Introduction to Criminal Justice

Posted on Sep 8, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

CH 1: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Social Disorganization

Social disorganization is a condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.

Individual Rights

Individual rights are guaranteed to all members of American society by the U.S. Constitution and are particularly important to all criminal defendants facing formal processing by the criminal justice system.

Trends in Crime

  • In the 1990s, the perception that crime rates were increasing and that offenders were not being punished resulted in an increased focus on individual accountability.
  • Currently, we are seeing a decrease in traditional crime.

Public Order vs. Social Justice

  • One who believes that, under certain circumstances involving a criminal threat to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights is a public order advocate.
  • Social justice is an ideal that embraces all aspects of civilized life and that is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong.

Components of the Criminal Justice System (CJS)

Three major components of the CJS are: police/law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

Models of Criminal Justice

  • The consensus model assumes that the system’s components work together harmoniously to achieve justice.
  • The crime control model emphasizes the efficient arrest and conviction of criminal offenders.

Stages in the Criminal Justice Process

  • Booking is the stage in the criminal justice process involving taking pictures and fingerprints of a suspect.
  • Two things a judge determines at a preliminary hearing are: whether a crime was committed and if there is strong suspicion or probable cause to believe that the defendant is involved.
  • By returning an indictment, the grand jury has determined that there is probable cause.
  • The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives every defendant the right to a trial by jury.
  • A bench trial occurs if the defendant waives the right to a jury trial and chooses to be tried by a judge.
  • A concurrent sentence permits the offender to serve sentences all at the same time; a consecutive sentence requires sentences to be served one after another.

Evidence-Based Practice and Criminology

  • Evidence-based practice refers to crime-fighting strategies that have been scientifically tested and are based on social science research.
  • Criminology describes the scientific study of the causes and prevention of crime and the rehabilitation and punishment of offenders.

Multiculturalism and Crime

  • Multiculturalism is one form of diversity.
  • A crime is a behavior for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse.

First Appearance

During a first appearance, rights are given to the defendant, charges are read, the defendant is assigned an attorney, a plea is entered, and bail is discussed.

CH 5: Policing: History and Structure

Origins of Policing

  • The modern-day sheriff is derived from the shire reeve.
  • Two provisions of the Statute of Winchester: required citizens to respond to the hue and cry and required participation in the watch and ward.
  • The Bow Street Runners were an early detective unit formed by Henry Fielding.
  • The London Metropolitan Police Service was created by Sir Robert Peel in 1829.
  • The basic principle of the London Metropolitan Police was the practice of preventative patrol.
  • Vigilantes were often the only law available to early settlers.
  • The first policewoman served with the LAPD.

20th Century Policing

  • The 1931 report of the Wickersham Commission recognized Prohibition as unenforceable as well as a catalyst to police corruption.
  • The LEAA was a federal agency that provided huge amounts of funding for research in the 1960s and established a tradition of scientific police management.

The Kansas City Experiment and Its Aftermath

  • Results of the 1974 Kansas City experiment suggest that the crime rate was not affected by the amount or type of patrol.
  • The Kansas study of response time found that rapid police response to citizen reports of crime has little effect on the likelihood of arrest of suspects.
  • The Kansas study led police to develop new forms of directive patrol.

Handling Less Serious Crimes

Three methods of handling a call for service involving less serious crime:

  1. Taking reports over the phone
  2. Using non-sworn personnel to take reports
  3. Asking victims to come to the station to make a report

Evidence-Based Policing

  • Evidence-based policing uses research into everyday police procedures to evaluate current practices and to guide officers.
  • The evidence in evidence-based policing refers to scientific evidence.

Federal Law Enforcement

  • Three functions federal law enforcement is authorized to perform: conduct criminal investigations, execute search warrants, and make arrests.
  • Three federal law enforcement agencies under the Department of Justice: Federal Marshals, FBI, and Drug Enforcement Administration.
  • Currently, the main priority of the FBI is the Counterterrorism Division.

State and Local Law Enforcement

  • The first modern state police force in Pennsylvania is an example of a centralized system of policing.
  • The sheriff of a county is an elected official.
  • The sheriff is responsible for serving court papers, maintaining security within courts, and running county jails.

Private Protective Services

  • The largest segment of law enforcement is private protective services.
  • Factors contributing to the rapid growth of the private security sector include: an increase in workplace crimes, an increase in fear of crime and terrorism, and a fiscal crisis of the states, which has limited police protection.
  • Private security forces have been responsible for the recent decline in reported crime.

Historical Perspective

The growth of modern police forces is linked to the Gin Riots in England.

CH 6: Policing: Purpose, Strategies, and Methods

Purposes of Policing

Three basic purposes of policing in democratic societies:

  1. Enforce the law
  2. Investigate crimes and apprehend offenders
  3. Prevent crime

Crime Prevention and Proactive Policing

  • Crime prevention is a proactive approach to the problem of crime.
  • CompStat is a crime analysis and police management process built on crime mapping that was developed by the NYPD.
  • Quality of life offenses involve acts that create physical disorder or that reflect social decay.
  • The broken windows model of policing preserves the peace element of the police mission.

Operational Strategies of Policing

Three core operational strategies of policing:

  1. Preventative patrol
  2. Routine incident response
  3. Emergency response
  • Preventative patrol is the dominant operational policing strategy and is based on the ideas of Sir Robert Peel.

Preliminary Investigation

Three general activities involved in a preliminary investigation:

  1. Respond to immediate needs and aid the injured
  2. Initiate enforcement action
  3. Determine if a crime was committed
  • The solvability factor is information about a crime that forms the basis for determining the identity of the perpetrator.

Problem-Oriented Policing

  • CAPRA and SARA are examples of the methodology of police problem-solving.

Police Organization and Structure

  • Line operations units in a police department carry out the daily field activities of the department.
  • The chain of command describes the order of authority within a police department.
  • Span of control refers to the number of police personnel or units supervised by a particular supervisor.

Eras of Policing

  • The community era of policing was characterized by an increasing focus on quality-of-life offenses and the broken windows model.
  • A focus on professional crime fighting and solving traditional crimes is most characteristic of the reform era of policing.

Policing Styles

James Q. Wilson’s three policing styles:

  1. Watchman
  2. Legalistic
  3. Service
  • The watchman style is known for its excessive use of force.
  • The legalistic style of policing strictly adheres to the letter of the law.

Strategic Policing and Community Policing

  • Strategic policing expands on the traditional police goal of professional crime fighting to include nontraditional types of criminals.
  • Three elements of community policing: increased police accountability, a decentralization of command, and an emphasis on the importance of non-emergency services.

Intelligence-Led Policing and Diversity in Policing

  • Intelligence-led policing is a technique used by police in the fight against terrorism.
  • Racial and ethnic minorities are employed in policing in numbers that approach their representation in the U.S. population.
  • Three statements about women in policing: they are underrepresented, less likely than men to use excessive force, and underutilized.

Crime Prevention

Crime prevention focuses on reducing both crime and the fear of crime.

CH 7: Policing: Legal Aspects

Constitutional Amendments

  • The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
  • The Fourteenth Amendment extends constitutional protections to the state level of criminal justice.

Due Process and Landmark Cases

  • Three areas of due process requirements: search and seizure, arrest, and intelligence gathering.
  • Landmark cases create changes in criminal justice procedure.

Exclusionary Rule and Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

  • According to the exclusionary rule, evidence illegally seized by police cannot be used in trial.
  • The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine states that any evidence that derives from an illegal search and seizure may be declared tainted and excluded from trial.
  • Mapp v. Ohio extended the exclusionary rule to the states.

Warrantless Searches

  • Police are permitted to search an arrestee’s immediate control without a search warrant.
  • Three situations where police are legally permitted to conduct warrantless searches: plain view, exigent circumstances, and stop and frisk.

Search Warrants and Probable Cause

  • A search warrant can only be issued if there is probable cause.
  • Police must have a legitimate right to be at the location to seize contraband under the plain view doctrine.

Stop and Frisk and Reasonable Suspicion

  • In Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court ruled that police may conduct a stop and frisk without a warrant based on reasonable suspicion.
  • Police are allowed to conduct a search of someone not suspected of a crime if there is concern for public safety.

Totality of Circumstances and Informants

  • In Illinois v. Gates, the Supreme Court established the totality of circumstances test to determine if information provided by an informant may be the basis for issuing a warrant.

Interrogations and Confessions

  • Inherent coercion involves tactics used by police interviewers that fall short of physical abuse but still pressure suspects to divulge information.
  • In Escobedo v. Illinois, the Supreme Court formally recognized a suspect’s right to have an attorney present during interrogation.

Exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule

  • The Christian burial speech led to the creation of the inevitable-discovery exception.
  • The Boston Marathon bomber was not read his Miranda rights due to the public safety exception.

Miranda Warnings

Police have to read Miranda warnings prior to any questioning.

USA Patriot Act and Electronic Surveillance

  • The USA Patriot Act of 2001 expanded the ability of law enforcement to intercept many forms of electronic communications (sneak and peek search).

Electronic Evidence

  • Latent evidence is evidence relevant to a criminal investigation that is not readily seen by the unaided eye.
  • Three special characteristics of electronic evidence: it transcends national and state borders, it is fragile and easily altered or compromised, and it is time-sensitive.

The Warren Court and Landmark Cases

  • The Warren Court used the Fourteenth Amendment to extend constitutional protections to state-level criminal justice.
  • Landmark cases clarify the procedural guidelines that the criminal justice system must follow.