Chapter 1 Criminal Justice Today

L.01L.01 What is a crime?

 An act proclaimed by law as a wrong against society and, if committed under certain circumstances, punishable by society

The Consensus Model  1.Assumes that as people gather together to form a society, its members will naturally come to a basic agreement with regard to shared norms and values  2.Assumes, to a certain extent, that a diverse group of people can have similar morals

The Conflict model  1.Assumes that different segments of society, separated by social class, income, age, and rage, will inevitably have different value systems and shared norms, and are engaged in a constant struggle with one another for control of society  2.What is deemed criminal activity is determined by whichever group happens to be holding power at any given time

L.02 An integrated definition of crime

 Constructs a definition of crime in that it is any action or activity that includes the following:  1. Is punishable under criminal law, as determined by the majority of society, or in some cases, a powerful minority  2. Is considered an offense against society as a whole and prosecuted by public officials  3. Is punishable by statutorily defined sanctions that bring about a loss of freedom

Types of crimes  Crimes are classified according to their seriousness  In general there are six categories of criminal behavior  Mr. & Mrs. Bake ? What do you think it represents?

Types of crimes  1.Violent crime  Crimes against persons, which dominate our perspectives about crime  Four general categories  1. Murder 2. Sexual assault  3. Assault and battery  4. Robbery  These acts are further classified by degree, depending on the circumstances surrounding the criminal act

Types of crimes  2. Property crime  Most common form of criminal activity during which the goal of the offender is some form of economic gain or damaging of the property  Four general categories  1. Larceny / Theft  2. Burglary  3. Motor vehicle theft  4. Arson

Types of crimes  3. Public order crime  Linked to the consensus model  Outlaws activities that are considered contrary to public values and morals  Most common include public drunkenness, prostitution, gambling, and illicit drug use  Often referred to as victimless crimes as they only harm the offender

Types of crimes  4.White-collar crime  Business-related crimes  Describes illegal acts or series of acts committed by an individual or business entity using some nonviolent means to obtain a personal or business advantage

Types of crimes  5.Organized crime  1. Describes illegal acts by illegal organizations, usually geared toward satisfying the public’s demand for unlawful goods and services  2. Implies a conspiratorial and illegal relationship among any number of persons engaged in unlawful acts

Types of crimes  3. Employs criminal tactics  a. Violence  b. Corruption  C. Intimidation for economic gain

Types of crimes  6. High-tech crime  Newest typology of crime, directly related to increased use of computers in everyday life  Internet has become the site of cyber crime  1. Cyber crimes against persons and property  2. Cyber crimes in the business world  3. Cyber crimes against the community

L.03 The Criminal Justice System

The purpose of the criminal justice system  President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, in 1967, stated that the system is obliged to enforce accepted standards of conduct to “protect individuals and the community”

The purpose of the criminal justice system  Three goals of the modern criminal justice system  1. To control crime  2. To prevent crime  3. To provide and maintain justice

Law enforcement  1. Local law enforcement  a. Duties are split between counties and municipalities  b. Chief law enforcement officer of the county is the sheriff  i. Elected post  ii. Two or four-year term

Law enforcement  c.Bulk of local police officers are employed by municipalities  1. Investigate crimes  2. Attempt to deter crime  3. Apprehend criminals  4. Participate in trial proceedings  5. Charged with “keeping the peace”  6. In some areas, provide social services

State law enforcement  Two general types of state law enforcement agencies  1.State police  2.Highway patrols  Other state law enforcers include fire marshals and fish, game, and watercraft wardens

Federal law enforcement  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) combines 24 federal agencies  Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)  Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)  U. S. Secret Service  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

L.04 The Courts

 Dual court system with two independent judicial systems  1. Federal level  2. State level  A dual court system, which means that we have two independent judicial systems Federal Level and State Levels

Corrections  1.Offenders may be placed on probation, incarcerated, or transferred to community-based corrections facilities once they have been delegated to the corrections system  2.Probation is the most common correctional treatment allowing the offender to return to the community under supervision

Incarceration may include jails or prisons  Jails house those convicted of minor crimes with relatively short sentences in the county jail  Prisons house those convicted of more serious crimes with longer sentences in Lowell Prison

L.05 Discretion

Discretion and discretionary basics  Using authority to choose between and among alternative courses of action  Criminal justice system uses discretion to alleviate pressures  Discretion is closely related to questions of ethics

L.06 The “wedding cake” model of criminal justice

The first layers of the cake  “Top” layer consists only of a handful of celebrity cases

The Second layers of the cake  Second layer consists of “high profile” felonies

The third layers of the cake  Third layer consists of “ordinary” felonies

The fourth layers of the cake  Fourth layer consists of misdemeanors

 Public fascination with celebrity cases obscures a truth of the informal criminal justice process  Trial by jury is relatively rare only about 5% of those arrested for felonies go to trial

L.07 Values of the Criminal Justice System

Crime control model  1. The most important function of the criminal justice system is to punish and repress criminal conduct  2. The criminal justice system should function quickly and efficiently, as an assembly line  3. Police are in a better position than the courts to determine guilt, and therefore as few restrictions as possible should be place on them  4. The crime control model relies on the informality in the justice system

Due process model  1. Focuses on protecting the rights of the accused through legal constraints on police, courts, and corrections  2. Fairness, not efficiency, is the goal of the due process model  3. The due process model relies on the courts to uphold the legal procedures of establishing guilt  4. The due process model protects individuals for the power of the state

L.08 Criminal Justice Today

Crime: the bottom line  2/3 of citizens feel crime is on the rise  In fact, in 2010 violent crime and property crime rates are declining and are at near record lows  Still, the weak economy could lead to eventual increases

Gun Sales and Gun Control  30,000 people are killed by gunfire each year  Illegally obtained firearms pose a series concern for law enforcement  1/3 of American households legally possess at least one gun  The debate over gun control continues as the Second Amendment is analyzed

Illegal Drugs  Crack cocaine blamed for explosion of violent crime in 1980s and 1990s  Intense wave of violent crime related to wars between Mexican drug cartels  U.S. government estimates that Mexican drug cartels supply drugs to 230 American cities  War on drugs refers primarily to psychoactive drugs, which a significant number of Americans regularly use

Law Enforcement in the United States: Traditions and Technology  Using DNA profiling to fight crime  The Homeland Security and the Patriot Act  1. The ultimate goal is to protect American from terrorism  2. This has led to politicians and police officers to favor the crime control model  3. The Patriot Act was passed six weeks after the 9/11 attacks