Principles of Investigation

Principles of Investigation

Violent crime

In today's society, violent crime has become an all too common aspect of modern life. What makes a violent individual snap? Among the various explanations for violent crimes are the availability of weapons, human characteristics, a subculture of violence that stresses violent solutions to interpersonal problems, and family conflict. Examples of violent crimes include rape, homicide, assault, robbery and a few others.

Rape has been reported throughout history, but in today's society, the definition of rape has changed. Even though close to 100,000 rapes are reported to U.S. police each year; studies show that the actual number of rapes is perhaps much higher as many women do not report rapes because they are embarrassed or feel as though nothing can be done. There are numerous forms of rape, including statutory, acquaintance, marital and date rape. Some rapes are planned while others are spontaneous. However, like other violent crimes, the rape rate is in decline (Siegel, 2008).

Newly emerging forms of violent crime include terrorism, hate crimes, stalking and workplace violence. Terrorists are motivated by several factors, such as criminal gain, psychosis, grievance against the state, or ideology (Siegel, 2008). The Department of Homeland Security and FBI have been dealt the task of taking on terrorism in the United States. I believe, that on many occasions, hate crimes and terrorism can be one in the same.

In summation, although there is an overwhelming need to control the violent crime that plagues our nation, the statistics show that most violent crimes rates are declining. Does this mean that this trend will continue in future years? Evidence suggests that crime rates are controlled by many different factors including economic and social factors. While I don't believe the future trends of violent crime is necessarily 100% predictable, I do believe that we, as members of the criminal justice system can put forth a valiant effort to control crime and enforce the laws in a manner that can offer some predictability and also ensure a better future for our great nation.

Property Crime

The most common type of crime is property crime most likely because it can be committed anywhere and by anyone. T. Gabor in the book “everybody does it! crime by the public” gives the definition, as “the unlawful acquisition of another's property through theft or deception” property crime can be as small as taking towels from a hotel room with you. So it could be send that everyone at some point in their lives has committed property crime no matter how small.

Nine times out of ten major offenders of property crime are juveniles their crimes are usually in the form of petty theft, vandalism, car theft etc. Though there are a lot of cases of everyday citizens when given the opportunity would in fact take advantage of their employer. There are many instances of cashiers not ringing up purchases and taking the money for themselves or waiters charging their customers more so that they can pocket the ...