A confidential informant entered a suspected drug dealer’s apartment in order to purchase crack cocaine. Once the transaction was completed, the confidential informant signaled an undercover officer who then radioed uniformed police to the suspect’s apartment. Once officers responded to the scene, they approached the door of the apartment and encountered a strong odor of burning marijuana. Officers then announced their presence while knocking on the apartment door. Once the announcement of “police” was made, the officers then heard shuffling noises inside of the apartment that were consistent with the sound of evidence being destroyed. Officers then announced their intent to enter the apartment and then kicked in the door. Once inside the apartment, the officers found drugs and drug paraphernalia in plain view. Inside of the apartment, officers apprehended the respondent, King, and others, who were in possession of drugs.…
This case can similarly be connected to the Draper v. United States 358 U.S. 307 (1958). In the Draper case, the arresting officer had probable cause to arrest petitioner without a warrant and that the follow-up search and seizure was lawful. In the case of Joe Thug, both the officers went to check the reported scene of abuse without a warrant. Since the officers had probable cause they were able to go to Ms. Smith’s residence without one and were granted permission to enter the home. Due to Ms. Smith’s compliance, the officers were allowed to enter the home and proceed with the investigation. While constructing the search the officer notices burns on Sam’s arm which leads him right behind Joe. When the officer enters the bedroom after Joe, he smells marijuana and those to pieces of evidence was enough indication that something unlawful was occurring which led to the follow-up search and seizure. Likewise, in the Draper case, the informant had prior experience working with the police which increased his credibility and reliability. The informant was also able to give a specific address of where the narcotic would be found. In the Ms. Smith case the informer also had worthy credibility because she was not getting paid for her services nor had anything to gain by telling the officers. By giving the correct address of the abuse and it being actuate was also another factor in increasing her…
This paper is being submitted March 24, 2013 for Professor Barbara Bailey’s Criminal Investigation course at DeVry University by Jonah Colombo…
Equality is a fundamental element of the English legal system yet power disparities amongst those enforcing the law and those suspected of breakingoften apparent. With Brown and Levinson’s Power and Politeness theory assessing the significant contribution language strategies have in creating such differences I have chosen to analyse how language either instils or reduces power in police-suspect interactions. The opposingroles of the police have intrigued me as they must both control and cooperate to allow for extraction of information. I hope to establish which, if any, power and politeness strategies enable this.…
This further illustrates that police officers can use multiple tactics other than simple questioning such as deception, a list of narratives, and open-ended questions. Suspects might admit that committing the crime for multiple reasons including mental illness, desire for attention, and to protect loved ones. Corroborated and nonpublic facts are based on police not disclosing facts to the public and how the confessions can be contaminated through the police or expert evidence can all lead to false confessions (Garrett,…
The American Society of Criminology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2010, from The American Society of Criminology: http://www.asc41.com/index.htm…
This module will examine the importance of criminal data and its effect on the criminal justice system. For instance, is it important for a law enforcement agency to evaluate the crimes occurring in their city or jurisdiction? Is it important for citizens to know how safe is the area in which they live? If so, how is that information gathered and disseminated to the general public? How does the law enforcement component of the criminal justice system use the information to reduce crime or even predict it in the future? With the advent of applicable technology, law enforcement agencies and criminologists are now examining crime patterns, suspect information, as well as date and time of crimes in an effort to predict probable occurrences and locations of future crimes.…
Winerman, L. (2004). Criminal profiling: The reality behind the myth. Monitor, 35(7). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/criminal.aspx…
The article, “The Throwaways”, by Sarah Stillman, is an account of confidential informants being used as inexpensive and off the record pawns in the drug war. A confidential informant is a person who has been caught for a crime, usually illegal narcotics, and has been offered to have their slate wiped clean or their punishment reduced if they help bust a higher up criminal. The police treat these informants as if they are nothing else but a tool to catch the criminals at the top of the food chain. The police do not stop to think that the informants are often productive people in society, even if they decide to partake drug use. I have a close friend who was asked to be an informant after being busted with just a small amount of marijuana. I strongly advised against this for his safety, and my friend instead had to spend nearly four thousand dollars on a lawyer. It is unjust and immoral for police officers to use these people with no formal guarantee that their charges will be dropped, as well as putting them in extremely dangerous situations.…
Sometimes using juvenile informants are the only means of intelligence of gathering information into…
The criminal justice issue that has been chosen as the topic on this course project is the “three strike” sentencing and how it should be abolished. The three strike sentencing was established in 1994 under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. (Harris, 1995). In this act, the statute of three strike sentencing provides a mandatory life imprisonment sentence for convicted felons that have been convicted in a federal court for a serious and/or violent felony and they commit two or more previous crimes that they are convicted of in federal and/or state court system in which at least one of the crimes is a serious and/or violent crime. These crimes can be but are not limited to murder, sex offenses, robbery, and kidnapping.…
Investigation becomes personal due the vested time an officer makes to his beat. Crime investigation means any offence against the neighborhood. Property damage, theft, violence, and drugs are all prime examples. Drug crime involves the average citizen in solving this problem. The selling of illegal drugs not only presents the neighborhood with vicious dealers, but the addict that can become violent in a split second. Trojanowicz (n.d.), "Involving average citizens in community-based, police-supervised anti-drug initiatives to drive drug dealing from their neighborhoods offers new solutions that do not focus exclusively on arrest, which rarely does more than clog the rest of the criminal justice system" (Scope of…
Crime seems to be on a rise, from low poverty areas to the white collar vicinities. Today’s technology however, is assisting with the apprehension of criminals through the means of cameras, computers, fingerprinting and others. However, something that technology cannot help with is to identify the exact actions of individuals, nor can you duplicate what is seen by others. Eyewitnesses are so important when it comes to the criminal process. It’s vital for individuals to give accurate account of crimes witnessed. It is just as important for those that are gathering the information, or witness statements, to assess each eyewitness correctly, for that statement can put an innocent man in jail and a criminal back in the streets.…
This thesis will cover intelligence-led corrections in U.S. Prisons and combating illicit activities. These illicit activities can be categorized from your basic introduction of contraband such as…
Corruption, what is it and why does it seem to flourish in the world of business and in particular government contracting? Corruption as defined by Webster’s dictionary is a lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain (“corruption,” 2010). All over the world there are stories of corruption from money laundering, unfair awarding of contracts, bribery, and even espionage. Procurement and contracting seem to be one of the areas most prone to corruption, which inevitably has a bearing on how effective public spending can be. Additionally, corruption impairs government agencies as well as private companies because it increases production costs, eliminates true competitiveness, and in a nutshell is not good for business.…