Bromley 1

Abigail Bromley

Ms. Reid-Cosentino

Period 3, History

December 14th, 2018

Criminology Throughout The United States History

As time goes on, things like crimes and the criminal justice system are constantly

changing. New crimes may be committed and with every new crime, a new thought on how to

persecute or punish the criminal is made. The definition of criminology is, “the scientific study

of crime and criminals” (Google). A part of criminology is ranking countries by looking at their

reported data. For example, some of the top-ranked countries for most crimes are South Africa,

Hondorus, and Venezuela (International). Each country is ranked based on the number of crimes

that have been committed in a year. The higher the crime rate, the more crimes committed.

Crime data changes yearly and cannot be 100% fully reliable. This is due to the chance that some

crimes may not have been filed or reported. Good examples of unreported crimes are car

accidents. When someone hits another car by accident, they feel as though it would be easier just

to figure things out directly with the person they hit, rather than calling the police to report that

there was a car accident and waiting for them to show up. A lot of data goes into the crime rates

of a country. For instance, racism, technology, and big historic events all have influenced crime

rates. Racism is important because racism causes a hatred for other races. This hatred leads to

violence and also a higher crime rate. Technology creates more crimes but also can help regulate

crimes, so this could heighten or lower crime rates. Lastly, big historic events also affect crime

rates. Usually, during a war, countries either have really high or really low crime rates. This

depends on the war and the thoughts of the people in the country. Crime statistics, however, is
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not the only thing that directly relates to crimes. Law enforcement and criminal justice jobs have

also had a big impact on a country’s crime statistics and safety. They help prevent crimes and

detect existing crimes. Countries with different types of law enforcement and criminal justice

systems are expected to have very different ranks of crime rates. The United States has a pretty

good criminal justice system when you compare it to other countries. The United States has jobs

such as police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Naval Criminal Investigative

Service (NCIS), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), detectives, Private Investigators (PI),

security guards, etc. that protect the country and also solve crimes. Although more and more

criminal justice jobs have been created through time, most of these jobs have helped keep people

in the United States safe for centuries. Since the 1920s, there have been many advances and

changes throughout the history of crimes and criminal justice in the United States of America.

In the 1920s the common crimes were different from today. “Dealing with the

bootlegging and speakeasies was challenging enough, but the ‘Roaring Twenties’ also saw bank

robbery, kidnapping, auto theft, gambling, and drug trafficking become increasingly common

crimes.” (The FBI). Specifically bootlegging was common at the time because of Prohibition,

which was a time when alcohol was illegal for anyone in the United States to serve or drink. An

example of a crime in the 1920s was “Woman Kills Boy: Uses Daughter to Conceal Body”. This

crime was about a thirty-year-old woman who killed a thirteen-year-old paperboy for no reason

known. Her name was Susan Newell. A witness claimed that the mother and her eight-year-old

daughter were pushing a handcart that carried a bundle. The bystander called the police and she

went to court. The daughter testified that her mother was guilty and that she had helped her. This

resulted in a hanging. October 10th, 1923, the mother was hung. (Fido, 156).
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In the 1930s, it was common to hear about people stealing from banks. This was because

of the Great Depression. Since people had lost faith that their banks would keep their money

safe. A crime that took place in the 1930s was “Joy as Lindbergh Baby Kidnapper Executed”.

This crime is about a man named Bruno Hauptmann. He was the main suspect in a kidnapping

and murder of Charles Lindbergh, the son of a “national hero”. A man, climbed a makeshift

ladder to kidnapped an almost two-year-old boy. After he left with the child he asked the boy’s

parents for money through bonds and gold. Once he got his payment he was supposed to let the

child go. He got what he asked for, but ended up killing the boy as well. Hauptmann is the main

suspect because three years later, he tried to use the bonds. The police also noticed that the wood

from the ladder that was used, was the same as the wood in his attic. Since he was the only actual

suspect they said he was guilty and sent to the electric chair to die. (Fido, 183).

A crime of the 1940s was “Desert Dream Leads to Bugsy Siegel’s Slaying”. This crime

was about Bugsy Siegel who gambled with the mob in Las Vegas and got six million dollars out

of it. Now, of course, he was eventually going to have to pay them back plus interest, so he

decided to open up a hotel. The hotel did not do well, it went bankrupt. The mob did not like the

fact that he could not pay them back. This led to the mob killing Bugsy Siegel (Fido, 208).

Other common examples of crimes in the 50s and 60s were more murders, robberies, and

rapes. The punishments for most of these crimes were death; However, as time goes on, the

punishment switched to more jailing than executing. Many court-case crimes during the 1900s

were very racist and unfair. “Although overt discrimination has diminished in the criminal justice

system over recent decades (14), at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we continue to

grapple with the perceptions of and the reality of unfairness in our justice system.” (Race). This

shows that the objectives of people in the past, differ from how we choose to handle court cases
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today. Big events in the United States of America’s history helped shape the criminal justice

system to make it more fair and to keep Americans safer.

As people we learn from past experiences and keep moving forward onto bigger better

things. An example of this is how countries like the United States, has had a growing criminal

justice system with newer technologies and who can manage the country’s crime, even during

big historic events. This is interesting when thinking about it because even though the United

States police and other criminal justice systems have misjudged instances throughout the years,

peoples experiences grow. This means new methods for solving or dealing with certain situations

increase. For example, during the Great Depression, many people robbed banks; However, bank

robberies are not as common these days. This is due to the fact that the technology and security

in banks have increased. Some other big events in United States history that influenced the

criminal justice system and crimes, in general, are World War II, JFK’s assassination, and 9/11.

During World War II (1939-1945), it was common to see forged rations coupons. In the past,

forgery was not as well known but now it is being taught. Also, many investigators now find it

easier to spot forgeries.

JFK’s assassination was a shock to the whole country. Everyone knew about it and felt as

though we had lost such a great president and at a young age. Instances like these, open up the

public’s eyes to realize that people are not always as safe as they might feel. More security

usually helps these kinds of instances, which is why you will not really find anymore presidents

going for car, top-down, joy rides.

9/11 also had a big impact on our country. The crime rate for the year before 2001 was a

little higher. In 2000 the crime rate in the United States was 506.5 per 100,000 of the population.

This means that there was a decrease overall throughout those three years. In 2001 the number of
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reported crimes was 504.5 per 100,000 of the population and in 2002 the number decreased to

494.4 per 100,000 of the population (U.S. Violent). This is important to note because big events

can alter people's thinking. 9/11 was a big event which could have made people more

sympathetic and value what they have; that could have caused a decrease in crime rates from

2000 to 2002. That is how big events can influence the decisions that people make and crimes

they commit. However, big events are not the only thing that has changed the crimes over the

years, but technology has as well.

In the United States, technology has improved exponentially over the years. Technology

has been created to help improve different aspects of our society. One part that technology really

changed is the criminal justice system. Devices have been used to solve crimes and some even

created more crime. Around the 20s and early 30s, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) was

formed. The FBI played a big part in being one of the first departments to use fingerprint

technology to catch and keep information of criminals. However, before fingerprinting was

commonly used, they used a system called the Bertillon system. This system, “[...] measured

dozens of features of a criminal’s face and body and recorded the series of precise numbers on a

large card along with a photograph.” (The FBI). The Bertillon system was faulty and not always

accurate. There was a case when two men, William West, and Will West, where considered the

same person according to the system. They soon figured out that Will could not be William

because William had currently been in jail. It turns out that those men could have just been

twins, and after a fingerprint confirmation, it was clear that they were two different people.

The “lie detector” machine was also problematic at first, they have been used throughout

the years but have changed in many ways. Older models of “lie detectors” used heart rate to

determine if people were telling the truth. This process was faulty and not fully reliable since the
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pace of your heart could change for many different reasons. As technology advanced, new

machines could help determine if people were lying or not. Machines like fMRIs, fNIRs, and

EEGs measure if someone is lying by brainwaves. As scientists have discovered different parts

of the brain are used at specific times. For example, a brainwave measuring machine will show

brain activity around different parts when lying than when someone is telling the truth. "Three

areas of the brain generally become more active during deception: the anterior cingulate cortex,

the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the parietal cortex." (Temple-Raston). “Lie detectors”,

though aren’t commonly used by the police, they mainly serve a purpose for people to prove

themselves innocent when odds are against them. A man named Harvey Nathan was accused

guilty in 2003. It was said that to gain money, he burned down his deli shop for the insurance.

After taking “lie detector” tests it was shown that he was telling the truth. This kind of

technology has greatly improved but has not become more widely used; However, since

technology is still improving these machines could eventually be mandatory for departments

such as the CIA and FBI in the future.

Another great example of technology that has impacted the criminal justice system, is

radios. The one-way radio was officially used in 1928 in police cars. This allowed police stations

to talk to their police car drivers on the road. Around 1933, two-way radios started to appear in

police cars. Two-way radios let the stations communicate with the cars and let the cars

communicate back to the stations. Also, it allows other police cars within the area to

communicate with each other as well. This communication makes the process of catching

criminals faster. There are many other examples of technological advances that have improved

the process of dealing with criminals like security cameras, phones, satellite imaging, computers,

and many more. Things, like computers and other internet accessible devices, are also known to
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have caused crimes. Hacking, identity theft, viruses, scams, etc. are good illustrations of what

technology crimes could be. In 2017 there was an estimate of 1,579 data breaches in the United

States. This number is the highest it has been since after the year 2005 (U.S. Data). Although

computers along with the internet have created many new crimes, they have also been shown to

help more crimes be solved. By being a place where lots of data can be stored and accessed

within seconds, criminal justice systems have had more time to work on more cases.

Modern day crime rates are lower than of those before the 90s. In 2017 the reported rate

was 382.9 per 100,000 of the population. The year 1990, had a rate of 729.6 per 100,000 of the

population; that is a significant decrease. After the time period of wars and major economic

depressions, it is shown that crime rates of violence have gone down (U.S. Violent). Although

the crimes may have decreased, they still seemed to be similar crimes committed.

An example of a crime in the 80s, is “New York has its own ‘Jack the Ripper’. A man

named Richard Cottingham, assaulted 19 women, and killed 15. This New York man claims that

his reason for doing so is because they were prostitutes and that they should be punished. He

was found guilty, since his fingerprint findings were on the handcuffs that were used on a couple

of victims. His sentence was 197 years in jail, meaning he would still be in jail today if he is

alive. (Fido, 282)

In the 90s, an example of a crime is “Did O.J. Simpson kill his ex?”. This was about a

former well known athlete O.J. Simpson. His ex wife was found dead at her front door, the only

evidence left behind was blood, a glove, and a ski mask. During the police investigation of O.J.’s

house, they found a matching glove and a bunch of blood was also found. He had also had a cut

on his hand and was televised in a police car chase after the murder took place. He was deemed

guilty, but there are still some people who claim he is innocent (Fido, 312).
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Crimes from the 2000s are very similar to those of the 90s. This is because of the similar

event and because in the 90s is when technology started to become apart of everyday living.

Technology has changed a lot over the years, which has greatly impacted the criminal justice

system. For instance, how new scientific inventions used to test and record human observations,

like fMRIs and using DNA, gives faster and more accurate results. However, technological

advances are not the only thing that has had an impact on the criminal justice system, big historic

events have also had influences on the criminal justice system. For example, major wars,

terrorist attacks, racism, and many more have also had an impact on the criminal justice system.

This change in historic events has also caused a change in crime rates throughout the years. As

time goes on, the crime rates seem to be mainly decreasing, with maybe a couple rises here and

there. There have been many advances and changes throughout the history of crimes and

criminal justice in the United States of America since the 1920s to 2018.
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Work Cited:

"The FBI and the American Gangster, 1924-1938." FBI, FBI, 3 May 2016,
www.fbi.gov/history/brief-history/the-fbi-and-the-american-gangster.

Google Search, Google, www.google.com/

search?rlz=1CADEAC_enUS703US709&ei=BtoSXJjdIM3y5gLVvazYBA&q=definition%2Bof%2Bcri
minology&oq=definition%2Bof%2Bcrimin&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.0l10.116.1984..3905...0.0..0
.377.1268.6j1j1j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i67j0i131.hcWHrpX-fMk&safe=active&s
sui=on.

"InternationalPersonal Expat Insurance." Clements Worldwide, www.clements.com/

?utm_medium=highest-lowest&utm_campaign=highest-lowest&utm_content=highest-lowest.

"Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System." AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL

ASSOCIATION - DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, Sept. 2007.

Temple-Raston, Dina. "Neuroscientist Uses Brain Scan to See Lies Form." NPR,
NPR, 30 Oct. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15744871.

"U.S. Data Breaches and Exposed Records 2018 | Statistic." Statista,

www.statista.com/statistics/273550/
data-breaches-recorded-in-the-united-states-by-number-of-breaches-and-records-exp
osed/.

"U.S.: Violent Crime Rate Graph 1990-2017." Statista, www.statista.com/

statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/.

Bibliography:

Burrough, Bryan. Public Enemies: Americas Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of
the FBI, 1933-34. London, Penguin Books, 2009.
I did not end up using this source but it had some interesting information.

"Common Types of Technology Crime." Chapter 7 Women Officers – How the Force
Achieved Equality | Hong Kong Police Force, www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/
04_crime_matters/tcd/types.html.
I used this source to get an idea of common types of cyber crime.

"Crime in the United States - 1991." The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Nov.
1992, p. 8+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A13690170/
AONE?u=glen70185&sid=AONE&xid=87830d90. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.
This source helped me gain information on the patterns of crime statistics from before the 2000s.
"Crime statistics for 2010." The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Jan. 2012, p. 23.
Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A277436895/
AONE?u=glen70185&sid=AONE&xid=4521c9e5. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.
This source helped me get an idea for the pattern of crime rates after the year 2000.
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"The FBI and the American Gangster, 1924-1938." FBI, FBI, 3 May 2016,
www.fbi.gov/history/brief-history/the-fbi-and-the-american-gangster.
I used this source for more information on the FBI.

Fido, Martin. The Chronicle of Crime: The Infamous Villains of Modern History
and Their Hideous Crimes. New ed., London, Carlton, 2002.
This source gave me the crime cases and much more knowledge about the types of crimes
committed in each decade.

Google Search, Google, www.google.com/

search?rlz=1CADEAC_enUS703US709&ei=BtoSXJjdIM3y5gLVvazYBA&q=definition%2Bof%2Bcri
minology&oq=definition%2Bof%2Bcrimin&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.0l10.116.1984..3905...0.0..0
.377.1268.6j1j1j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i67j0i131.hcWHrpX-fMk&safe=active&s
sui=on.
This source gave me the definition of criminology.

Holley, Benjamin. "It's all in your head: neurotechnological lie detection and
the Fourth and Fifth Amendments." Developments in Mental Health Law, Jan.
2009, p. 1+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/
A214398146/AONE?u=glen70185&sid=AONE&xid=95634a7b. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.
This source to learn about “lie detectors” and the different types.

"InternationalPersonal Expat Insurance." Clements Worldwide, www.clements.com/

?utm_medium=highest-lowest&utm_campaign=highest-lowest&utm_content=highest-lowest.
I used this source to look at which countries had high and low crime rates.

Kafka, Tina. DNA on Trial. Detroit, Thomson/Gale, 2005.

I used this source to get an idea of how DNA along with other advances have improved the rate
at which the criminal justice system solves cases.

McCarthy, Niall, and Felix Richter. "Infographic: Hacking Has Become Every
American's Worst Nightmare." Statista, 28 Oct. 2014, www.statista.com/chart/
2881/hacking-has-become-every-americans-worst-nightmare/.
I used this citation to get general information on types of cyber crimes compared to other crimes.

"Milestones:Two-Way Police Radio Communication, 1933." Telephones - Engineering

and Technology History Wiki, ethw.org/
Milestones:Two-Way_Police_Radio_Communication,_1933.
I used this source for gaining information on the two-way radio.
This source helped me understand how DNA and lie detectors could interfere with people's
natural rights.

POLICE TECHNOLOGY - History of Technology, www.police-technology.net/id59.html.

I used this source for looking at the years that the one-way radio was used.
 Bromley 11

"Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System." AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL

ASSOCIATION - DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, Sept. 2007.
I used this source to gain more information on racism and flaws of our criminal justice system.

"Surveillance Technology Helps Catch Serial Killer; Old-fashioned detective work

would have solved a murder that led to the arrest of a serial killer in
Philadelphia, but technology left the perpetrator without a defense, police
said." InformationWeek, 5 Jan. 2007. Academic OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A156841795/
AONE?u=glen70185&sid=AONE&xid=76faf3ac. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.
...

Temple-Raston, Dina. "Neuroscientist Uses Brain Scan to See Lies Form." NPR,
NPR, 30 Oct. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15744871.
I used this source to gain more information on fMRI and how machines like that were created
and used

"10 Facts about Crime on the Home Front in the Second World War." History Extra,
3 Oct. 2018, www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/
10-facts-about-crime-on-the-home-front-in-the-second-world-war/.
I used this source to get an idea of the types of crimes during the war.

"U.S. Data Breaches and Exposed Records 2018 | Statistic." Statista,

www.statista.com/statistics/273550/
data-breaches-recorded-in-the-united-states-by-number-of-breaches-and-records-exp
osed/.
I used this source to look at the statistics of data breaches within the recent years.

"U.S.: Violent Crime Rate Graph 1990-2017." Statista, www.statista.com/

statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/.
I used this source for looking at the statistics for the amount of crime this past couple of years in
the United States.