serve in reducing the number of the criminals taken to the prisons. However, the AB109 criminals must be individuals whose crime are not violent and not that serious as provided by the law. This means that that jailing of the A109 criminals in other alternative would involve selection from the other criminals. However the unstated implication is that it would be much difficult to rate a crime as either more serious or not serious. Consequently, the rationale provides higher chances of biasness of selecting some non-serious cases while leaving others.
Implication of the policy

The criminal justice implication of the policy will mainly affect the non-violent arrestees. The decision of keeping them in custody, would affect their ability to avoid recividism future. The social implications include…

The stigmatization of African-Americans has caused terrible harm in many areas, and only exacerbates the perceived "problem."
T]hirty years of forced removal to prison of 150,000 young males from particular communities of New York represents collective losses similar in scale to the losses due to epidemics, wars, and terrorist attacks -- with the potential for comparable effects on the survivors and the social structure of their families and communities. (oberts, 2004)

By destroying African-American communities and social networks on a massive scale, law enforcement officials are contributing to the very problems they purport to be fighting.

The mass imprisonment of African-Americans further spreads and entrenches the notion that African-Americans are somehow incapable of conforming to the larger society's rules and regulations. The more common the prison experience becomes in African-American life, the more normative it becomes in both African-American and majority White culture. oberts underlines the terrible effects of this process of…