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What is Crime?

And what we can do to stop it.

Ali Jepperson ~ Criminal Justice 1010 ~ Professor Gregory Butler ~ 11/19/13

What is crime? The term crime does not, in modern times, have any simple and universally accepted, but one definition from the dictionary is that a crime is an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. These actions can also be called an offence or criminal offence. These acts can be harmful can be harmful to an individual, community or the state. This is the reason why I want to address this topic and let people know what crime is so we can stop it as best we can. When people know what a crime consists of, they can warn the people around them and the police, so they can take action. There are many types of crimes that we need to look out for. There are personal crimes and property crimes. These are just categories of the specific crimes that can be done. I want to address these different crimes and then talk about ways to prevent them. It can be difficult to deal with criminal laws, since there are so many different typed in the U.S criminal justice system. One way to make sense of criminal laws is to categorize the different types of crimes into broad categories. In general, the different types of crimes may be divided into two major categories, personal crimes and property crimes. Personal crimes are offenses against another 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 crimes are offenses against property. These are crimes that do not necessarily involve harm to another person. Instead, they involve an interference with another persons right to use or enjoy property. Property crimes include theft, robbery, burglary, arson, embezzlement, forgery, false pretenses and receipt of stolen goods. Most of the different types of crimes are covered in this list; however, some states may have individual laws that deal with variations of

these criminal offenses. Also, some crimes may involve both types of harm. For example, robbery involves the theft of property that is obtained through physical force against the owner. Crimes can also be classified according to the level of seriousness, such as the distinction between felony and misdemeanor charges. These classifications are known as Part I and Part II crimes. Part I violent crimes consist of murder, homicide, rape by force, aggravated assault and robbery. Part I property crimes are burglary, larceny, motor-vehicle theft and arson. The rest of the crimes are placed in the Part II crimes category. There are four other subcategories of crime that I read about that I think are very interesting and wish to share. These crimes are seen or heard of almost every day. It is all around us and these crimes can happen before your very eyes. These are the crimes that I think we can all be a part of to try and stop. It may be a little tough to stop it on our own, but warning those around us and getting the police involved when you hear that a crime is going to be committed can help a ton. The first of these crimes is a public order crime. This is behavior that has been labeled criminal because it is contrary to shared social values, customs and norms. In the past, societies have always outlawed activities that are considered contrary to public values and morals. Today, the most common public order crimes include public drunkenness, prostitution, gambling, and illicit drug use. These crimes are also known as victimless crimes because they only harm the offender. The next subcategory is a white collar crime. These are nonviolent crimes committed by business entities or individuals to gain a personal or business advantage. White collar crimes involve the use of legal business facilities and employees to commit illegal acts. Reading this made me think that this could happen to anyone. This could happen in your work place and you would have no idea. This made me more aware at my job and I watch for these things so that if they do happen, I can report it. This criminal activity is difficult to

determine with any certainty. Certain property crimes can fall into this category when committed in a business context. The opposite of white collar crime is organized crime. This describes illegal acts by illegal organizations. They are usually geared toward satisfying the publics demand for unlawful goods and services. Many of these illegal organizations employ criminal tactics such as violence, corruption, and intimidation for economic gain. The last subcategory is high-tech crime. This is known as the newest variation of crime. It is directly related to the increase presence of computers in our everyday lives. The Internet is used every day by billions of people worldwide. It is the place for many cybercrimes. These crimes consist of selling pornographic materials, soliciting minors, and defrauding consumers with fake financial investments. These crimes are what scare me the most. I never know what could be happening to my computer or while I am on the Internet. Crimes like this happen every day and we need to be prepared for them. We need to take precautions when we are online. With all of the social media on the Internet, I think its nice when you can find your friends on Facebook or Twitter so you can keep in touch. I feel that taking precautions is important with these types of things. I think that you should be a certain age to have accounts online, with emails and Facebook, etc. This way you are more responsible with what you put on the Internet. Personal information that is put online is out there where the world can see it. Be careful what information you put about yourself on the Internet. I find that this is one of the easier crimes to prevent. I understand that criminals have systems that can hack your computer and get information, so that is why you need to be careful in the first place. Parents should monitor their childrens Internet use to keep them safe. Now that I have stated the many different crimes, I can discuss how to prevent them. I already stated how we could prevent the cybercrimes but there are many other crimes that we need to look out for. Crime in the United States and around the world is increasing, but it is the

small things we can do as a community or neighborhoods to prevent crime. There are many ways you can take control and help prevent crime in your home, in your neighborhood and at your local schools. Its a matter of communications, commitment and time. From reading the book from this class, and reading ways we can prevent crime I came up with some ideas of what we could do as a community. I thought this was the most efficient way of sharing what we could do to keep our neighborhoods safe. The first thing you can do as neighbors is to organize a neighborhood program in which you and your neighbors get together to learn how to protect yourselves, your family, your home and your property. Working together, you can get the criminals off you block and out of you area. Step two is to stay in groups. Theres safety in numbers and power through working with a group. There are many advantages to doing this such as, developing a more united community, getting to know your neighbors, and it can provide an avenue of communication between police and citizens. Learning what you need to know is also important. These simple things can be taught to your kids so they can stay safe. You will need to know what to do in an emergency, how to identify suspicious people, how to protect you home, how to recognize crimes such as burglary, theft, etc. and most important how to protect yourself and your family. One last thing to remember is that the police cant be everywhere at once, so be cooperative with them and they will do their best to keep us safe. There are many crimes that can happen in our lives every day. Doing the small and simple things can help prevent crime from happening in your community, neighborhood and to your family. I believe that when we work together along with the police, we can stop the criminals around us. We can be safe from murder, theft, burglary, sexual assault and even cybercrimes. Crime is increasing day by day, but learning how to stop it can help bring those numbers down.

Bibliography

Gaines, Larry K. and Roger LeRoy Miller. Criminal Justice. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2012. JustGive. 35 Ways to Prevent Crime. 2013. https://www.justgive.org/donations/prevent-crime.jsp. 19 November 2013. Sheriff, Sacramento County. Crime Prevention and Safety. 2013. http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/#top. 19 November 2013.

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