Criminal Justice Midterm Review

Jackson Joseph, age 18, and his cousin Noah, age 20, are standing near a convenience store in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Officer Brooklyn, a twenty-two-year veteran, notices the pair loitering around the store and avoiding eye contact with anybody entering and exiting the store. After witnessing these actions for nearly 45 minutes, Officer Brooklyn moves in to question the suspects.

If Officer Brooklyn finds weapons on both men and arrests them, what must she do next? 

Read them their Miranda rights

The Supreme Court has ruled that under no circumstance was a search valid if conducted without a search warrant

True

When a police officer takes a teen into custody for riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, the teen says he wanted to call his mom from the squad car. The teen tells his mom that he knows he did not own a bike, and that he stole the bike he was riding. The officer now has evidence that the teen stole the bicycle. Why can’t you use this statement against him?

You did not Mirandize him

A warrant based on an officer’s word about a suspect is an example of what type of knowledge?

Personal

Suppose a police officer becomes involved in a shootout with a suspect. If the suspect retreats into their house, the officer is allowed to enter the house without a warrant based on what concept?

Hot pursuit

Which type of search comprises an example of a situation in which a warrant would be necessary?

Home searches

The principle that evidence may be used in a criminal trial even though the search warrant used to obtain it was technically faulty, as long as police acted without malice when they sought the warrant is called the ______.

Good faith exception

A warrant cannot be issued unless it is based on reasonable suspicion

False

What did Miranda rights establish?

The right to have an attorney present during questioning

The principle that a suspect can be questioned in the field without a Miranda warning if the information the police seek is needed to protect public safety is called the _____.

Public safety doctrine

A government actor’s infringement on a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy is referred to as a ______.

Search

What is a condition necessary for a legal arrest?

The officer believes that probable cause exists to show that a crime was committed

What order, issued by a judge, directs officers to arrest a particular individual

Arrest warrant

Which of the following is typically defined as a reasonable belief, based on fact, that a crime has been committed and that the person, place, or object to be searched and/or seized is linked to the crime with a reasonable degree of certainty?

Probable cause

Jackson Joseph, age 18, and his cousin Noah, age 20, are standing near a convenience store in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Officer Brooklyn, a twenty-two-year veteran, notices the pair loitering around the store and avoiding eye contact with anybody entering and exiting the store. After witnessing these actions for nearly 45 minutes, Officer Brooklyn moves in to question the suspects.

If Officer Brooklyn, after arresting the suspects, searches the vehicle of the suspects, this is ______.

Allowed because the search was incident to an arrest

The principle that evidence can be used in court even though the information that led to its discovery was obtained in violation of the Miranda rule if a judge finds it would have been discovered anyway by other means or sources is what exception?

Inevitable discovery exception

Suspects subjected to custodial interrogation do not have to be advised of their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

False

What term refers to when police stop a car because they suspect the driver is involved in a crime (such as drug trafficking) but, lacking probable cause, they use a rationale such as a minor traffic violation to stop the car and search its interior?

Pretext stop

A pretext stop is one in which ______.

police officers use some minor offence to stop a car because they suspect the driver is involved in a crime but they lack probable cause

In a consent search, individuals waive their 4th amendment constitutional rights.

True

The Supreme Court has ruled that under no circumstance was a search valid if conducted without a search warrant.

False

Which of the following is the requirement that a search warrant state precisely where the search is to take place and what items are to be seized?

Particularity

Which statement is true about warrantless searches?

Warrantless searches are permissible, but that does not mean the officer has complete autonomy.

Which is a legal grounds for a search warrant?

The testimony of someone who has firsthand knowledge of the crime

Cynicism has been found at all levels of policing (including in chiefs of police) and throughout all stages of police careers

True

The Idea that the public, in general, has little concept of what it means to be a police officer is reflected in which core belief?

No one else understands the nature of police work

The use of force by police officers is not a common event.

True

What is the nation’s monument to police officers who have died in the line of duty?

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Most police departments still do not recognize that college education is an important element in promotion decisions.

False

Female police officers report feeling less job-related stress than do male officers.

False

It is more common for an officer to express bias against certain groups publicly then to have unconscious or implicit bias.

False

Law enforcement and the public agree that gun control measures such as mental illness / red flag laws, background checks and assault rifle bans are needed.

False

Police officers and the public think law enforcement's role is:

The police & the public do not agree

Which style of policing prefers to ignore or treat informally issues of concern, unless the social or political order is being jeopardized?

Watchman

Which statement is true about female police officers? 

They may be targeted for more disciplinary actions by administrators than are male officers

Which of the following terms describes the experience of Black officers who must deal with the expectation that they will show lenience to members of their own race, while at the same time experiencing overt racism from their police colleagues?

Double marginality

Which of the following factors best fits under the heading of extralegal discretionary factors?

Racial profiling

Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony’s first shift, he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.

Harold explains to Anthony that their focus as police officers should be the criminal and that effective police work is the only way that the “dangerous classes” can be kept in check. It has become apparent that Harold follows which style of policing?

Crime fighter

Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony’s first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.

Jeffrey, Anthony’s field training officer, hears all the advice that Anthony is getting. He explains to Anthony that once he is off of probation, the majority of what he does every day will not be subject to administrative review and thus there is a lot of autonomy in his position. Jeffrey tells Anthony that he must decide what style of policing he will follow. This concept of having a high degree of personal discretion is referred to as ______.

Low-visibility decision making

The blue curtain is a term used to describe:

The secrecy and insulation from others in society that is a consequence of the police subculture.

What is the belief known as that states most people’s actions are motivated solely by personal needs and selfishness?

Cynicism

An officer approaches a group of teenagers drinking beer, he or she checks everyone’s ID and arrests all who are underage. This example best typifies which officer style?

Law enforcer

An officer approaches a group of teenagers standing in a parking lot, drinking beer. He or she checks them for gang symbols and calls into the station to ascertain if any of them have active warrants. This officer typifies which officer style?

Law enforcer

The use of nondeadly force by officers sometimes does cause death.

True

Past experience and the presence of other officers and bystanders has been found to impact the use of what by police officers? 

Nondeadly force

Which statement is correct regarding the "Ferguson Effect"? 

The Ferguson Effect has provoked a fear by the police of further enraging communities.

The time-in-rank system is designed to promote stability and fairness and to limit favoritism .

True

Most police agencies are administratively conservative due to the time-in-rank system.

True

What style of police management stresses proactive problem solving instead of reactive crime fighting?

Problem-oriented policing

What is defined as the ability to maintain order and authority without the need for formal arrest?

Order maintenance

Studies have found that foot patrols are effective at reducing crime.

False

The use of body cameras would be an example of the use of ______ as a way of improving patrols.

Technology

Community-oriented policing involves an increase in foot patrol.

True

____ policing is a department policy that emphasizes stopping crimes before they occur rather than reacting to crimes that have already occurred.

Proactive

Which conclusions are true about studies of foot patrol?

Citizen attitudes toward the police improved

Which of the following best summarizes the idea behind “broken windows?”

If police tend to minor infractions, major crime will go down

According to the “broken windows” concept, police need citizen cooperation.

True

A few concerned citizens made an appointment to meet with the chief of police in Anytown, USA. They are concerned with the productivity of the police department in their city. They are also concerned with the lack of coordination between the residents of the city and the police department.

Mr. Smith is one resident who brings up at the meeting that there are a few locations (known as hot spots of crime) that are the biggest concern for the residents. Which of the following are considered to be potential hotspots of crime?

Bars

Chief Williams is a newly hired police chief in the city of Middletown, which has suffered through five consecutive years of increasing crime rates. He was hired to implement changes in the police department, where the mayor wants to see results, especially a decrease in quality-of-life crimes. The chief was brought in from an outside agency in the hope that he would restructure the police department.

Other improvements to patrol need to be made according to Chief Williams’s assessment. He believes that the police should be maintainers of community order and safety. This model of policing is referred to as ______.

The broken windows model

Designated patrol areas are known as?

Beats

Aggressive patrol is a tactic employed as part of an overall philosophy of ______ policing.

Proactive

Which example of police operations best exemplifies community-oriented policing?

Hiring bilingual officers to patrol ethnic neighborhoods

Which of the following is not a fundamental assumption of the broken windows model?

Reactive patrol is necessary

Chief Williams is a newly hired police chief in the city of Middletown, which has suffered through five consecutive years of increasing crime rates. He was hired to implement changes in the police department, where the mayor wants to see results, especially a decrease in quality-of-life crimes. The chief was brought in from an outside agency in the hope that he would restructure the police department.

Other improvements to patrol need to be made according to Chief Williams’s assessment. He believes that the police should be maintainers of community order and safety. This model of policing is referred to as ______.

The broken windows model

Aggressive patrolling in New York City during the 1990s to address vandalism, panhandling, and graffiti has been credited with a reduction in ______.

Violent crime

How do most municipal police departments determine promotion eligibility?

Time-in-rank

The time-in-rank system used in police departments often discourages the:

Transfer of experienced officers to other departments

A few concerned citizens made an appointment to meet with the chief of police in Anytown, USA. They are concerned with the productivity of the police department in their city. They are also concerned with the lack of coordination between the residents of the city and the police department.

Mrs. Stern expresses that she is pleased that the crime rate in her area has decreased as a result of proactive efforts of the police department. At the same time, Mrs. Joseph complains that the crime that disappeared in Mrs. Stern’s neighborhood has now moved to her neighborhood. This effect is known as ______.

Displacement

Which federal agency has reformulated its priorities, making protection from terrorism the number one goal?

FBI

The first US police departments were created because of the need to control mob violence, which was common during the nineteenth century.

True

Many believe that most early police reform efforts failed because they were initiated by persons outside of the law enforcement community.

True

Police unions really began to expand in the 1960s but no longer had a significant impact on departmental administration in the 1980s.

True

Danny is a new police recruit. He is amazed at the technology that is used at his police department. His goal is to become a detective who works in the crime scene investigation unit of his police department. Because of this goal, he pays particular attention to the technology used by his police department when he responds to a call.

Danny responded to a robbery in which the suspect left a note demanding money. Danny hands over this note to crime scene investigators who want to compare the handwriting to other notes left at previous robberies and determine if a fingerprint is left on the note like in the other cases. This handwriting and potential fingerprint will be compared to samples that already exist in a database. Using handwriting and fingerprint identification to identify individuals is a practice of ______.

Biometrics

Which is one of the four broad categories that today’s law enforcement agencies fall into?

County

Which department is the legal arm of the federal government and is headed by the Attorney General?

Department of Justice

While the most prominent technology used in law enforcement is DNA profiling, one weakness is that it is NOT used in every U.S. state.

False

What term is used to describe the use of computer software to identify geographic “hot spots” where a majority of predatory crimes are concentrated?

Crime mapping

It is currently recognized that a majority of predatory crimes are concentrated in geographic “hot spots.”

True

Public police have to focus their efforts on public property alone, while private police focus on private property value.

False

Private police focus largely on the prevention of crime.

True

What type of technology consists of new materials and equipment, such as Tasers and specialized metal detectors, used by the police to catch criminals or prevent crime?

Hard

Which is an advantage of high-definition surveying?

Investigators are unable to manipulate every piece of evidence

Which of the following is an example of hard technology used in law enforcement?

An ignition interlock system

There are certain offenses in which mens rea is NOT essential.

True

Which of the following is NOT a typical way how people find out about the identity of sex offenders?

All of the above

Which Amendment guarantees the right to confront any prosecution witnesses?

6th

Which Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure? 

4th

Which statement below approximates the most common definition of a felony?

A crime punishable in the statute by death or imprisonment in a state or federal prison for one or more years.

The _________ provision prohibits retroactive laws.

Ex-post facto

Mala prohibitum is a legal principle by which the decision in an earlier case becomes the standard.

False

The Fifth Amendment protects against double jeopardy.

True

The rate of recividism for sex offenders is at least as high as that of other crimes.

False

What is the reduction of penalties established in law which occurs over time referred to as?

Decriminalization

The police, prosecutors and judges may choose to ignore lawbreaking for a variety of reasons.

True

Substantive due process refers to a citizen’s right to be protected from criminal laws that may be biased, discriminatory, and otherwise unfair.

True

Adam is a 16-year-old who has a history of strange behavior. He is now being homeschooled by his mother because he has a difficult time relating to his peers. His psychologist has diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. One afternoon, Adam goes to the high school that he once attended. He brings his father’s revolver and attempts to shoot a few of his former classmates and a teacher. He misses all of his targets and flees the school. He is later apprehended in his home when the principal is able to identify him through the school’s video surveillance.

Adam tells his attorney he should not be responsible for these charges because he was drunk when he went to the school to commit these offenses and that he did not know what he was doing. Under which circumstance would Adam possibly have a legitimate defense of intoxication?

He became intoxicated when he drank the juice in the refrigerator that he did not know was spiked with rum, which mixed with his bipolar disorder medication.