Crime And The Criminal Justice System - 1561 Words

Introduction: Over the past 30 years, crime has become a major issue of public concern, of political discussion and action, often intemperate and not likely to reduce crime, and of major public expenditure. Despite its salience in public arena, very little is known about the factors driving the crime trend, and the knowledge base is too limited to support intelligent forecasts of the direction in which crime rates are moving, especially when changing direction. Developing such as knowledge base is important for enhancing the rationality of public policies and public expenditures related to crime, particularly because many such commitments have to be made well in advance of†¦show more content†¦Some of these factors could be addressed in the context of generating policies intended to reduce crime. For example, to the extent that unemployment among teenagers and young adults is a major contributing factor to the crimes they commit, then efforts at providing job assistance, job training, or extending unemployment support for those groups could well be stimulated by their anticipated crime trends. Crimes: Crimes are defined by criminal law, which refers to a body of federal and state rules that prohibit behavior the government deems harmful to society. If one engages in such behavior, they may be guilty of a crime and prosecuted in criminal court Types: Personal Crime: Offenses against the Person†: These are crimes that result in physical or mental harm to another person. Personal crimes include: †¢ Assault †¢ Battery †¢ False Imprisonment †¢ Kidnapping †¢ Homicide – crimes such as first and second degree, murder, and involuntary manslaughter, and vehicular homicide †¢ Rape, statutory rape, sexual assault and other offenses of a sexual nature Property Crime: â€Å"Offenses against Property†: These are crimes that do not necessarily involve harm to another person. Instead, they involve an interference with another person’s right to use or enjoy their property. Property crimes include: †¢ Larceny (theft) †¢ Robbery (theft by force) – Note: this is also considered a personal crime since it results