history of criminal identification. in the beginning only had people’s names then went to...
TRANSCRIPT
History of Criminal Identification
In The Beginning
• Only had people’s names
• Then went to photographs and names
• What was the issue with this process?
Alphonse Bertillion
• Police Officer in France and biometrics researcher (1853-1914)
• His system for identification was to take measurements of the persons entire body.
• Would also list scars etc.
Dreyfus Affair
• Alphonse testifies as handwriting expert to condemn Dreyfus. Dreyfus gets life in Prison on Devil’s Island
• This is eventually overturned
• Bertillion ends with will West
Finger Prints
• Finger Prints replace Bertillon
• After Will West Case in the United States
• No finger prints are identical
• Not even identical twins
DNA
• Use of DNA has provided a safeguard against wrongful conviction
• At the same time it has convicted many criminals and solved countless cold cases.
Crime Patterns
• Day/Season/Climate• Crime rises later in day as kids get out of
school.• Climate/Season– More overall crimes are committed in the warmer
months.• Teenagers out of school• People are outside• Houses are left vacant
Exceptions
• Murder and Robbery– Mostly occur during December and January
• Also more robbery in the beginning of the Month.– Welfare and social security checks are arrive• More drinking partying and gambling
Temperature
• Some criminologists believe that as temperature goes up so does the crime rate.
• Domestic assault goes up in relation to heat.
• Stress and tension caused by temperature cause us to get violent.– People are also outside and with others more
Regionally
• Northeast has the lowest violent crime rate
• South and West come in the highest with the South leading the way.
• Why is this?
Firearms
• Used in 20% of robberies• 10% of assaults• 5% of rapes• 67% of all murders• Have no racial or ethnic correlation• Some criminologists believe that the proliferation
of handguns is why we have such a violent society.
• Some believe it to be a deterrent.
Social Class/ SES and Crime
• Believed that crime in the inner city is high because people have nothing and resort to crime to get what they need.– Prison populations seem to attest to that fact
• Crimes include, robberies, muggings, car theft, drug dealing etc. Called instrumental crimes
• Expressive crimes include rape/assault
• May be because Police focus their time and effort in lower income areas
• Evidence suggests that more serious crimes happen at a higher rate in lower income areas
• Middle class kids commit more nuisance crimes overall.
How do we know these things?
• There are various ways of collecting data
– UCR or Uniform Crime Report• FBI report that gathers information from police
departments across the country– Problems with this are numerous
• Not all departments report crime the same way• Only 50% of crime is reported overall
NIBRS
• This is the National Incident Based Reporting System
– This does not report the crimes reported by police
– This system reports the crimes to which police responded
What could the problem be with this system?
Victimization Studies
• Reports of crimes from the victims themselves
– If someone got raped/mugged/robbed/etc the report is from the victims own words
What could the problem be with this report?
Self Report Crimes
• The criminals themselves report the crimes
– They can give the best description of what happened.
What do you think just might possibly, maybe, could be the problem with this report?
Prisons
o Nationally, there are approximately 1.3 million prison inmates
o About 6% of the population being women.
o For every 100,000 white males, 461 are imprisoned
o While for every 100,000 black males, 3,250 are imprisoned
More Prison Stats
• The rate of imprisonment for black males has dramatically increased over the past ten years
• While the rate for white males has grown significantly less.
Why are people locked up?State Prison
o The increase in the imprisonment of drug offenders accounts for 75% of the increase in prison populations.
o Most people sentenced to state prisons have been convicted of violent crimes (46%).
o Property crimes account for about 24%.
o Drug crimes account for the remaining 30% of inmates.
Federal Prisons
• Federal crimes offer a different picture with 60% of the inmates being incarcerated for drug crimes.
• Prison inmates generally have low formal education or vocational skills and a disadvantaged background.
• Also, most adult inmates have served some time in juvenile correctional facilities
Prison Cost• NYC paid $167,731 to feed, house and guard each inmate.
• NYC had 12,287 inmates for a total cost of $2,060,910,797.
• NY State spent $60,000 per inmate
• National Average was $31,286
• $39 Billion Dollars
• Cost for education per student $11,000
Costs for Rehabilitation