Defining and Measuring Crime

Chapter 3

To teach the social expectations of society

To protect citizens from “criminal harm” and punish wrong doers

To express the judgment of community condemnation

Purposes of Criminal Law

Criminal Law

Area of Concern – offenses against society as a whole

Wrongful Act – violation of a statute that prohibits some type of

activity

Party who brings the suit – The state

Party Who Responds – personal who allegedly committed the

crime (defendant)

Standard of Proof – beyond a reasonable doubt

Remedy – punishment (fine or imprisonment)

Criminal Law versus Civil Law

Civil Law

Area of Concern – rights and duties between individuals

Wrongful Act – harm to a person

Party who brings the suit – person who suffered harm

Party Who Responds – person who supposedly caused the harm

Standard of Proof – preponderance of the evidence

Remedy – damages to compensate for the harm

Criminal Law versus Civil Law (cont.)

Felony

More serious or atrocious than a misdemeanor

Punishable by death or imprisonment in a penitentiary

Misdemeanor

A less serious crime

Punishable by fine or imprisonment otherwise than in a

penitentiary

Comparison of Felony and Misdemeanors

Mala in se

“Natural laws”

Acts against the “natural, more and public principles of a society”

Mala prohibita

“Man made law”

Acts that are considered criminal only because they have been

codified

The Social Functions of Law

Actus reus (guilty act)

Mens rea (guilty mind)

Concurrence of act and intent

Link between act and crime

Any attendant circumstances

Harm done as a result of the act

Elements of a Crime

Bad thought alone cannot constitute a crime. There must be an act,

or an omission to act, where there is a legal duty to act

Actus Reus: The Guilty Act

Ordinarily, a person cannot be convicted of a crime unless it is

proven that he or she intentionally, knowingly, or willingly committed

the criminal act

Mens Rea: The Guilty Mind

The actus reus and mens rea must be present if a crime is to occur.

The law requires the offender’s conduct must be the approximate

cause of any injury resulting from the criminal act

Concurrence of Act and Intent

Criminal liability – intent plays an important part in allowing the law to

differentiate between varying degrees of criminal responsibility

Strict liability – offenses hold the defendant guilty even if intent to

commit the offense is lacking

Criminal v Strict Liability

Under certain circumstances, a person can be charged and

convicted with a crime that he or she did not actually commit. This

occurs when the suspect has acted as an accomplice to a crime

Generally, to be found guilty as an accomplice ”dual intent” must

exist:

To aid the person who committed the crime and

That such aid would lead to the commission of the crime

Accomplice Liability

Major issues and controversies exist over the following elements:

How crime is measures

How it is defined

How it is counted

Criminal Statistics

Violent Crimes

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter

Robbery

Aggravated Assault

Forcible Rape

Property Crime

Burglary

Larceny/theft

Motor Vehicle theft

Arson

Two Major UCR Crime Index Groups

Some of the flaws are:

UCR counts only crimes reported to the police, and many are

never reported.

The means of counting are flawed: e.g. only the most serious

crimes in a “single crime event” is counted (the hierarchal rule).

Part II offenses are only counted when an arrest, not a report,

has been made.

Problems of reliability are encountered.

The UCR: A Flawed Method?

Definitions of crimes will be revised

Counting method will be by the number of incidents

More crimes will be included in each category

Other changes to make the data more accurate

Revising the Uniform Crime Reporting System - The National Incident-Based Reporting System

Data is gathered by the Bureau of Census and compiled by the

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Sample includes 100,000 people in 50,000 households

Respondents are over the age of 12

Respondents queried every six months about household and

personal victimizations

National Crime Victim Survey

Rape

Robbery (personal)

Assault (aggravated and simple)

Household burglary

Larceny (personal and household)

Motor vehicle theft

Offenses Measured by National CrimeVictimization Surveys – NCVS

This term refers to the amount of crime that is undetected and

unknown

National Crime Victim Surveys have revealed that not all crime is

reported to the police

Many different reasons exist for the failure to report a crime to the

police

Dark Figure of Crime

Ask respondents to tell about their criminal activities

Measures the “dark figure of crime”

Reveals that crime is a very common activity

Demonstrates youth crime is spread throughout the social classes

Is probably a reliable measure of trends over a period of time

Self-reported Crime Data

UCR

Scope - Crimes reported to the police in most jurisdictions

Collection Method - Police departments and FBI

Kinds of Information – Offense counts; crime clearances;

persons arrested, persons charged; officers killed, characteristics

of homicide victims

Sponsor - FBI

Comparison: UCR v. NCVS

NCVS

Scope - Both reported and unreported to police nationwide

Collection Method - Survey Interview

Kinds of Information - Details about victims and crimes -

reported and unreported. Use of weapons, injuries, economic

effects

Sponsor - Bureau of Justice Statistics

Comparison: UCR v. NCVS (cont.)

Gender

Age

Income

Marital Status

Race

Victim Characteristics

Most victimizations occur in large urban areas

Most incidents occur in the evening hours

The most likely sites are open public areas

An overwhelming number involve only one victim

Most serious crimes take place after 6 p.m

The Ecology of Victimization

A number of states are now passing legislation to specifically spell

out what legal right victims have.

A proposed Constitutional amendment would establish:

A victim’s right to notice of any public proceeding involving the

crime and of any release or escape of the accused.

A victim’s right to be included in any public proceedings and a

“reasonable” opportunity to be heard at public release, plea,

pardon, and sentencing hearings; and

A victim’s right to have the court consider his or her safety in any

decisions made concerning the accused.

Victims’ Rights