Crime

Types of Crime

• Part I Offenses– Violent– Property (e.g. car theft)

• Part II Crimes– Everything else– E.g. public drunkeness

What the UCR does not Measure

• Unreported Crimes

• Poor Reporting/discretion

• The Number rather than the rate

Crime and Law

Crime: behavior that violates the criminal law and is punishable by a fine, jail term, or other negative sanctions

2 categories of criminal law:Misdemeanors: minor crime, punishment is

fine or <1 year in jail (ex: public drunkenness)Felonies: serious crimes, punishment is >1

year in jail or even death. (ex: murder, rape)

The Crime Rate

• Between 1970 and 1980, the crime rate rose by 40%

• It has declined by 36% since 1991

• Despite this, crime is still higher than in previous decades

• Crime at St. Edward’s University

Four Measures of Crime

Property Crime

Juvenile Crime

• Difficult to Deter Children

• Young People commit 20% of all crimes

• We try to give them a clean slate

Crime By Region

Who Commits Crimes (Individual Level Theories)

• Internal Factors cause people to Commit Crimes

• Biology

• Psychological Theories

Solution is to Lock up people with these traits

Sociological Theories of Crime

• Criminal Activity derives from social and economic conditions of society (functionalism)

• Otherwise normal people are changed by the conditions in which they live

Solution is macro-societal change

Crime And Deterrence

• For Deterrence to work, threats must be made credible– The Godfather– Certain– Swift– Severe

• If Benefits from Crime outweigh the costs, we have crime

The Police and Deterrence

• Community Policing

• Broken Window Theory

Guns and Gun Laws

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

30,000 gun deaths per year

Federal Gun Laws

• Bans on interstate commerce involving guns

• The Brady Law

• The Impact of Gun Laws

The Courts and Guns

• U.S. vs Miller (1939)

• DC vs Heller (2008)

Who are our criminals

• Men- the biggest predictor of whether someone commits a crime

• Age

• Economics

Who commits Crime

• Race

• Location

• Most Wanted

Who are the Victims

• Race Plays a role

• Gender Plays a role

Race and Victimization

Hate Crimes

• Must show that crime is bias motivated.

• There has to be an actual crime committed

• Hurt Feelings are not protected under Hate Crime legislation

CRIME AND THE COURTSThe Judicial Process

The Bill of Rights Provides Basic Criminal Protections

• ½ of all felonies are dismissed

• Unreasonable search and seizures

• Self Incrimination

• Exclusionary Rule

So you have been arrested step 1

• Read your rights

• Booked

Arrested Part 2

• Taken before a judge before trial– Bail

– Who is denied Bail?

– Recognizance

Arraignment

• The charges are read against you

• Plea of guilty or not guilty

Plea bargaining

• 90% of cases are plea bargained

• Cuts down on costs and system overload

• Critics argue that it disadvantages the poor

Sentencing

• Duty of the judge to decide who gets what

• States differ in maximum and minimums

• This has lead to an increase in incarceration

Where you go

• Jails- run by county or city

• Prisons- usually run by state for sentences of 1 year or more

• Federal Prisons

Incarceration Rates

• 750 Americans per 100,000

• 1 in 30 between 20 and 34

• 1 in 5 black males

• 1 in 36 Hispanic Males

• 1 in 99 adults were in prison or jails

The Growth in the Prison Population

• It has increased by 4x since 1975

• Why the Increase?

Prison Overcrowding

• Locking people up leads to crowded Prisons

• Why is this a problem?

Probation and Prison

Race and Ethnicity

Goals of corrections

• Incapacitation

• Restitution

Goals of Corrections Part 2

• Deterrence

• Rehabilitation

Costs of Corrections

• How much do we spend– 6.8% of state budgets– $49 Billion nationwide– 3.3. Billion in Texas

• Why so Costly?

Costs

The Problem of Recidivism

• The Repeat of an Offense

• 2/3-3/4 are Recidivists

– Parole, Probation and Rehabilitation do not seem to work.

The Growth of the Prison Population

Drug Arrests

What can We do?

• Broad Social Reform

• More Money for Rehabilitation

These are unlikely

Legalizing/Decriminalizing

• Victimless Crimes

• Minor Drug offenses

It sends a message that society tolerates and supports such activities

Alternatives to prisons

• Current system is very expensive

• More unconditional releases

• More House arrests

Make people less of a target

• Better home/personal security

• More cameras

• Decrease environmental opportunities.

Links to More Info

• Pew Center on the States

• University of Michigan