CRIME
 Crime
(def): any act that is labeled as such by
authorities, is prohibited by law, and is
punishable by the government.
 Who commits crimes? Arrests are tracked by
sex, race & age. The stats support the ideas
that men are more likely than women to be
arrested; African Americans account for nearly
30% of arrests; and almost half of all people
arrested are under the age of 35! Criminal stats
are compiled in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
published annually by the FBI. REMEMBER – not
all crimes are reported (see p. 189).

UCR report
FBI link
 Violent
crime
 Crime against property
 Victimless crime
 While collar crime
 Organized crime
 *Possible 6th category = Terrorism
VIOLENT CRIME: includes murder, forcible rape,
robbery (The taking of money or goods in the
possession of another, from his or her person or
immediate presence, by force or intimidation)
and aggravated assault (a reckless attack with
intent to injure seriously (as with a deadly
weapon)actually count for only a small
percentage of all crimes committed.
 A violent crime occurs every 22 seconds in the
US; most victims of violent crime are African
American; majority of murders are committed
with guns – US has highest rate for this in the
industrialized world!

 Includes
burglary, larceny (theft other than
auto), motor vehicle theft & arson. These
crimes are much more common than violent
crimes – in fact, FBI estimates that a
property crime occurs every 3 seconds in the
US.
 There is a connection between demographics
& the crime rate. Since most crimes are
committed by people < age 35, as that
portion of the population increases or
decreases, so does the crime rate.
 This
includes prostitution, illegal gambling,
illegal drug use & vagrancy (without a
permanent home or a means of livelihood).
The only person harmed by these crimes is
the person who commits them. However,
often these crimes have significant social
consequences – thus – society becomes the
“victim” of these supposedly “victimless”
crimes.

This category includes offenses committed by
people of high social status in the course of their
professional lives. Politicians, corporate
employees, & sometimes even corporations
themselves (corporations are considered legal
persons under the law) – commit white collar
crimes. Offenses include fraud, embezzlement,
tax evasion, toxic pollution, insider trading, &
police corruption. While these crimes are often
viewed as less serious than the other categories,
they can be very costly to society as a whole
(est. $300 billion per year) & they also abuse the
trust of society. top 10 white collar crimes
A
crime syndicate is a large-scale
organization of professional criminals that
controls some vice (gambling, prostitution,
drug dealing) or business through violence or
the threat of violence. These organizations
pursue crime as a business. Often they use
legitimate businesses as “fronts” for their
criminal activity, allowing them to reinvest
their $$ through legal channels. They are
difficult to bring down & often are able to
make huge profits.
 All
crimes fall under their jurisdiction. The
system includes 3 components: police,
courts, and corrections.
 POLICE: they control who is arrested for a
criminal act. They have considerable
power to decide who is arrested (“police
discretion”). They will consider the
seriousness of the offense; the wishes of
the victim; the attitude of the suspect;
whether the crime was witnessed or not;
and the race of the offender (“racial
profiling”).
http://www.racialprofilinganalysis.neu.edu/
 COURTS:
two-fold responsibility – to
determine guilt/innocence; and to assign
some form of punishment. However, 90% of
all criminal cases are settled through plea
bargaining (process of legal negotiation that
allows accused to plead guilty to a lesser
charge in return for a lighter sentence) and
never go to trial. This practice allows courts
to maintain a manageable case load.
 CORRECTIONS:
This includes the sanctions
(prison, parole, probation) used to punish
criminals. Corrections serve 4 functions:




RETRIBUTION
DETERRENCE
REHABILITATION
SOCIAL PROTECTION
 The
effectiveness of corrections is a hotly
debated topic, especially considering the
high recidivism rate (repeated criminal
behavior) that indicates the current system is
not functioning well.
 This
system was created to handle criminal
acts committed by individuals < 18 yrs. Of
age. It didn’t exist until the 1960’s – prior to
that laws for juveniles were vague as they
were not expected to be as responsible as
adult offenders. Juveniles are now
guaranteed the same legal rights as adults
but are still regarded as special offenders &
are provided with more services to help
rehabilitate them. However, some juveniles
who commit very serious crimes may be
charged as adult offenders.

Juvenile offender doc
Florida case