Name:____________________________________
Date:______________
Mrs. Belesis
Criminal Justice
Review Sheet #1
1. How do police officers find out a crime has been committed?
a. Police witness the crime in action.
b. The victim reports it
c. A witness reports it
d. Police find evidence after the crime has been committed.
e. The offender turns himself in
f.
Anonymous tip
2. What is the wedding cake model of criminal justice? Know the various levels
a.
3. How does society define crime?
a. Crime is behavior that violates the norms of society.
i. Norms vary from group to group.
ii. Norms are subject to interpretation.
iii. Norms change from time to time and place to place.
4. Why is a legal definition of crime beneficial to society?
a. is narrower and less ambiguous than a social definition of crime.
5. What seven elements need to be present in order to legally define that crime has been committed.
Know all seven elements.
a. Harm
b. Legality
c. Actus reus
d. Mens rea
e. Causation
f.
Concurrence
g. Punishment
6. Explain the Broken Window Theory
a. The idea that if you leave one problem unaddressed the society will slowly deteriorate
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of community policing.
a. Advantages: Community can monitor one another, strengthen the community, feel more
powerful within your community.
b. Disadvantages: Officers have been trained and community members disregard that training, no
proven connection between community policing and crime rates, community policing is too
similar to social work (not what officers are supposed to be doing, they should be solving
crimes and arresting people)
8. Explain the three functions of police officers.
a. Law enforcement
b. Service
c. Maintenance
9. What are various institutions of social control?
a. Family, schools, religion, criminal justice
10. What are the three agencies of criminal justice?
a. Police
b. Courts
c. Corrections
11. What are some problems when trying to define crime?
a. Some things that should be illegal are not and vice versa.
b. Some behaviors are illegal but not enforced
12. What is the purpose of the criminal justice system?
a. To prevent and control crime
13. Define:
a. Criminal Justice
i. The criminal law, the law of criminal procedure and the enforcement of these laws in an
effort to treat people fairly.
b. Role Conflict
i. The psychological stress and frustration that results from trying to perform two or
more incompatible responsibilities.
c. Criminal Law
i. Refers to state and federal statutes that define criminal offenses and specify
corresponding fines and punishments.
d. Substantive law
i. Criminal offenses such as robbery or murder.
ii. Federal and state government determine punishments
e. Case law
i. Uses court Cases to establish precedents
f.
Civil Law
i. Regulates relations between individuals
g. Tort Law
i. Breach of some obligation causing harm or injury
1. Negligence, libel etc.
h. Different types of operational styles:
i. Legalistic: an emphasis on violations of law, and the use of threats or actual arrests to
solve disputes.
ii. Watchman: an emphasis on informal means of resolving disputes.
iii. Service: an emphasis on helping the community, as opposed to enforcing the law.
i.
Preventative Patrol - Patrolling the streets with little direction; between responses to radio calls,
officers are “systematically unsystematic” and observant in an attempt to both prevent and
ferret out crime. Also known as random patrol.
j.
Directed Patrol- Patrolling under guidance or orders on how to use patrol time.
k. Aggressive Patrol- The practice of having an entire patrol section makes numerous traffic
stops and field interrogations.
l.
Foot Patrol - The practice of having officers patrol their beats on foot has regained popularity
m. Norm- any standard or rule regarding what human beings should or should not think, say, or
do under given circumstances.
n. Crime (legal definition)- crime is an intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code,
committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state.
o. Crime (social definition)- behavior that violates the norms of society.
p. Actus Reus – Committing the crime (criminal actions)
q. Mens Rea - Criminal intent (of criminal mind)