The Nature of Cyber Crime

Hacking

Hacking is unauthorised access of computer information, by a person. Hacking is committed by computer programmers, who have good knowledge of how computers perform, thus using this knowledge as a means of gaining access to personal information. Hackers use different methods in order to gain access to a computer system, and this may include spoofing or coming up with spywares, which are responsible for collecting personal information from a computer (Burden & Palmer, 2003). Once a computer system has been hacked into, then the hacker can be able to obtain the required information at ease. Hackers may also alter the performance of a computer system, hence leading to the loss of data.

Impact of Hacking on Individuals

            Computer hacking is very serious in individual level, since victims can lose their savings, a move which may lead to bankruptcy. In addition, hackers are also likely to access the victim’s private information, rendering the victim’s life insecure. Due to technological advancements, most people tend to store their personal information in computer systems, since the information can be easily accessed. Hackers consequently have a way of accessing such information, thus affecting the private life of the victim. In addition, a victim’s personal information is likely to be altered, particularly if it’s of influence to the state or to a company, by the hackers in order to favour certain individuals (Marcum et al, 2014). Therefore, it is very significant to store personal information in manual backups, in case of a breach.

Impact of Hacking on both Local and National Levels

            When hackers gain access of both local and national information, then the country’s information might be at stake. Hackers may hack into both local and national information, with the aims of; destabilizing the economy of a country, accessing the private information of an area, and embezzling the funds of either a region or a country as a whole. If the computer systems of a nation are hacked into, then it means that the country is likely to encounter a lot of problems (Holt & Schell, 2011). This is basically because, hackers may target the nation’s finances, a move which might lead the country into poverty. In addition, the economy of a country is likely to collapse, due to the embezzlement of the nation’s finances. Finally, hackers may also gain access to secret military information, a move which might lead to insecurity in a country. Hacking is consequently a serious issue, which might lead to instability in a local or a national level.

How the global nature of cybercrime poses challenges for law enforcement.

            Cybercrime has proved to be a global issue, which cannot be stopped at once. The FBI has arrested most criminals, who were linked to cybercrime. The authorities have been able to arrest these criminals, after committing the crime (Brenner, 2009). According to the authorities, cybercrime is a virtual crime which is committed by people in areas where they cannot be easily seen. In addition, cybercriminals are smart, in the sense that they easily change their tactics, thus making it hard for the authorities to be able to keep up with them. On the other hand, the authorities lack the necessary knowledge of foiling such attacks, thus making cybercrime to dominate (Roscini & Leverhulme, 2014). For instance, in the past, cyber criminals used viruses, as a means of slowing down the performance of a computer system, hence gaining access to the computer systems. This has however changed, since cyber criminals are using different software’s, which pop up as advertisements, thus gathering data from the computer system. Due to the versatility of cyber criminals, this has made it hard for law enforcements to fully eliminate cybercrime.

Reference

Burden, K., & Palmer, C. (2003). Internet crime: Cyber crime — A new breed of criminal? Computer Law & Security Review, 19(3), 222-227. 

Marcum, C. D., Higgins, G. E., Freiburger, T. L., & Ricketts, M. L. (2010). Policing possession of child pornography online: Investigating the training and resources dedicated to the investigation of cyber crime. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 12(4), 516-525. 

Holt, T. J., & Schell, B. H. (2011). Corporate hacking and technology-driven crime: Social dynamics and implications. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference.

Roscini, M., & Leverhulme Trust. (2014). Cyber operations and the use of force in international law.

Brenner, S. W. (2009). Cyberthreats: The emerging fault lines of the nation state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vulnerability to Cybercrime

The rates of cybercrimes in the world are on the rise, due to the use of computer systems in different places. Computers have become vulnerable to attackers, who can easily gain access to private information. In this paper, I will consequently look at two ways which an individual is vulnerable to cybercrime.

Identity Theft

Identity theft is the most common cybercrime which is currently being used by cyber criminals, to siphon money from the victim’s bank accounts (Hill & Marion, 2016).  Everybody is vulnerable to identity theft, since cyber criminals use a software which asks for personal credit card number. After getting the credit card number, cyber criminals may either siphon money from the victim’s bank account, or use the credit card to buy products online (Nykodym, Taylor, & Vilela, 2005). This is a very serious crime, as it may lead to bankruptcy. In order falling victims’ of such attacks, one needs to be careful before giving out credit card numbers online.

Cyber Stalking

Cyber stalking is a cybercrime whereby, an attacker who knows the victim, attacks the victim through the social media or through online messages (Kshetri, 2010). This is a type of cybercrime which is not serious, since the attacker might only use the social media as a means of harassing the victim. On the contrary, the victim has total control over the attacker, whereby he or she can block the victim, thus stopping the carrying out such actions. In addition, the victim may opt to report the attacker to the relevant social media website or the online messaging platform, whereby the attacker will be blocked (Nykodym, Taylor, & Vilela, 2005). This type of attack is not consequently costly, since the victim can stop the attacker after noticing such moves.

Reference

Hill, J. B, & Marion, N. E. (2016). Introduction to Cybercrimes, Laws, and Policing in the 21^st Century.

Kshetri, N. (2010). The global cybercrime industry: Economic, institutional and strategic perspectives. Heidelberg: Springer.

Nykodym, N., Taylor, R., & Vilela, J. (2005). Criminal profiling and insider cyber crime. Computer Law & Security Review, 21(5), 408-414. 

Investigation Procedures of Evidence Gathering and Chain of Custody

Type of forensic evidence

Biological evidence

Blood

In forensic investigation, blood is used to examine the physical evidence. The discipline of examining blood is known as bloodstain pattern analysis and the process involves analysis of the bloodstains and the activities which led to the bloodshed. The role of bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is to help understand violent crimes through tests and experiments (Augenstein, 2017). Analysts  in this process produces accuracy and quality information by employing two procedures namely; pattern analysis’-a process which aids  in investigating the sequence of action, position of the victim, type of weapon and  other related  things which could have contributed to the bloodshed. The second process is reconstruction and it involves the process of evaluating event series during occurrence of crime and aftermath (Augenstein, 2017).

Investigation process

  In biological evidence, bloodstain pattern analysis requires adequate proficiency, formal instruction and experience in order to produce reliable results. Other point is that the group of disciplines aids in crime investigation and investigators gains a wealth of information.

Forensic pathologists play a fundamental role in examining DNA individualization in autopsy examination (Edwards, Body & Ferner, 2012). Bloodstain pattern analysis is done through various methods such as scene evaluation, examining scene photographs, clothing and more. In DNA, analysts gains valuable information from bloodstain pattern and he or she is able to understand the timeline of events and to judge whether bloodstains are associated with crime. Bloodstain pattern analysis acts as a valuable tool in investigating crimes and through analysis, analysts are able to use contextual information and reach the conclusion. In biological evidence, bloodstain patterns are categorized into dropping bloodstain patterns and the evidence taken in this category is based on liquid blood which is taken from physical and biochemical properties’. The blood drops from the liquid blood has a high viscosity (Edwards, Body & Ferner, 2012). Second is impacted bloodstain and this is blood which comes from both internal and external force. Third is blood dripping and this produces bloodstain pattern during bloodshed. Reconstruction is done with bloodstain patterns and documentation techniques are used. Techniques such as photography are valued as a basic process which involves scales which provides documentation dimensions. Sketching is also a technique used in placing bloodstain pattern in scale for reconstruction purposes (Edwards, Body & Ferner, 2012).

Before the investigation process, the crime scene is protected in order to do the investigation thoroughly. Several photographs are taken at the crime location for further investigation. Before investigation, investigators are advised not to touch anything, they are supposed to use different angles in taking photographs and team members should join hands to do a thorough search (Porter, 2011). Bloodstain pattern analysts may use a rough sketch which will aid during the process of investigation. Investigators carry the process of collecting, documenting and storing the blood evidence and bloodstain analyst examines the events and produces facts based on the crime. The analyst observes the bloodstain and pattern in order to draw conclusion. In gathering evidence, the analyst examines the bloodstains pattern in terms of grouping and arrangement in order to understand the static consequences (Porter, 2011). To examine the evidence, the analyst conducts an effective search by gathering evidence from the whole scene in order to gain deep truth. In examining the bloodstain, the analyst gains information such as the  objects used in shedding blood, the droplets, the position of  suspect, victims, the nature of objects and force. Using the bloodstain pattern, the analyst is able to produce a generalized reproduction (Porter, 2011).

  Crime scene reconstruction

            The physical evidence gathered by investigators together with laboratory examination is analyzed. Analysts play a significant role in carrying out scientific scene analysis, analysis of the scene pattern, laboratory examination and systematic study in the formulation of theories.   Reconstruction is important in producing the actual course and making observation through physical evidences and employing logical approaches (Parmar, 2015).With respect to the forensic science, reconstruction is done by applying scientific principles and logical methodologies. Investigative information is required as well as logical and considerable experience. In investigating physical evidence, there must be basic principles such as the theory of transfer. Other important point to note is that bloodstain pattern reconstruction is reinforced by law enforcement and it is done to understand the physical nature and investigation facts. Reconstruction is done aftermath and its purpose is to analyze the actions which led to the bloodshed (Parmar, 2015). The bloodstain patterns produces effective results by offering answers based on ‘what’. Recognition is a procedure used in analyzing the potential evidence. During the investigation process, a lot of information is collected and analysts eliminate the information which has no evidential value. The analysts preserve and document the evidence. Laboratory analysis is also used to examine the substances and is compared with other known materials to come up with individualized evidence (Parmar, 2015). Before reconstruction, recognition is a key element. In the identification process, biological evidence is compared with other evidence such as morphological properties, chemical properties and others. In this process, a logical process is needed in individualizing a person.

Evidence from blood pattern is derived from teamwork concept.  In general, forensic science is related with criminal justice system and research and development is made by law enforcement agencies. The methodologies used are aligned with validation of techniques, documentation and codes of practice. Dissemination is also considered as it is the key element in producing clear and appropriate explanation to the judges (Aleksander, 2012). In forensics science, effective communication is required for the purpose of eliminating obstacles and enhance environment for opportunities and requirement. In order to understand how blood provides evidence, it is important to remember that blood has complex mixtures such as cells and other inorganic substances. Plasma is a fluid found in the blood and it contains cells and platelets. The blood cells contain antigens which produces the blood type. In the discipline of forensic science, blood is used to derive the evidence (Aleksander, 2012). In investigating the crime, investigators analyze both dried and wet bloodstain in the crime scene. Wet blood is valued more than dried blood since it produces reliable tests. In addition, wet blood is in liquid from and so little storage is required compared with dried blood.  Dried bloodstain can also be used and should be collected using cotton-tipped swab (Aleksander, 2012). It also has benefits since it does not interact with bloodstain. In the investigation process, Locard exchange principle is used to help the investigators understand that there is exchange of blood. Thus, it is advisable to carry out medical examination and collect physical evidence from the victims. In the investigation process, the collected blood is stored and preserved with EDTA preservatives for the purpose of conducting DNA test or other analysis. It is also advisable to collect blood from different parts of the body such as heart especially when investigating dead bodies. The collected blood should put stored in an airtight container (Aleksander, 2012). In the crime scene, investigators identifies bloodstain and they use precautions when collecting preserving. The collected blood is put in vacutainer to preserve the blood. The blood is transported to the laboratory where various chemical tests are done.

Last, the research has shown that in investigating and solving crimes, various techniques such as fingerprinting are used. However, there are other effective technological techniques which help law enforcement understand the suspect.  DNA test is used as an investigative tool and this methodology is highly variable (Van der Gronde et al, 2014). Forensic scientist gains reliable information and are able to clearly identify individual at the crime scene. In crime investigation, forensic science is applicable in observing, identifying, offering description, conducting experiential investigation and offering theoretical explanation. Among many evidences, DNA evidence has aided the criminal justice system in identifying suspect and arresting them. DNA profiling is used as an essential tool in detection and crime prevention.  In forensic field, biomedical research provides genetic techniques in investigating the crime. The criminal justice system and law enforcements use the DNA databases in investigating and solving crimes. The forensic analysis is done to collect and analyze the evidence (Van der Gronde et al, 2014). Law enforcement use DNA to analyse wrongful conviction, for identification purposes and gathering information through testing materials found at the crime scene. Generally, biosocial criminology has gained momentum in investigating crimes and arresting offenders.

Reference

Augenstein, S. (2017). Is Forensic Science Tipping the Scales of Justice?. Laboratory

Equipment, 53(8), 8-11.

Aleksander, A. (2012). Forensic expertise and judicial practice: evidence or proof?. Journal Of

Evaluation In Clinical Practice, 18(6), 1147-1150. doi:10.1111/jep.12007

Edwards, I. R., Body, D., & Ferner, R. (2012). Toxicological evidence in forensic

pharmacology. International Journal Of Risk & Safety In Medicine, 24(1), 13-21.

Porter, G. (2011). A new theoretical framework regarding the application and reliability of

photographic evidence. International Journal Of Evidence & Proof, 15(1), 26-61.

doi:10.1350/ijep.2011.15.1.367

Van der Gronde, T., Kempes, M., van El, C., Rinne, T., & Pieters, T. (2014). Neurobiological

Correlates in Forensic Assessment: A Systematic Review. Plos ONE, 9(10), 1-15.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110672

Parmar, P. (2015). Reconstruction of crime - A review. International Archives Of Integrated

Medicine, 2(10), 49-53.

 Stop and Frisk
 

Abstract

The Significance of Stop-and-Frisk Program to the Improvement of Policing Outcomes and the Challenges Inconsistent/improper capitalization towards its Successful Implementation Stop-and-frisk Inconsistent/improper capitalization is an approach used by the security forces to prevent crime by stopping questioning, and even detaining civilians on the streets. The nature of the strategy has led to several controversies including its legality, the role in encouraging discrimination and its effectiveness. The study will utilize an exploratory approach using the mixed method. Different populations of study will be utilized with the sample reached by using systematic sampling. The population of study will be classified according to the research questions to ensure that the findings cater to every need of the study. The data will be collected using interviews and surveys.  Good I can see what you intend to do and how you intend to get there.

            Introduction

Background

The stop-and-frisk strategy where the police detain, question, and search civilians on the street to identify if they are involved in any criminal activity such as carrying contraband or weapons (Abrams, 2014). Stop-and-frisk is one of the many strategies used by the police department in the contemporary world to make the streets and the country safe. This comes at a time when the country is under several criminal and terrorist threats even within the country. In the past, the police had to deal with the common criminals in the country. However, as the threat of terrorism intensified, the responsibilities of the police department increased. The nature of terrorism, which uses its agents inside the targeted country coupled with increased cases of radicalization means that the department has their hands completely full (Avdija, 2014). The police need additional ways of preventing crime. The streets offer this new perspective because of the nature of most crimes. For instance, seldom do criminals commit crimes near their homes. For this reason, vehicles have become their primary aid in committing these crimes whether small or big.

The stop-and-frisk strategy is founded on the notion that criminals use their vehicles to perform their criminal activities. The cars serve as transport agents, as well as, places used for hiding illegal items (Keenan & Thomas, 2017). Stop-and-frisk can also be used on pedestrians, especially when the police officers sense that their intentions are wrong. As much as this strategy is founded on the premise of keeping the country safe, the fact that the majority of those who are searched are innocent have brought about numerous controversies. Cries about violation of personal freedom and racial profiling have littered the process bringing its essence to disrepute (Reid, 2011). True, stop-and-frisk may lead to interception of criminals before, during, and after the crime but if it violates personal rights and the constitution while advancing social evils such as racism, and it loses its essence. However, there is no doubt that the stop-and-frisk strategy offers a new dimension in crime fighting, especially when used appropriately (Legewie, 2016).

Frisking and stopping have grown to be a controversial issue in the global sector. The general effects of this conduct affect millions of individuals and particularly those from the minority groups and those with low socio-economic status (Reid, 2011). This act usually occurs in the quest of stopping crimes occurrence. However, the method has been classified by most as inappropriate stating that it is only purposed at harassing those from the minority groups and particularly blacks. Based on research it is apparent that the operation has resulted in the decline of crime in the recent years in the city of New York. However, the issue is that most of those that have been labeled as guilty are from the Hispanic and the African-American minority groups (Reid, 2011). The program was implemented after the rate of crime in major cities had increased rapidly. The program was thus purposed at ensuring some of the crimes were decreased through frisking individuals who are perceived to be suspicious in the cities.

In the society today police officers are deemed to be the sources of protection and help every time that it is required. However, it has become apparent that the officers utilize this privilege in violating the civilian’s constitutional privileges. The stop-and-frisk program was mainly developed with the intention of fighting crime occurred within the city streets but it has resulted in racial profiling (Legewie, 2016). With the abuse of the program, individuals have acquired fear and most of the youths are even afraid to appear in the streets because they understand that they might be subjected to harassment with no justified rationale. This has resulted in the loss of trust amid the citizens and the officers as most believe that instead of being protected they have been subjected to more torture. Based on the recent statistics it is apparent that from the year 2002 up to 2011 90 percent of the individuals who have been stopped and frisked are from the black and Latino communities and approximately 88 percent of the general populace that had been stopped which accounts at about 3.8 million persons were found innocent New York residents (Legewie, 2016).

An individual’s freedom based on the constitutional privileges cannot be traded for security reasons despite the fact that security is of the essence. The street searches in most cases have emerged to be unsuccessful since those that are guilty cannot expose themselves to the program (Avdija, 2014). However, it is believed by the program’s proponents that despite the fact that majority of those frisked being found innocent the success of the program has been acquired in its general ability to stop the occurrence of potential crimes and restraining crime. Despite the controversy, amid this issue, it is clear that the program is a requirement in ensuring that the rate of criminal offenses in the urban locations is reduced. However, certain policies are highly required in ensuring that the program does not continue to violate the civilian’s privileges and promoting racial profiling which might affect coexistence in the society that is characterized by cultural diversity (Avdija, 2014). 

Restrictions placing on the officers conducting the operations can be accounted as the only strategy through which the rights of the public can be secured from the officer’s authority. The fact that the program has continued for an extended run and not much of success has been acquired demonstrates that reform is of necessity in achieving security and ensuring that protection is maintained (Hanink, 2013). With the violation of the citizens’ rights New York residents have continued to express their dissatisfaction with state’s policies and law enforcement. This is because most of the affected groups have acquired an oppression feeling which has resulted in poor relations with the police. Community policing effectiveness cannot be achieved without good relations because the public also plays part in assisting the officers to curb crimes (Fagan & Davies, 2000). The ineffective of the program can be acquired from the period when the individuals demonstrated in the streets stating that the program is based on racial prejudice which is a violation of not only the constitution but individual’s wellness as well.

Literature Review

In their line of duty, police officers have a range of tactics geared at ensuring public safety. One -of these methods is termed stop-and-frisk, where a police officer stops an individual after suspecting criminal activity and proceeds to search him or her (Abrams, 2014). This strategy was aimed at crime prevention because of its nature (Keenan & Thomas, 2013). Abrams (2014) reports that Terry v. Ohio initiated the legal basis of the program where the Supreme Court established a new standard, reasonable suspicion standard. This case took place in 1968 and ever since then, the police had the right to stop people on the street for questioning and possible frisking. However, its use was minimal until the mid-1990s when the police department in New York decided to adopt the strategy. Incorrect as it was used in agencies across the country since the SC ruling. Using the "order-maintenance policing" concept earlier developed by Wilson and Kelling, the departments adopted a strategy that classified any type of crime as punishable (Keenan & Thomas, 2013). In New York's model, all crimes including the ones considered by many as "quality of life" crimes call for the application of the stop-and-frisk strategy (Keenan & Thomas, 2013). The idea behind this application is that even the smallest of crimes have a potential of creating a criminal and hence should be dissuaded as early as possible. The idea behind the strategy is never neglected by any crime or anything that seems to indicate that it will lead to a crime – a redefinition of crime prevention strategies. According to Abrams (2014), the police departments are claiming that the strategy is working because it has led to the reduction of crime in places where they are applied. Long paragraph - need to break up the information into smaller paragraphs.

The perception that the strategy is effective has led to the rise of its usage in the country, especially in New York City (Abrams, 2014). However, Abrams (2014) reports that the effectiveness of the practice is yet to be quantified. As much as the effectiveness of the strategy is yet to be measured, the motivations and nature of these operations are known. The foundation of the stop-and-frisk strategy, the "Broken Windows," suggests that the program should emphasize on the behavior and not the people. This is where several complaints emanate. Several authors and researchers claim that the factors that motivate police officers to conduct the stop-and-frisk exercise are further away from the Broken Windows mandate (Fagan & Davies, 2000). Even though the program has the ingredients to reduce crime rates in the country, its application has led to its inefficiency. According to Hanink (2013), the major influence of the program is race and poverty. Fagan and Davies (2000) echo this finding stating that these programs are majorly carried out on the poor and in poor neighborhoods. The basis of the program was on fairness, and yet its application has led to the victimization of the poor and individuals from certain backgrounds.

Indeed, the program may although have enormous potential. It has been used to advance societal evils, and the concept of class and race has manifested itself in the program.  By developing the program to it is responsible for how the police officers operate. In his article, Avdija (2014) posits that high-delinquency zones, fugitive movements, whereabouts of victims, nearness to a crime scene, and time of day influence the decision of the security apparatus to conduct a stop-and-frisk program. From the description of the strategy, the police officer acts after suspecting that someone may have participated in a delinquent act or is on his way to commit a crime (Evans, Maragh & Porter, 2014). These explanations indicate that the police have the prerogative to choose the individual to be stopped or the area in which the stop-and-frisk programs is to be applied. Inbau and Thompson (1999) indicate that the Terry v. Ohio decision gives the police the power to do as they please as long as it is within the restrictions of the reasonable suspicion standard. This nature of stop-and-frisk strategy gives the police officers the audacity to participate in unethical practices including racial profiling (Evans, Maragh & Porter, 2014). Legewie (2016) completes this argument stating that these strategies increase the level of discrimination in the society.

The constitutionality of the stop-and-frisk strategy has also been a point of contention considering that the searches go against individual privacy and human rights. According to Legewie (2016), the crime prevention approach leads to racial profiling where individuals are stopped based on their race. Certain races are perceived to being the source of criminals, which informs the motivation for using the strategy. According to Legewie (2016), racial profiling goes against a person's human rights and hence public institutions are required to steer away from such occurrences. The concept of rights violations presents itself when privacy rights are reviewed vis-à-vis the stop-and-frisk approach. According to Ross (2016), the approach goes against personal privacy rights enshrined in the Fourth Amendment and hence it should never be conducted. Ross (2016) claims that verdict the case from where the whole idea was coined, Terry v. Ohio, was also unconstitutional because it went against the rights of U.S. residents. From the author, it is clear that whenever individual rights are trampled by the higher powers in the country, the courts allow it. However, she notes that two wrongs do not make a right and that constitutionalism should be ensured by outlawing the stop-and-frisk police program. Keenan and Thomas (2013) weigh in on the discussion about the constitutionality of the stop-and-frisk program asserting its unlawful nature. The authors indicate that the NYPD model where every crime is suspected is a clear indication of privacy violations. However, the authors note that the program can be used lawfully if only severe crimes become the primary motivations. The program can only be constitutional if the police use it after suspecting serious felonies.

Concerning the effectiveness of the program, the police department in New York is claiming that the program has led to the reduction of crime incidence (Abrams, 2014). However, that claim is not substantive. In fact, MacDonald, Fagan, and Geller (2016) assert that the presence of the program has no impact on crime incidence. On his part, Johnson (2015) uses the school system to explain the consequences of the stop-and-frisk program on crime incidence. According to Johnson (2015), the adoption of search strategies on students leads to an increase in cases of delinquency. By applying a similar model to the police approach, there is a higher likelihood that the number of criminals and crimes will increase. MacDonald, Fagan, and Geller (2016) indicate that the stops do not have any substantive impact on the reduction of crime. The authors note that increased and through investigations have more impact that is positive on crime reduction.

The New York’s City stop-and-frisk program is one that infringes upon the individual's privileges. This is because the operation of the program has turned to be a race based.  Back in 2011 over 680, 075 persons were stopped and frisked by patrolling officers. The record stood to be the highest among the population that had been frisked previously by over 50,000 persons (Chu et al., 2016). Particularly in the city of New York, about 88 percent of the populace that had been stopped were either African Americans or Latinos. This raised the question on whether the conduct can be accounted as one that is right morally given that the individuals were suspected based on their race. This worked against the purpose of the program whose intention was not to frisk individuals without any justifiable cause or being discriminative on the grounds of race. Frisking with no justifiable cause can be considered to be a racist act given that the individuals are being profiled on the grounds of the color. This is wrong on ethical grounds and therefore develops the impression that crime is conducted mainly by colored persons (Chu et al., 2016).

Latinos and the African Americans cannot be grounded to be the sole criminals who commit most violent offenses or crimes that are severe as compared to the larger society. Therefore the colored persons should never raise more criminal concerns as opposed to others (Long, 2014). Given that the stop-and-frisk program laws state that everyone can be frisked as crime has no appearance it is therefore right for the searching of persons equally rather than predominating the colored persons in the society. After all, it should be noted that even the white individuals are involved in committing a number of crimes thus they should be treated as equal threats to the security of the nation (Long, 2014).

Racial profiling is mainly influenced by the fact that most of the minority groups are from the low socio-economic status and thus their condition is considered vulnerable to committing crimes (Walrond, 2012). This is the persons that are heavily affected by racial profiling despite the fact that most of them are literate but without employment. Their residents are the most known areas where the program is exercised in particular. The prime scenario of the poor neighborhoods that is exploited by abuse of the police demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the program that is mainly conducted specifically on the grounds of race and socio-economic backgrounds. It is apparent that racial profiling should be put to a stop through restructuring the complete system so that the authority held by the officers can be minimized (Frazier, 2012).

According to The Constitutionality of Stop-and-Frisk in New York City (2014), the state has the duty of offering protection to the public in general and those that are accountable for any of the violation should not be exempted on the grounds of their roles. The government should not just focus on the extremes of creating security rather it should also take account of the individual’s rights. The lack of this attention has resulted in the injustice of the system in all the cities within the United States. For the longest period, colored individuals have normally felt hunted by officers since they are usually the target. The program effectiveness will only be acquired when it begins to focus on the creation of actual changes. The program should also incorporate morals behind all its implemented laws. It is apparent that in offering full protection of the individual's rights as provided by the American constitution reform is of necessity (Johnson, 2013). This is given that the prime objective of the constitution is to offer protection to the citizens. Therefore the prime objective of America’s colonization is to create better living for all the individuals by offering privileges protection without depriving them liberty or any other privilege.

Based on Slobogin (2016) it should be acknowledged that despite the fact that the program has been effective in ensuring that crimes occurrences have been prevented it has promoted rights violation by creating racial profiling (Johnson, 2013). So that the operations of the officers can be assessed a reform should occur. This will help in ensuring that they adhere to ethics and principles on which the nation is founded. The law's changes are being supported highly but the effectiveness lacks on the grounds that officers are entitled to more power and this results in wrong judgments. Those that are involved in placing punishments on the offenders should also be engaged in ensuring that their privileges are secured particularly the colored persons. For instance, the Center for Constitutional Rights is also in the support of the policies implementation transformation within the system (Johnson, 2013). On the grounds of statistics which shows that most of those involved in frisking are from the minority groups, it is apparent that the initiative lacks efficiency due to the existence of policies that fails to create a balance amid authority and efficiency.

According to Nordberg et al., (2016) with the kind of support to ensure that the program’s implementation laws are amended is essential as it demonstrates that the issue is being accounted as a severe one. It is argued that despite the fact that the program has resulted in effectiveness by ensuring that a significant level of crime has been curbed this cannot be utilized as the excuse to why the enforcers profile and also permits the justice system to mainly prosecute individuals after they were searched and deemed as guilty without justifiable causes. According to probable cause, it is stated that the officers must present adequate reasons that are based upon well-elaborated facts so that it can be believed that there is a crime that should have been committed or that some details are connected with a specific crime (Reamey, 2016). This, therefore, implies that a justified cause should be in existence for the enforcers to conduct arrests after conducting the search even without having a warranty. This should be on the ground that the items established are the evidence to crime’s occurrence. When performing stop-and-frisk laws the justifiable causes cancels out and this permits the officers in conducting random searches on individuals even without the existence of clear rationale and evidence on why the individuals are being searched. The laws that support the running of the initiatives needs to be involved inconsistent reforms on the grounds that individual’s privileges are equally crucial as the general security (Reamey, 2016).

Minorities are the most affected by the program gave that they feel threatened while they are supposed to feel secure. It is evident that the main approach utilized in conducting the search is via racial profiling given that the minority groups are the ones that are accounted be criminals (Frazier, 2013). The initiative validity is to create wellness within the society as the communities which are abandoned in the search of the minorities where their privileges are stripped by being labeled as offenders. Making such operations works against the 4th amendment because it instills insecurity fears among the general public and works as the prime discrimination against the minorities (Featherstone, 2017). This is a comprehensive right disregarding as it fails to encourage quality policing and also fails in facilitating the provision of protection services to the citizens. Effectiveness can only be acquired while the citizens trust the police which is not the case (Dunn, 2016). These studies seem to suggest that stop-and-frisk programs are yet to show any effectiveness in crime prevention. However, this may be blamed on how the program is being run currently.

Statement of the Problem

Despite the knowledge that the stop-and-frisk strategy has the potential to improve security in American cities and many people argue that its use violates the constitution while others claim that its operations advance the concept of ethnicity in the country. Truly, the constitution advocates for individual privacy rights (Legewie, 2016). This is the reason the police have to obtain search warrants whenever they need to search people's belongings. However, the stop-and-frisk does not take any of these requirements into consideration, especially since it is done on the streets. The issue about privacy provides a credible argument. The police may have the right to conduct searches, especially when a crime is in progress (Reid, 2011). This may be the foundation for this program. However, the fact that many of those who are searched are innocent civilians means that the police's foundation on continuing crimes does not stand. Whenever the process is considered, the legal issues of social discrimination and profiling come to the fore.

 The reports that stop-and-frisk has been used majorly on residents belonging to certain ethnicities brings about the notion that the whole process has been designed to advance social evils such as racism and gender discrimination (Wikstrom, 2014). Through the stop-and-frisk program, the police are not required to follow a certain pattern. Their actions are their prerogative, which means that they can stop pedestrians and vehicles that follow one another or even stop one and wait for an hour before stopping another. In fact, the police are set to initiate the program whenever they feel that the person or the vehicle is suspicious (Reid, 2011). This lack of structure and rules to govern the process leads to its abuse by unethical police officers. Lastly, issues of its effectiveness have always plighted this process. With nine out of ten stops exhibiting innocence, the process seems ineffective considering its inconveniencing nature (Wikstrom, 2014). However, considering that it leads to arrests and possible crime-stopping moves, the processes' effectiveness may not be so low.

In essence, the issues of constitutionalism, effectiveness in fighting crime, and its role in advancing police misconduct affect the successful implementation (Reid, 2011). The study strives to research these issues in singularity and in connection to one another with the aim of coming up with a recommendation of how the police can use the stop-and-frisk program appropriately to improve policing outcomes in the country.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

The study is designed to investigate the essence of the stop-and-frisk strategy as used widely by the police department in the city of New York. The main variables of study include the effectiveness of the strategy, its constitutionalism of stop-and-frisk, and lastly, its role in advancing police misconduct. The opponents of this process claim that the process violates the rights within the constitution yet it is claimed by others that it leads to racial profiling, particularly when members of a single community are targeted (Evans, Maragh & Porter, 2014). Contrariwise, others claim that it lacks its essence because it is ineffective in fighting or preventing crime (Wikstrom, 2014). The program relies on the perception of the police officer on the vehicles, the drivers, the passengers, and the pedestrians. Reports suggest that nine out of the ten stop-and-frisk searches are innocent people going about their activities (Evans, Maragh & Porter, 2014). For this reason, the study will be conducting a thorough investigation based on three questions which are;

Research Questions

• Does the process violate the constitution, especially the privacy rights or does it abide by the rules of constitutionalism?
• What is the effectiveness of the process in improving policing outcomes?
• Does the stop-and-frisk process follow any of the set-down rules on the process of obtaining evidence from a suspect such as obtaining a search warrant?

The nature and objective of this study champion is to continue the use of the stop-and-frisk strategy in policing. For this reason, the following are the possible hypotheses taking into consideration the questions.

Hypothesis

• When the stop-and-frisk programs are only constitutional when conducted in ethical standards in all the search points such as the streets for effectiveness of the procedures to be acquired.
• I hypothesis that police who are well educated in regard to the ethical and constitutional stop-and-frisking processes are less likely to engage in unethical practices that are biased thus creating effectiveness unlike when compared to police officers without adequate training of the procedures.

Relevance of the Study

 The presence and effectiveness of a security apparatus in a country of United States stature cannot be understated. The residents rely on the police for their safety, as well as the safety of their property. In an environment where the levels of security threats are ever increasing, the police are required to be ready to counter them (Inbau & Thompson, 1999). As criminals become increasingly intelligent, the police need to match and even surpass that intelligence. Security in a country affects several things one of them being the economy.

In a secure neighborhood, business is bound to flourish because people have no concern about their security. For this reason, the police need to add new crime fighting strategies while improving the existing ones to ensure that the environment is unconducive for the perpetration of the crime. The stop-and-frisk program initiated in the 1990s by NYPD offers an additional method of crime deterrence (Hanink, 2013). However, the strategy is under a huge scrutiny because of several factors including its nature of the operation. Currently, the program targets any crime, even minor ones, bringing about the controversy about its constitutionality. Moreover, some people have reported that the program spreads racial profiling. These issues reduce the essence of the program.

The research will help in identifying issues that challenge the successful adoption of the program while cementing its effectiveness in improving security in the country. Identification of these issues will inform the improvement strategies targeted at the program to make it appropriate for use in the current U.S. streets (Hanink, 2013). These strategies will be aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the program in crime fighting while getting rid of negative issues that surround it currently.

Conceptual Framework

The stop-and-frisk program was developed with the foundation that even the smallest crime had the potential of creating a criminal if left unchecked (Keenan & Thomas, 2013). Ever since then, the NYPD has utilized the program on all types of street users without consideration of the threat they pose. Indeed, the program uses the "order-maintenance policing" where the police manage all types of crimes notwithstanding their nature (Fagan & Davies, 2000). This study will take the same approach stating that all crimes are punishable by law no matter their sizes. Also, the study will utilize situational action theory, especially the part where it states that an individual is responsible for his or her decision to join crime.

The theory also notes that a person is likely to partake in criminal activities if the environment provides conducive conditions (Wikstrom, 2009). For instance, lack of police presence in some areas and police action in other areas leads to high incidence of criminal activities. According to situational action theory, criminal activity is a moral action in that a person decides to participate according to his or her situation (Wikstrom, 2009). More so, an individual does not consider other but himself before committing a crime. Selfishness is a huge part of crime-related activities because the perpetrator only considers how he or she will benefit from the act. Analyzing the situational action theory seems to indicate that everyone is susceptible to committing a crime.

To become a criminal, one needs two things: selfishness and a conducive environment for crime. Taking this as a consideration in designing crime-fighting policies and strategies, the order-maintenance policing used in the creation of stop-and-frisk program seems appropriate (Abrams, 2014). The society has several existing criminals some in jails and others running the streets. There is no need to continue creating additional criminals, but there is need to reform and reduce the number of criminals in the country. Prevention one before committing a crime and deterring others by making the path towards participating in a crime challenging are some of the most effective ways of reducing the number of criminals (Abrams, 2014). This concept will be used throughout the study as the constitutionalism, need, and effectiveness of the stop-and-frisk strategy is investigated in this paper.

Methodology

Research Design

The design has three facets: the investigation on constitutionalism, effectiveness, and the role of the stop-and-frisk program. That would imply that the study investigates the fundamental reasons, attitudes, motivations, and viewpoints concerning the program and statistical data that explains the nature of the program. Denzin and Lincoln (2011) define mixed method research as a method that combines the elements of both quantitative and qualitative designs with the aim of reaching a conclusive outcome. This is the research design that will be utilized in this study because it will gather to the three research questions appropriately. The qualitative part of conception will be responsible for gathering the opinions and perceptions of the stakeholders on the program. Conversely, the quantitative part will handle the statistical section of the research such as the proportion of white people who have experienced the stop-and-frisk process. According to Denzin and Lincoln (2011), the design also incorporates both inductive and deductive reasoning giving the researcher a chance to tackle the inquiry questions from every possible perspective. This exploratory study will be conducted through interviews and surveys.

Population of Study

The population of study will reflect the three research questions and hypotheses. The process will utilize a systematic sampling scheme to ensure the methodology caters for all the research needs. To cater to the question on constitutionalism, the study will seek the help of constitutional lawyers from the university and law practices within the city. The mixture of lawyers from the university and law practices is to ensure the removal of bias. The school will provide five law professors to provide information and additional ten lawyers from the practices in New York City. The study will mainly focus on a low participant’s population so that flexibility and effectiveness can be achieved.

            Sampling Strategy

            The research will utilize a purposive sampling approach in developing a suitable research sample to get answers for all the research queries. Based on this strategy which belongs directly to the sampling technique referred as a non-probability sampling method, the sample participants are chosen on the grounds of their relationships, knowledge as well as expertise in reference to the Study subject (Vogt, Gardner, & Haeffele, 2012). In this study, the sample populace that will be selected holds unique relations with the subject of stop-and-frisk that is being investigated. In addition, they should possess adequate and applicable working experience with the police departments within New York, active in a number of Stop-and-Frisking programs and a clear understanding of information regarding the subject. In this context, the participants will mainly be 5 policing executives, 5 police staffs from five different New York’s precincts and 100 civilians all from the study’s setting which is New York City. The low sample populace was selected on the grounds of flexibility, convenience, reliability, time and cost convenience as well as the capability to generate reliable as well as accurate information.

            Research Approach

            The study will follow an inductive research strategy in ensuring that the investigation purpose is achieved. Based on the approach, the researcher is supposed to begin the general investigation by drawing particular observations which should then be utilized in the creation of general concepts as well as conclusions which should be derived from the investigation. The main rationale as to why an inductive method was selected is because it considers the study’s context where more efforts are required and it is highly suitable for the small populations that generate qualitative information (Vogt, Gardner, & Haeffele, 2012).  However, the inductive strategy will be applied with caution to ensure that they derived concepts are not grounded on major assumptions which might result in the questioning of the study’s reliability. 

Research Strategy

The research that will be conducted with respect to the study’s thesis will be an applied one rather than a fresh one. This, therefore, implies that a systematic review of a number of peer-reviewed journals that have been published in the recent years will be conducted. In addition, this will be incorporated into a qualitative study that will be useful in providing justifications to the study’s concepts thus leading to a more dependable conclusion.

Research Method

The study will utilize a mixed investigation study that will incorporate both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Qualitative research will be utilized in creating new concepts that will facilitate in justification of the theories derived from the reviewed literature. The prime qualitative research characteristics are that it is highly appropriate and can also be utilized for small samples (Tavakoli, 2013). However given that its results cannot be measured or quantified a quantities research will, therefore, be a necessity.  This is the basic benefit of utilizing a mixed strategy in that qualitative data will provide comprehensive descriptions and study subject analysis without having to limit the study scope and the general participant's response nature. The outcomes of the study will, therefore, be reliable as the nature of the findings will not be grounded in any form of judgment but an actual investigation (Tavakoli, 2013).

Data Collection Strategies and Instruments

In achieving the study’s objective depth interviews and questionnaires will be utilized. The interviews will be semi-structured which will seek to acquire reliable responses, opinions, and emotions regarding the subject.  The primary benefit of utilizing this kind of tools is that they help in the acquisition of maximized information which is necessary for generating conclusions (Tavakoli, 2013). Interviews are beneficial since they engage direct contacts amid the investigators and the respondents which allow better relations to be created so that biases can be eliminated as well as eliminating any occurrence of being unresponsive. This, therefore, means that the researchers are required to develop the necessary investigation skills for efficiency to be acquired.

The questionnaire will act as the interviewer’s guide during the investigation. Both the questionnaires and the interviews will incorporate open and closed-ended queries to ensure that data maximization is accomplished. In addition, this will help in ensuring that the respondents do not divert from the study subject which might create uncertainties (Tavakoli, 2013). Semi-structured interviews will be effective because they create more flexibility in reference to interview’s flow which creates more room in creating more justified conclusions which were primarily intended for the study. They also ensure that fixed objectives and purposes are achieved thus preventing the research from being deviated.

Questionnaires will be distributed via the respondent's email address a week prior to conducting interviews. The respondents will be required to make returns of the filled questionnaires after completion prior to the interviews. Consent forms will also be signed prior to their participation. This is to ensure that the respondents understand that the study is scholarly and their responses will not be utilized for any commercial operations. In addition, they will be informed that their participation is confidential and voluntary and they have the freedom of making withdraws without offering any justified reasons at any state of the study. The researcher will participate in the summarization and analysis of the acquired data with a selected group which will provide the assistance. This will ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of the research are sustained (Lim, 2013).

            Data Analysis

Since the nature of the study will be exploratory, the data analysis will take a similar form. First, the quantitative data will be analyzed using the statistical tools such as mean, median, and standard deviation. To make the whole process less messy and more organized, a computer program, SPSS, will be used. Qualitative data will be analyzed by reviewing their connection to the three research questions. Most of this data will emanate from the opinions of the police officers, the civilians, and the lawyers. The rest of the data will be acquired from a systematic evaluation of the existing data. Therefore, exploration will become the main technique of data analysis. All the results will be categorized, tabulated, and, if need be, graphed appropriately. This will occur on the criteria of accuracy, dependability and relevance in relation to the study subject. This will ensure that credibility is created (Antonisamy, Solomon, & Prasanna, 2010). Data analysis methods will also be flexible to ensure that all the data obtained from the study are analyzed properly.

Timeline

The nature of the research and the volume of activities show that it needs time for preparation, conduction, analysis, and lastly, presentation of the findings. The study will take four months with the first month involving preparation by obtaining the correct population of study and obtaining consent from relevant areas. The second and third month will involve conducting the study and the last month will deal with analysis and presentation of the findings.

Limitations

Since the study relies on the opinions from the public and the police officers, the results might not be truthful. Also, some participants may decide to withhold information in fear of victimization. The respondents might provide generalized data that will not be adequate in supporting the objective of the study. In addition, accuracy and reliability might be the major issues given that the study will seek to acquire actual findings from the respondents. Time and cost are also the other anticipated limitations. In that the collection of data and the investigation will require more time because given that the study population will be past a hundred more period will also be spent in summarizing and analyzing to draw dependable conclusions.

Future Research

Concerning the opportunities for future research, the present research will not be able to measure the impact of negative perceptions and unethical police conduct on the effectiveness of the stop-and-frisk. Future research may take this path to establish the essence of the stop-and-frisk strategy in police work finally. Future researchers can attempt to acquire more data from the executive members based on their ability to respond effectively to the given queries.

References

Abrams, D. (2014). The Law and Economics of Stop-and-Frisk. Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, 46, 369-379.

Antonisamy, B., Solomon, C., & Prasanna, S. P. (2010). Biostatistics: Principles and practice. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Education.

Avdija, A. (2014). Police stop-and-frisk practices: an examination of factors that affect officers' decisions to initiate a stop-and-frisk police procedure. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 16(1), 26-35.

Chu, C., Lu, E. Y., Wang, C., & Tsai, T. (2016). Grounding Police Accountability and Performance in Context: A Comparative Study of Stop and Frisk between New York City and Taipei City. Public Administration & Development, 36(2), 108-120. doi:10.1002/pad.1755

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Los Angeles: Sage.

Dunn, R. A. (2016). RACIAL PROFILING: A PERSISTENT CIVIL RIGHTS CHALLENGE EVEN IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 66(4), 957-992.

 Evans, D., Maragh, C., & Porter, J. (2014). What Do We Know About NYC's Stop and Frisk Program? A Spatial and Statistical Analysis. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 1(2), 130-144.

Fagan, J., & Davies, G. (2000). Street Stops and Broken Windows: Terry, Race, and Disorder in New York City. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 28(2), 457-504.

FEATHERSTONE, S. (2017). PROFESSOR CARNAGE. New Republic, 248(5), 20-27.

FRAZIER, C. D. (2012, November 8). Trials continue for those arrested in stop-and-frisk protest. New York Amsterdam News. p. 6.

FRAZIER, C. D. (2013, November 28). Stop-and-frisk ruling. New York Amsterdam News. pp. 1-40.

Hanink P. (2013). Don't Trust the Police: Stop Question Frisk, CompStat, and the High Cost of Statistical Over-Reliance in the NYPD. Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, 13, 99-114.

Inbau, F., & Thompson, J. (1999). Stop and Frisk: The Power and the Obligation of the Police. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 89(4), 1445-1148.

Johnson, R. (2015). How Students Became Criminals: The Similarities Between "Stop and Frisk" and School Searches and the Effect on Delinquency Rates. Articles in Law Reviews & Journal, 31, 1-25.

JOHNSON, S. (2013, August 15). FRISK NO MORE. New York Amsterdam News. pp. 1-52.

Keenan, D., & Thomas, T., (2017). An Offense-Severity Model for Stop-and-Frisks. The Yale Law Journal, 123(5), 1118-1625.

Legewie, J. (2016). Racial Profiling and Use of Force in Police Stops: How Local Events Trigger Periods of Increased Discrimination. American Journal of Sociology, 122(2), 379-424.

Lim, W. M. (2013). Research methodology: A toolkit of sampling and data analysis techniques for quantitative research. Place of publication not identified: Grin Verlag.

Long, A. A. (2014). STOPS, FRISKS, AND POLICE ENCOUNTERS: THE NEW YORK COURT OF APPEALS'S STRICT APPLICATION OF THE DE BOUR STANDARD. Albany Law Review, 77(4), 1465-1487.

MacDonald, J., Fagan, J., & Geller, A. (2016). The Effects of Local Police Surges on Crime and Arrests in New York City. SSRN Electronic Journal, 11(6), 1-13.

Nordberg, A., Crawford, M., Praetorius, R., & Hatcher, S. (2016). Exploring Minority Youths' Police Encounters: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-synthesis. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 33(2), 137-149. Doi: 10.1007/s10560-015-0415-3.

REAMEY, G. S. (2016). WHAT'S FEAR GOT TO DO WITH IT? THE "ARMED AND DANGEROUS" REQUIREMENT OF TERRY. Marquette Law Review, 100(1), 231-265.

Reid, S. T. (2011). Criminal justice essentials (1st Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Ross, J. (2016). Warning: Stop-and-Frisk May Be Hazardous to Your Health. William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 45(2), 680-733.

SLOBOGIN, C. (2016). POLICING AS ADMINISTRATION. University Of Pennsylvania Law Review, 165(1), 91-152.

Tavakoli, H. (2013). A dictionary of research methodology and statistics in applied linguistics. Tehran: Rahnamā.

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF STOP-AND-FRISK IN NEW YORK CITY. (2014). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 162(3), 117-150.

Vogt, W. P., Gardner, D. C., & Haeffele, L. M. (2012). When to use what research design. New York: Guilford Press.

Walrond Jr., P. M. (2012, June 14). Stop 'stop-and-frisk'. New York Amsterdam News. p. 39.

Wikstrom, P. O. H. (2014). Situational Action Theory. Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 4845-4852. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0062.xml

Psychology of Crime

Crime, social order and control influence much concerns in various societal orientations. Both government and the public at large denote considerate attention in matters of crime and its connection to social order and control. For that reason, this analysis aims to evaluate the existing analogy of crime in relation to social order and control. The analysis examines the subject to its causes and in relation to societal moral principles. Crime includes a lot of complexity and so, the analysis focuses on the connection between prominent theories and its occurrence.

Theories

Feldman (1996) relates crime as an activity that includes uncommon attributes hence causing criminal and traditional uneasiness. Social order define a decided system that associate morally acceptable codes in relation to factors such as social structure and values. Importantly, social order is in actuality meant for preserving and sustaining the commonly known patterns in a social context.  On the other hand, social control relates to certain mechanisms positioned by either societal beliefs or political jurisdictions to regulate human behavior (Innes, 2003). . Generally, an activity or behavior is classified as a crime in instances whereby it contradicts social compliance and consistency by violating principles of social order and control. It is therefore logical to position crime as a complex crime that encompasses illustrations of various theories in accordance to its causes (Siegel, 2016).

The Classical Theory

Classical theory is used by sociologists in contexts that need typical study of activities with complex attributes to the society. Socrates used this theory to enhance his motive to identify the social composition of goodness. Classical theory focuses on the classification of moral attributes by breaking down the subject of piety into its comprehensive components (Hagan, 1994, 2). According to the classical theory, an activity or behavior is considered a deviance if its attributes are of less benefit to the majority. Importantly, classical theory defines an act in relation to the availed set of principles that need to be accomplished. Thus, an activity is considered a crime when it acts against moral guidelines. It is true to state that a healthy relationship exists between crime occurrence and social governing principles.  Arguably, order and control has huge potential of influencing emergence of criminal activities in a social presentation. Britt & Gottfredson (2003) conceptualizes that human kinds are influenced by different motives before involving themselves in criminally objected activities. For instance, people may use crime as a method of accomplishing their needs in life whereas others may consider crime as a mechanism of avoiding oppressive criticisms caused by social sovereign.

Psychological Theory

Natural characteristics of an individual have the potential of building criminally purposed events depending to the nature of social environment. Psychologists suppose that mental processes have considerable probabilities of impacting personal intentions in support of criminal activities. Psychological theory is particularly based on perspectives such as behavioral, cognitive abilities in relation to personality. Nevertheless, psychological theory explores the likelihood of experiencing criminal activities in a society due to mental illness (Greene & Heilbrun, 2013, 68). It suggests that some who engages in crime have less cognitive function which limits crime thus their involvement. It enumerates a link between personal intelligence about social order, and control and violent behaviors. For instance, people with less or misguided knowledge about social guidelines are likely to commit crime.

Biological Theories

Biological theory connects crime to genetic factors that limit abilities individual abilities for principle acceptance. Biological theory focuses on social disorder of either; social interaction or familial sources. The theory predicts probability of critiquing physical or social interactive attributes among offenders (Bohm, 2010. 46).  It is thus logical to state that crime offenders entail anti-social characteristics influenced by genetic composition of aggressive behaviors.

Sociological Theory

Sociological theory links crime to social pressures due to unbearable principles of social order and control. Social strain is an effective cause of crime in the society on the basis that unbearable conditions such as poverty impacts people’s inspirations towards acceptable norms. Social strain influences people to look for alternative ways of accomplishing life goals and so, many turn to crime since many refer crime as an immediate method of resolving social pressures (Martindale, 2013). Importantly, the theory critiques social pressure, ineffective functionalism, conflict and ordinary stigmatization as immediate outcomes of unbearable social order and control which facilitates emergence of criminal activities.  For instance, people turn to criminal activities in environments that limit methods of accomplishing life practices for the sake of sustaining desired motives (Menzies, 2014).

Social distribution of crime

Extracted from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXtIq-

Crime distribution vary in terms of age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class supposedly due to the fact that each category come across different challenges in the availed social composition. Social composition can be based as the main cause of crime in all social levels. People of young age are more involved in crimes that the elder groups (Steffensmeier et al 1996). For instance, disadvantaged youths in the labor market join criminal groups as an alternative source of gaining monetary value.

Ethnicity

Notably, crime distribution is dependent on the nature of ethnic backgrounds. For instance, uncivilized backgrounds signify high ratio of crime than civilized groups as a result of opportunity differences (Weatherburn & Lind, 2000). A social setting with more civilized people register fewer cases of crime since such settings avail alternative opportunities capable of sustaining one’s aspirations unlike uncivilized backgrounds with fewer opportunities thus emergence of huge portions of criminal activities.  

Gender

More men appear to like criminally objected activities or behaviors than women. Different theories present reliable reasons as to why men are likely to major in criminal activities at high rates than women (Heimer, 2005). . Biological theories for instance suggest that men have more genetically physical privileges than women which accelerate aggression confidentiality in men.

Locality

Urban communities experience high rates of crime emergence in relation to rural areas. Urban have more criminal opportunities such as increased monetary value which highly enhance criminal motives (Barkan & Bryjak, 2014). Nevertheless, it is hard to practice crime policies for social control in urban areas due to factors such as social disorganization, high population and association differences.

Social class

Differences in social class between individuals or groups determine the nature of crime distribution in the community. It is evident that less privileged communities lead a low class form of life. Lower class communities encompass a variety of life concerns which lead to increased rates of crime persistence (Miller, 2012).

Globalization and crime

Modern society has continually undermined primary relationships over secondary relationships due to globalization. Globalization has increasingly diversified societal functions such as sociopath functions which raise concerns of social uneasiness (Carrabine et al 2004). Diversity of social functions continues to influence emergence of social complexity in response to   social order and control (Attawell et al 2004). For instance, globalization has caused social disorder and disorganization in the sense that people of a particular social context live and associate with people from unfamiliar sources.

Crime control

Crime management includes diversified methods hence the need to embrace appropriate strategies of ensuring effective control, prevention and punishment processes. Societies thus specialize in social control that notes purposeful regulation of definite norms and enforcement of appropriate policies of ensuring social order (Britt, & Gottfredson, 2003). Social control composes strategic actions aimed to transform people’s perspectives towards appropriate standards in the society (Black, 2010). The approach uses governing policies to enact social order and punishments for social control by either encouraging or forcing people to abide by the set rules. Punishments such as imprisonment precede violation of moral principles and also, societies embrace an appraisal system whereby people who show conformity are referenced as role models in order to encourage people to follow the legally approved principles.

Control systems critique various styles of enhancing effectiveness of crime management. Evidently, penal control is commonly used in the society which majors in the essence of criticizing some behaviors and also enforcing appropriate punishments to offenders. Compensatory control is used to make sure that victims receive payments that justify accrued damages. Therapeutic style of social control is used in situations that demand mental rehabilitation in order to instill responsive attributes into offenders (Black, 2010). Nevertheless, therapeutic style is used as a prevention style whereby therapeutic sessions are conducted in areas with high rates of criminal minds. Additionally, conciliatory control is usually projected for reconciliatory purposes in situations that demand social harmonization between offenders and victims (Innes, 2003). 

Criminal justice system plays a very important role in crime management. Criminal justice connotes the role played by the government to curb crime prevalence. Criminal justice is responsible for ensuring that victims of crimes receive their justification (Siegel, & Worrall, 2016). For instance, it is the duty of criminal justice system to ensure that crime offenders face appropriate punishment in accordance to social legislations (Neubauer & Fradella, 2015).

Sociological Study of Suicide

The study of suicide in sociology takes in strategic methodologies focused to analyze the core factors associated with its occurrence. The study involves thoughtful distinction of research directions to be used in evaluating the subject since it involves different perspectives in society. According to Gunn & Lester (2014), sociological studies are usually focused at analyzing the link between suicide and social influences. This clarifies that sociological studies aim to analyze the subject of suicide by elaborating the major causes in response to social structure and other related influences to suicide in the society (Chapman, 2004).

Conclusion

Crime is noted as a violation of social norms. Evaluation of crime is usually based on contextual understanding and situational nature in relation to social order and control. Sociological explanations have projected verification that crime is a complex subject since it is prone to a variety of causes. Crime complexity is as well extended to its distribution in different social levels hence the need to hold appropriate actions towards crime management. Most societies use disciplinary measures such as penal punishments aimed at enhancing social order. Prevention of crime in the society embraces different methods like therapeutic assessment which is conducted in areas that are prone to criminal activities.

References

Attawell, K., George, V., & Page, R. M. (2004). Global social problems. Cambridge, Polity

Barkan, S. E., & Bryjak, G. J. (2014). Myths and realities of crime and justice: what every            American should know.

Black, D. J. (2010). The behavior of law.

Bohm, R. M. (2010). A primer on crime and delinquency theory. Belmont, Calif, Wadsworth.

Britt, C. L., & Gottfredson, M. R. (2003). Control theories of crime and delinquency. New           Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Britt, C. L., & Gottfredson, M. R. (2003). Control theories of crime and delinquency. New           Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Carrabine,E,  Iganski, P & Lee, M. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction.      Psychology Press

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Feldman, P. (1996). The psychology of crime: A social science textbook. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Greene, E & Heilbrun, K. (2013). Wrightsman's Psychology and the Legal System. Cengage        Learning

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Hagan, J. (1994). Crime and disrepute. Thousand Oaks [Calif.: Pine Forge Press.

HEIMER, K. (2005). Gender and crime: patterns of victimization and offending. New York         [u.a.], New York Univ.

Innes, M. (2003). Understanding social control: deviance, crime and sobial order. Maidenhead,    Open University Press.

Martindale, D. (2013). The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory. Routledge

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Miller, R. W. (2012). The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An           Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications

Neubauer, D. W. & Fradella, H. F. (2015).America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System.      Cengage Learning

Siegel, J. L.  & Worrall, L. J. (2016). Introduction to Criminal Justice. Cengage Learning

Siegel, L. J. (2016). Criminology: Theories, Patterns and Typologies. Cengage Learning

Steffensmeier, D.J., Allan, E.A., Harer, M.D. and Streifel, C., 1989. Age and the distribution of             crime. American journal of Sociology, 94(4), pp.803-831.

Weatherburn, D &  Lind, B. (2000). Delinquent-Prone Communities. Cambridge University         Press

Police departments

The three websites present information and contacts that can be used by victims to report crimes any cases of abuse. The Essex County Sheriff’s office and Dover NJ police department have information that can be accessed more by the local people while NJ state police website has broad information that can be accessed by victims in wider areas.  The websites provide information on procedures that victims should follow in reporting various cases of abuses to the police departments.  This information provides the victims with ability to submit complaints ask questions and obtain feedback through the websites.  In Essexe County, the platform can be accessed easily by those individuals with basic internet knowledge to obtain the various law enforcement services offered in the department.  For the platform to be of great help to the victims, they have to log in with their names or email which will enable them to communicate with crime-stoppers. Specifically, the website provides information on reporting various crimes such terrorism, child abuse and how one can protect themselves from various crime and terrorism cases. This website allows only the individuals who understand English language to use it, since other people cannot use the website on their own but requires a translator.

 The website for Dover Town police department provide more elaborate platform where an icon for contact information is provided and emergency services clearly highlighted. For this website, a person is able to register with a notification system for emergencies. The contact information is quite necessary since the victim having the telephone numbers and extension numbers can reach the law enforcement officers and the other staff working in the department and who can provide the needed help. The emergency services offered requires a person to register with their details which means that other people cannot access the emergency notifications. Such notifications are necessary where the department want to alert the residents about any issues in their neighborhoods like terrorism. The website also provides information about social media notifications that can be used by victims to obtain information from the department. An important feature of this website is that it allows the user to choose the language which they best understand and hence improving accessibility of information and procedures provided. Victims from different backgrounds especially the minority foreigners can easily submit their complaints through the site and hence access the various law enforcement services provided by the site.

The NJ state police website also provides important messages that can be used by victims to access the available services. The site gives clear direction that if a victim wants to report any emergencies they should not use e-mails but call the local police report departments or sheriff since e-emails cannot be receive the attention of law enforcement officers immediately.  The platform’s shortcoming is that it cannot be of much use to individuals who do not understand English language since other languages are not catered for.

   These websites may not be of much help to the caregivers for elderly persons if many do not have knowledge about basic technology and internet. These elderly people feel that they have been excluded by technology and they may have difficulties while trying to access the websites. Majority of such people would need a person to walk them through every step of using the website and submitting any complaints.

References

New Jersey State Police. Retrieved from: http://www.njsp.org/contact-us.shtml

Essex County Sheriffs office. Retrieved from: http://www.essexsheriff.com/safety-tips/

Town of Dover Police Department: Retrieved from: http://www.dover.nj.us/Cit-e-Access/webpage.cfm?TID=17&TPID=11910

Victims of hate crime

Hate is an occurrence whereby the victim or the person affected has the idea that another person is biased in regards to the person being a transgender, different religion, race, or sexual orientation. Hate crime can also result from being prejudiced or having target hatred towards another person. Hate crime can be done to either a property or a person (Zaykowski, 2010). Victims of hate crime do not have to belong to a certain group in order to be victimized but can happen to anyone else. Incidents of hate crime can involve bullying, verbal utterances, physical assault, harassment, mate crime, or use of the graffiti. In any case, not every type of an incident of hate will mature into a hate crime, some amounts to a criminal offense. In this case, when a hate incident matures to a criminal offense they can be termed as hate crimes.

Certain laws have been formulated to give justice to the perpetrators of hate crime. The police force has already defined the meaning of hate crime according to how well they can solve the issue. Hate crime according to the authorities is any type of criminal offense that is perceived by a victim to be influenced by hostility on the basis of the religion, race, gender, or disability. When a criminal offense becomes a hate crime, the offender faces judgment from the law underneath Act 2003 of criminal justice. Incidences based on characteristics such as certain subcultures and age may not necessarily be termed as the hate crime according to the law (Rayburn et al., 2003). However, such incidences are also supposed to be reported to the authorities where they face a linier verdict as compared to hate crimes.

Most parts if the world today is affected by racism as influenced by the majority group of people. Numerous reports and case files have been brought forward in order to curb the hate crime based on the race of a person (Zaykowski, 2010). Race has been the highest contributor of crime especially in schools and in the society today. Race in hate crime is mostly attributed to the event of poverty, lack of self-motivation. In the United States, the black Americans are given more time in prisons than how a white would be charged in court. This can be a contributor to the issue of hate crime.

In this case, if the blacks are sentenced more years to prison than the whites, then there is a possibility of the occurrence of a hate crime as they try to make their color known to the world. This happens for all the other ethnic communities and with thus the influence to commit such offenses is in the majority minds (Saucier et al., 2006). Considering the racial disparity, the number of crimes and victims of hate crime in a certain community exceeds the number of people in the same community. In this scenario, there are more people who are offensive compared to their population. The police have in a way been involved in the intimidation of the people of the minor community or those of a particular color. Hate crime does not always occur from the normal citizens or the general society; numerous cases have been filed against even the police brutality which is as a result of hate crime (Zaykowski, 2010).

Victims in this situation are mostly shy to speak out their minds since they fear a similar or worse event might be the outcome. In the United States, there are departments which have been set up by the government to look into the issue of crime and especially hate crime disregarding the skin color of the perpetrator. The department collects data in regards to how the crime rates are reported to the authorities. Being victimized just because a person belongs to a particular race is the most hurting thing a person can do to another person. The crimes happen randomly or mainly occur during the campaign periods when people are trying to discriminate and implicate a certain community if they do not support the agendas of the candidate. In the 1970s, a man by the name Donald gave a presentation case on the law behavior (Rayburn et al., 2003).

The decision to make the police force more active in terms of solving the issue can be equated to the relational distance between the law and the crime as in for the race, gender disparity, and the class that is the measure of stratification (Saucier et al., 2006). The arrest and prosecution of the hate crime offenders need to be more precise and mostly a success since the system of justice will be more effective. The whites have a greater access to the law and justice and with this reason; they are in a better position to either call or receive more help than any other ethnic race. The blacks, on the other hand, have a very negative ideology about the police force and this has influenced their way of life which does not involve reporting any issue to the relevant authorities.  The lack of police confidentiality and intimidation may cause the victims to deal with the situations without involving them at any instance (Zaykowski, 2010). The arguments by the law enforcement agents do not impact on the rate at which they solve any case regarding the hate crime.

In the year 2003, there were 42% cases of hate crime reported by the whites and 49% which have been reported by the blacks. The number of hate crimes committed is basically race related in most cases. Basin a person’s background on the basis of belonging to a particular religion is a hate crime that is totally unacceptable. Being biased since a person is Arabic or Islamic is an offense y law and the perpetrators can spend more than half their years in prison. Violence on the basis of religion especially to the Islamic Americans and the Arabs reached the climax after an attack that took more lives that can be imagined at a go. An estimated number of more than 700 cases against religious hate crime which had specifically targeted the Arabs and also the Muslim Americans had been filed to the relevant authorities awaiting justice (Saucier et al., 2006). Due to the continued lack of understanding of the different religious setting which is present in the world, many other close related societies have been mistaken for belonging to a certain religion which is being targeted by other communities. Since most of the crimes are defined as being biased or being perceived to belong, all the incidents of hate are regarded as being a hate crime. Personal attacks and vandalism are the main ways in which religion is being targeted by any members. The Jews have experienced the victimization of such people and term them as hypocrites.

Homophobic and the transphobic have also experienced the effect of a hate crime. There before discrimination against the lesbians, bisexual, transgender and gays have been rampant but in the recent times the cases have reduced and prosecution cases have proceeded (Rayburn et al., 2003). The number of crimes committed against women especially has been on the rise in the recent times. The female gender has been physically and in most cases sexually harassed by the perpetrators of injustices. In the real sense, women victimization has been influenced by the fact that in the traditional times they were subjected to domestic violence which has now become a common thing recently. One of the best examples to illustrate the gender-based violence is an event where there were more than 10 girls who were shot dead in Georgetown estate (Zaykowski, 2010).  Not every violent crime done to women will result in a crime that is biased, just like it is not every hate crime against the backs will be termed as being racist. Disability is also a very common type of hate crime against humanity. Everybody is obligated to feel happy and always be safe from a crime committed by humans. Court actions have been taken against people who are perceived to be committing such kind of mistakes and this has assisted in changing the perception of many. 

Several incidents have been or using the physical terms. The federal courts have the obligation of listening to every case which involves hate crimes against humanity. The prosecutors of justice will always rely on the information provided in making decisions on hate crime. States which have the interest in the gender-based hate crimes have not been overburdened with the rape cases, domestic violence, any sexual assaults or any other common type of crimes. Based on the conclusions determined after carrying out unmatched count technique, which basically focuses on the reduction of the number of social disparity during the exploration of the base rates in the hate crime victimization, it is most certain that the results can be depended on for statistics. This particular study indicates that there is still hope in the elimination of this problematic issue of hate crime. The study will mostly give updated version of how much the number of victimization is reducing significantly. The main target of such a study in determining the extent of the basal rate of hate victimization is the sensitization behaviors than the conventional physical case reports (Saucier et al., 2006). Looking at the reports, the rate at which victims reported about hate crime to the authorities has significantly increased in the event of police lack of confidentiality. The victims are finding it hard reporting such cases as the perpetrators are just released after some days and their mission is to physically harass the same victim or torment them more.

Using the fisher’s test which is a rather traditional method, the results were incomplete and the need for a more updated system was the motive and therefore opting to use the robust binomial experiments. Using these tests, the control of the procedure becomes simple and more precise. These protocols now revealed that there are higher rates of the verbal threats which involve violence, spitting, throwing of objects, sexual harassment, the police assaults, car stealing, property destruction and theft, burglary and physical assaults are optimal. These statistics are basically measured in relation to the degree of the seriousness of the matter of being victimized. Individuals who dared to fill out the questionnaire forms were faced with the challenge of filling in details which they knew would only add on their pain as nobody will act accordingly (Saucier et al., 2006). This report shows that the hate crime will be concerned with answering the questions very truthfully and genuinely even under the police protection. In his case, most prefer to hide their victim status. From such a case, it is most certain that mostly the students may have some underreported number of victim hate crime which was never solved effectively. With this kind of concern, the students had more confidence in this system as this showed some privacy in determining the best solutions.

The students had the confidence that their status was private and that there would never be a case where the name would be identified by others. In racial disparities reporting, there are any limitations which hinder the delivery of the best responses in an analysis. Unlike using the unmatched count techniques, the national council for victimization survey gives the scholars the privilege of viewing the differences in the victimization reports (Zaykowski, 2010). While the groups of the involved parties can significantly add to the experiences of the victims of such cases where most cases have been brought forward with the ideology of having a lasting solution. On this note, the future reports should include an evaluation of the various factors which can contribute to the victimization of the families of the victims and the possibility of police protection or the community concerned change. Victims reporting will continue to remain a very important area of consideration and should have a legal concept of the hate crime (Saucier et al., 2006). The ideology where the victims are willing to speak up against the hate crimes done on them continues to reflect what extent the hate crimes laws can be effective on their part.

References

Rayburn, N. R., Earleywine, M., & Davison, G. C. (2003). Base rates of hate crime victimization among college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(10), 1209-1221.

Saucier, D. A., Brown, T. L., Mitchell, R. C., & Cawman, A. J. (2006). Effects of victims' characteristics on attitudes toward hate crimes. Journal of interpersonal violence, 21(7), 890-909.

Zaykowski, H. (2010). Racial disparities in hate crime reporting. Violence and victims, 25(3), 378-394.

Controversies in Criminal Justice

Could crime be functional to the society or not

            Crime is seen as an act that can bring forth dissent in a society. However, some scholars have argued about its functionality in the society and have said that it is natural. It has been argued that some crimes are normal and they are fundamental part of all healthy societies because they provide a way for one to express their discontent. Durkheim contended that crime is important as a warning device to a society. Crimes give an indication that there is an aspect not functioning well in the society hence draws attention for it to be rectified (Jones, 1986). It is also functional as a source of social change in the society. For instance when the crime is against the norms of a given society, ultimately the society will be forced to transform its belief hence bringing social change.

            However, other scholars have also argued crime as being dangerous in the society. Maguire and Okada argued that crimes affect the economic productivity because people who are involved in crimes could instead be doing a productive work elsewhere hence hindering production (Banks, 2011). Also, the community will invest its funds on police force as a way to reduce on the rate of crimes. This means that money that could be used to pay workers higher wages, improve the quality of education is spent on crime prevention. Moynihan also suggested that increase in the rate of crimes may bring fear to the society hence disrupting the population sense of unity, leads to breakdown of social association as a result of avoiding certain places hence damage to the community image (Moynihan, 1993).

References

Book Excerpt: Banks, C. (2011). The importance of ethics in criminal justice. In M. Maguire, & D. Okada (Eds.), Critical issues in criminal justice: Thought, policy, and practice (pp. 6–30). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Copyright 2010 by Sage Publications Inc. Books. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc. Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Book Excerpt: Jones, R. A. (1986). Rules for distinguishing the normal from the pathological. In Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works (Masters of Social Theory, Volume 2) (pp. 65-68). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Copyright 1986 Sage Publications Inc. Used with permission from Sage Publications Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Article: Moynihan, D. P. (1993). Defining deviancy down. The American Scholar, 62(1), 17–30. Retrieved from: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9302190538&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Article: International Association of Chiefs of Police. (n.d.). Ethics: Enhancing law enforcement ethics in a community policing environment. Retrieved fromhttp://www.theiacp.org/PoliceServices/ExecutiveServices/ProfessionalAssistance/Ethics/tabid/140/Default.aspx

Fear of Crime

The media consequently affects the portrayal of crime, since most people who watch crime stories, tend to greater threat to crime, than those who do not watch the crime stories. The media covers very serious crime stories, which makes the viewers to feel threatened. Through watching such stories, one tends to develop inner fear, making the person to believe that whatever he or she is watching the television may happen to him or her (Bjornstrom et al, 2010). The television often delivers crime stories which are violent, and dangerous, making most people to believe that whatever they are watching is what really happens, particularly if a person is attacked. A good example is a story which has been covered in a certain state, whereby people are being butchered, and their bodies are thrown into the river (Sandstig, 2010).

 When a person who has watched such a story visits the state, he or she may not be at peace, this is consequently because of the perception that the person has concerning the area. In addition, the person may not be able to live peacefully in such an area, due to the fear of being attacked, or even being butchered. Due to the fear of crime, most people may not be able to work at night or even during the day, due to the fear of being attacked (Sandstig, 2010). This consequently makes it hard for most people to be to also carry out their daily routines. This is usually caused by the feeling that crime is more prevalent than the way the statistics indicate. At the back of their minds, they tend to develop a fear mechanism, which makes them not to trust strangers, due to the fear of attacked, or even being killed.

Public fear of crime affects a person’s behavior, since it makes one to always be insecure. For instance, women tend to feel more vulnerable as compared to men, since they may not be able to protect themselves in case of an attack, or even an assault. They consequently end up being afraid of strangers particularly at night. Moreover, they may not also be able to relate with other people well, due to the fear of being attacked. Most women also tend to develop fear towards muscular men, due to the fear of being attacked (Bjornstrom et al, 2010). This is usually caused by watching a lot of crime stories, which tend to instill fear in most people. The old, and teenagers, also experience fear, which makes them to develop different behaviors, which may include avoiding to talk to strangers, or even avoiding any form of contact with strangers.

The media should be responsible for the portrayal of crime as it relate to public fear of crime. This is basically because, the media tends to cover crimes which are very serious, thus making most people to view the world as an insecure place to live in (Entman & Gross, 2008). If a person who does not watch crime stories compared to the one watches crime stories, the one never watches crime stories tends not be as afraid of crime as the one who watches crime stories. The images which the media portrays tend to stick in the minds of those who watch the television, thus making them to suffer, due to the fear of crime (Smolej & Kivivuori, 2006). The media is therefore supposed to warn the viewers, particularly if presenting crime related stories, thus making them not to develop negative behaviors towards certain peoples and having a general fear of crime.

Reference

Bjornstrom, E.S., Kaufman, R. L., Peterson, R. D., & Slater, M. D. (2010). Race and ethnic representations of lawbreakers and victims in crime news: A national study of television coverage. Social Problems, 57(2), 269-293. 

Entman, R. M., & Gross, K. A. (2008). Race to judgment: Stereotyping media and criminal defendants. Law & Contemporary Programs, 71(4), 93-133. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/gtx/infomark.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&docType=IAC&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A191514426&userGroupName=minn4020&version=1.0&searchTyp

Sandstig, G. (2010). Media influences and effects on experiences of uncertainty and fear in urban public spaces. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 7(12), 66-84. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=57457328&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 Smolej, M., & Kivivuori, J. (2006). The relation between crime news and fear of violence. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and CrimePrevention, 7(2), 211-227. 

Rape and Murder

Rape is one of the worst evil acts which can be committed on a person. This is consequently because rape often leaves a mark on the life of the victim, thus making it hard for him or her to be able to live peacefully. Rape is similar to murder, in the sense that a rape victim is much more likely to commit suicide after being raped (Hill, 2014). This consequently makes the victim to suffer, and in most cases, they may end up thinking of committing suicide, as a means of dealing with guilt. Rape crimes should be punished with death, since they influence the victims to commit suicide. In addition, rape can ruin one’s life, due to the health complications that one is likely to experience particularly if raped at a very young age.

Stiff penalties need to be imposed on the people who commit such atrocities, in order to show the world how serious rape can be. Most people have ended up dropping out of school, abusing drugs and also indulging in criminal activities due to the memories that they have after being raped. Rape cases should be treated equally, whether the victim dies or gets to live, both should be punished by death (Hill, 2014). According to my point of view, in Kennedy Vs Louisiana case, I strongly believe that the court acted in a very unqualified manner, by stating that the crime could not be categorized as a capital crime. This is consequently because, any form of rape is a capital crime, simple because it involves the abuse of another person’s body. The crime should have been treated as a capital crime, since Louisiana was not only raped, but she was also hurt both physical and emotionally. This is a scar left on her body, which could result in very many problems throughout her life.

Reference

Hill, B. (2014). Environmental Justice. Environmental Law Institute.

Criminal Justice

The minority groups underrepresented in almost all large law enforcement arms in United States so that the police force does not mirror the communities in the society. There are various reasons for this, and the major being that the many in the minority group don not to get into the police profession which leads to low recruitment numbers (Dempsey & Forst, 2013). For instance, many of the Hispanics from countries where the level of police corruption is high do not want anything to do with the police. In addition, not many people are interested joining the police force as is the case of Las Vegas where few students want to join the Metropolitan Police Dpartment. In other police agencies, it can be the hiring practices instead of the recruitment efforts that have contributed to lack of minority representation.  For instance, there was a lawsuit in Pittsburgh City where the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that there was discrimination on police d hiring process and practices (ACLU, n.d).  Some segments of police departments may hold the view that having officers of color is not necessary for ensuring delivery of just policing, and this is not uncommon in law enforcement.

 Some segments of police force have turned to affirmative action which is aimed at encouraging equal opportunities and to have a level playing field for those groups have been discriminated against. Affirmative action is rooted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and was initially aimed at eliminating any imbalances in hiring practices and policies. the police departments have been using this as a tool for correcting  past racial discrimination , with a major aim of being ensuring that the minority percentage in specific job categories is about the same to the percentage of other groups in adult workforce (Dempsey & Forst, 2013). The police departments have resulted to hiring more minorities through an aggressive recruitment, revision of entrants’ requirements and even setting of quotas. As a civil rights policy, affirmative action is based on the premise that equality in results will be attained in terms of having adequate minority representation in the police departments. However, results equality is not similar to opportunity equality as long as the former pays attention to the same outcomes and the latter place focus on minimizing discrimination in the recruitment process, promotion or other good or service desired by the society (Kanovitz, 2015).Issues have arisen where affirmative action has been viewed as offering preferential treatment to some people on the basis of their color, ethnicity or race in public employment.

 There is also the notion that affirmative action increases the focus on minority especially the race rather than helping to create a diversified police workforce that is not based on color. Since the minority groups are still not represented equally in the police force, the affirmative action which was at first intended to address consequences of discrimination should redress the effects of discrimination against the minority.  The issue of reverse discrimination arises where the majority group feels that minorities are being offered preferential treatment at their expense. The proponent of affirmative action view this discrimination as seeking to redress past social injustices , where the majority groups  were given an access to opportunities which were not available to the minority (Kanovitz,2015).  The use of affirmative action has led to increased inclusion of police officers from among the minority groups, where an even progress in recruiting and hiring of minority groups has been achieved.  Presently, there is a higher percentage of minority police officers from the Africa-Americans in local police departments.

 The issue of affirmative action brought about various allegations of reverse discrimination; and its impact on police culture can be addressed from the feeling that there is preferential treatment for minorities while the majorities are being discriminated against. The culture developed out of such feelings is that the right channels or criteria are being overlooked while trying to gain racial diversity in police departments. With many lawsuits by the majority against preferential treatment of the minority in recruitment and promotion, a culture where affirmative action and racial diversity are deemed unnecessary will be established. Many will feel that discrimination resulting from affirmative action will no long be necessary and there for a need to advocate for hiring and promotions based on criteria. There will be a feeling the rights of the a majority are being violated in favor of promoting or even protecting the Hispanics , blacks and other minority groups(Dempsey & Forst, 2013) . In such cases the majority police officers will feel that they were are being passed over for various benefits and promotions to those in the lower ranks even where they perform better and rank higher in relation to eligibility than other minority people.  This will lead to a culture where eligibility and performance criteria are by-passed as the main tool of assessing and rewarding promotions in the police department.  Such a culture will attract resentment which is not good in promoting diversity.

Reference

Dempsey, J. S., & Forst, L. S. (2013). An introduction to policing. Cengage Learning.201-203

Kanovitz, J., (2015). Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice. Routledge. 512 -513

Assignment 3: Persuasive Paper Part 1: A Problem Exists

Introduction

Rape date can best be described as a misleading phrase that is utilized in describing the serious social crime that is mainly underreported and misunderstood. For most victims, the rapists usually evoke psychotic stranger images in a lane but in most instances, the victims knew the attackers. Date rape in this context is a rare occurrence that only occurs in isolated circumstances (Levesque, 2011). Factually it is indicated that in more than half of the reported cases the rape victims are aware of their attackers which are represented by 84 percent while 57 percent of the cases happened during dates (Levesque, 2011). However, it is highly surprising than the given statistics that most of the incidents are not generally reported. Several concepts exist in the attempt of trying to offer valuable explanations to the particular phenomenon. For instance, most women may decline the belief that they were raped by their individual friends and ends up convincing themselves that the incidence never occurred. In addition, this results in a confusion following the attack since emotions and memory become mixed up. Based on the social, economic and ethical issues that are raised by date rapist is in the interest of every person that the cases are reported and the offenders put to justice to curb the occurrence.

Based on history rape has always been a shameful matter that results in stigma which turns to self-hate. Women have for a while being required to submit to the sexual needs of their partners without objection (Levesque, 2011). In that, if one claimed to have been raped during a date this would be objected with the argument that it is part of intimate relations. Women in the past have remained silent by attempting to hide the issue to avoid being victimized by the society. However, the tendency has changed. Individuals are equally entitled to sexual autonomy in any given relation. The perception of rape has additionally transformed as it was been perceived as a violent act and contemporary other rape forms have emerged such as marital rape, date rape and others which based on the definitions are practiced by marital partners, friends or those in any relation with (Levesque, 2011).

Regardless of these changes rape is perceived as a violent and offensive act that leads to the legal punishing of the offenders (Perez-Pena, 2015). However, most of these cases are never reported and this leads to the offenders existing in the society as free persons. Based on research it is evident that about 80 percent of sexual assault cases that involves students are never reported and one woman amid four in colleges is date raped while 67 percent of those involving the public are also not reported (Perez-Pena, 2015). However, in a thousand sexual assault cases only eleven of the cases are taken for trial and amid the court trial cases, 7 of the offenders are convicted on felony basis while the rest are punished through incarceration. From history date rape results in negative issues that can be classified as ethical, social, inequality as well as economic issues that affect the general capability of the society.

One of the economic issues that are developed by date rape is lowered productivity. In that, the affected individuals are bound to lose their working motivation of career goals based on the emotional trauma thus resulting in low productivity (Hilgers, 2016). This results in high rate of dependency within most of the families since some are affected to the extent of leaving their jobs which will, in turn, generate poverty (Hilgers, 2016). Self-independency and esteem are lost in the process due to stigma since when the society learns about the offense they begin to visualize the victim differently rather than offering support. For instance, most women will be perceived as the ones that triggered the occurrence based on their dressing which results in stigma.

Date rape as a crime occurs against social norms and ethics. In that, the victims are sexually harassed and forced to engage in sexual acts without their consent (Hilgers, 2016). In most instances, violence is involved which lead to hurting the victims both physically as well as emotionally. Based on societal ethics it is only right to acquire a mutual agreement amid parties before engaging in sex as the lack can be termed as an offense. In addition to the individuals who intoxicate their friends or partners in order to acquire sexual pressure, this is unacceptable socially since it deprives the victims their sexual autonomy (Hilgers, 2016).

An addition date rape social problem is that it results in the isolation and the extraction of victims from the society. Individuals begin to withdraw from any given social relation based on the fear of being offended (Warner, 2012). This results in illnesses such as depression and poor social skills. Date rape can generate undesired pregnancies which deprive persons the right of making sound decisions in regard to their extensive future. In most instances, the victims are denied the opportunity of fulfilling their life goals as they drop pout of schools and jobs and this affects their life experiences, skills and the ability to relate with others (Warner, 2012). The victims are forced to exist with trust issues which imply that they can rarely understand or be understood by others.

In conclusion, it is evident that date rape is a criminal offense that should be treated with the attention it deserves by the public for the wellness of the society. Date rape occurs in the presence of an isolated surrounding where the offender takes advantage of their relation to the victim in justification of his actions. It is evident also that date rape can be avoided via making responsible choices. With more than 84 percent of the rape cases been unreported the offenders normally walk free and this hinders the ability to curb the crime. This is driven by the fact that most of the offenders are well known to the victims and thus not willing to destroy the relations. Date rapes create more trauma to the affected persons as compared to stranger rapes.

References

Hilgers, L. (2016). What One Rape Cost Our Family. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/opinion/what-one-rape-cost-our-family.html

Levesque, R. J. R. (2011). Encyclopedia of adolescence. New York: Springer.

Perez-Pena, R. (2015). 1 In 4 Women Experience Sex Assault On Campus. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/us/a-third-of-college-women-experience-unwanted-sexual-contact-study-finds.html

Warner, J. A. (2012). Women and crime: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.