History of Criminal Identification

In The Beginning Only had people’s names Then went to photographs and names What was the issue with this process?

Alphonse Bertillion Police Officer in France and biometrics researcher ( ) His system for identification was to take measurements of the persons entire body. Would also list scars etc.

Dreyfus Affair Alphonse testifies as handwriting expert to condemn Dreyfus. Dreyfus gets life in Prison on Devil’s Island This is eventually overturned Bertillion ends with will West

Finger Prints Finger Prints replace Bertillon After Will West Case in the United States No finger prints are identical Not even identical twins

DNA Use of DNA has provided a safeguard against wrongful conviction At the same time it has convicted many criminals and solved countless cold cases.

Crime Patterns Day/Season/Climate Crime rises later in day as kids get out of school. Climate/Season – More overall crimes are committed in the warmer months. Teenagers out of school People are outside Houses are left vacant

Exceptions Murder and Robbery – Mostly occur during December and January Also more robbery in the beginning of the Month. – Welfare and social security checks are arrive More drinking partying and gambling

Temperature Some criminologists believe that as temperature goes up so does the crime rate. Domestic assault goes up in relation to heat. Stress and tension caused by temperature cause us to get violent. – People are also outside and with others more

Regionally Northeast has the lowest violent crime rate South and West come in the highest with the South leading the way. Why is this?

Firearms Used in 20% of robberies 10% of assaults 5% of rapes 67% of all murders Have no racial or ethnic correlation Some criminologists believe that the proliferation of handguns is why we have such a violent society. Some believe it to be a deterrent.

Social Class/ SES and Crime Believed that crime in the inner city is high because people have nothing and resort to crime to get what they need. – Prison populations seem to attest to that fact Crimes include, robberies, muggings, car theft, drug dealing etc. Called instrumental crimes Expressive crimes include rape/assault May be because Police focus their time and effort in lower income areas Evidence suggests that more serious crimes happen at a higher rate in lower income areas Middle class kids commit more nuisance crimes overall.

How do we know these things? There are various ways of collecting data – UCR or Uniform Crime Report FBI report that gathers information from police departments across the country – Problems with this are numerous Not all departments report crime the same way Only 50% of crime is reported overall

NIBRS This is the National Incident Based Reporting System – This does not report the crimes reported by police – This system reports the crimes to which police responded What could the problem be with this system?

Victimization Studies Reports of crimes from the victims themselves – If someone got raped/mugged/robbed/etc the report is from the victims own words What could the problem be with this report?

Self Report Crimes The criminals themselves report the crimes – They can give the best description of what happened. What do you think just might possibly, maybe, could be the problem with this report?

Prison systems in Crisis?

Prisons o Nationally, there are approximately 1.3 million prison inmates o About 6% of the population being women. o For every 100,000 white males, 461 are imprisoned o While for every 100,000 black males, 3,250 are imprisoned

More Prison Stats The rate of imprisonment for black males has dramatically increased over the past ten years While the rate for white males has grown significantly less.

Why are people locked up? State Prison o The increase in the imprisonment of drug offenders accounts for 75% of the increase in prison populations. o Most people sentenced to state prisons have been convicted of violent crimes (46%). o Property crimes account for about 24%. o Drug crimes account for the remaining 30% of inmates.

Federal Prisons Federal crimes offer a different picture with 60% of the inmates being incarcerated for drug crimes.

Prison inmates generally have low formal education or vocational skills and a disadvantaged background. Also, most adult inmates have served some time in juvenile correctional facilities

Prison Cost NYC paid $167,731 to feed, house and guard each inmate. NYC had 12,287 inmates for a total cost of $2,060,910,797. NY State spent $60,000 per inmate National Average was $31,286 $39 Billion Dollars Cost for education per student $11,000

Costs for Rehabilitation