Criminal Justice Test #2

Social Contract

An agreement between the public and government in which the public allows the government to provide safety and security

Thin Blue Line

line between the lawful and the lawless and between social order and chaos on the streets.

Role

the position one holds within a social structure

Role Expectation

he behaviors and activities that people expect from a person in a particular role.

Role Conflict

the conflict between what a person may prefer to do and what the person is expected to do.

Bias based profiling

Selection of individuals based solely on a common trait of a group such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status.

Selective enforcement

he decision made by police as to which laws they wish to enforce and when they choose to enforce them.

Order maintenance

method of policing whereby officers interpret the law and decide on a course of action based on each individual situation when assigning blame and choosing whether or not to arrest

Operational styles

Approaches officers use to perform their duties

Preventive patrol

Patrolling the community on an unpredictable and routine or random basis

Directed Patrol

Spending an allotted amount of time patrolling a specific area of the community that is considered to be a high-crime are

Aggressive Patrol

Patrolling the community by making frequent and numerous traffic stops and field interrogations of suspicious persons

Field Interrogation

A temporary detention of an individual in order to question the individual about a suspicious circumstance.

Criminal Investigation

lawful investigation to reconstruct the circumstances of an illegal act, determine or apprehend the guilty party, and assist with the state’s prosecution.

Preliminary Investigation

Evidence-gathering activities performed at the scene of a crime immediately after the crime was reported to or discovered by the police.

Follow up Investigation

Continuation of the preliminary investigation in an attempt to reconstruct the circumstances of a crime.

Light cover

Undercover police operations for a short period of time.

Deep cover

Undercover police operations for a lengthy period of time

Crime analysis

A systematic collection and analysis of crime data used to support police eff orts in crime and disorder reduction and crime prevention.

Crime mapping

A process of using geographic information systems to conduct spatial analysis and investigation of crime.

Broken Windows theory

involving crime and disorder that states that if a community is allowed to physically deteriorate, an impression will be given that no one cares, causing crime to occur

Problem Oriented policing

approach to policing in which the underlying causes of crime are identified and addressed.

Intelligence-led policing

business model in which data analysis and criminal intelligence are used to facilitate crime reduction, crime prevention, and enforcement strategies that target the most serious off enders.

COMPSTAT

A managerial system that uses criminal intelligence to identify crime problems and determine a crime reduction strategy.

Excessive force

An amount of physical force beyond that which is necessary to control a suspect

Symbolic assailant

An individual whose dress, behavior, and gestures indicate suspicion and possible danger to a police officer

Blue code of silence

the unwritten code of protection among police officers.

Discretion

the autonomy a police officer has to choose from a variety of courses of action in various situations

Statute

written law passed by a legislative body

Criminal law

set of rules that defines offenses and punishments against society or the state

Civil law

wrongful act between parties. Regulates the relationships between private parties, government agencies, and businesses

Case law

Is judicial precedent that courts use as guide for future decision making.

Precedent

A legal principle that ensures that previously made judicial decisions are considered into future cases

Administrative law

Regulations established by the government to control the activities of businesses, industries, and individuals

Common law

Body of law originating from custom as opposed to written as statutes

Statutory law

Refers to the law on the books that have been written and organized (codified).

felony

most serious of crimes and could result in jail or prison and/or the greatest penalty, death.

Misdemeanor

less severe than a felony, but more severe than an infraction. The likely most severe penalty is less than one year in jail.

Infraction

Is the least severe of the crime classifications. This is a ticketable offense and not likely serve time in jail.

Actus Reus

act in violation of criminal law.

Mens rea

The state of mind at the time of a criminal act.

Purposeful

intentional act to achieve a specific goal.

Knowing

fully aware of what they are doing, but without criminal intent

Reckless

increases the risk of harm occurring and may have not intended on doing harm but should be fully aware that others could be endangered

Negligence

behavior in which an individual should have known better that their actions or lack of actions could endanger others

Concurrence

Requires that the actus reus and the mens rea occur at the same time in order for a crime to take place

Strict Liability

Does not require the actus reus and the mens rea to act in concert (concurrence)

Justification

Is when a defendant admits to committing the crime, but claims it was necessary to avoid a worse circumstance.

Consent

Defense claims that the victim was injured after giving consent to the said action.

Defense of others

Is a claim that the defendant used reasonable force to protect another person who was in imminent danger.

Self defense

When a defense claims self-defense, the defendant harmed another to ensure their own safety.

Alibi

unique defense because the claim is absolute innocence due to being somewhere else during the commission of the crime

Procedural defense

Defendant claims violation of rights during the administration of justice.

Police fraud

Police behaving illegally that influenced the administration of justice.

Right to a speedy trial

guaranteed in the Sixth Amendment. Typically, a case must go to trial within 90 or 120 days following arrest.

Double Jeopardy

being tried twice for the same crime.

Entrapment

improperly creating a situation that would induce an individual to commit a crime.

Prosecutorial misconduct

Are actions taken by the prosecutor that demonstrates a prejudice toward the rights of the defendant.

Selective prosecution

To prove selective prosecution, the defense must demonstrate that when there are two or more defendants, prosecution was unfairly targeting one of defendants due to religion, race, sex, ethnicity, and so forth.

Collateral estopped

A defendant who is on trial for the murder of multiple people during a criminal event and acquitted for one of the deaths, the defendant cannot be tried for the death of the others.

Excuse

defense claims that they should not be held legally responsible for their unlawful behavior

Duress

An individual being coerced into performing an illegal activity.

Mistake of fact

Violating a law as result of being provided information that was thought to be true, but was not, thus the action was illegal.

Mistake of law

A claim by the defense that the defendant was not aware or understood the law.

Provocation

Occurs when another person(s) causes an emotional outrage of another through verbal assault or via social media.

Insanity

legal term and not a medical term based on claims of mental illness or a form of mental incapacity

M’Naghten rule

used to determine if the defendant did not understand the nature of the crime or could not differentiate between right or wrong during the commission of the crime.

Durham rule

used to determine if the defendant committed a crime because of mental disease or incapacity at the time of the crime.

Irresistable impulse test

expanded upon the M’Naghten rule by not only including the defendant’s cognitive ability but added the lack of impulse control from committing the crime

Model penal code

The defendant would be found guilty by reason of insanity, if the mental defect or incapacity at the time of crime, they were unable to understand that the conduct was criminal and unable to conform his behavior to the prescribed laws