civil liability
a person's degree of risk of being sued
community policing
the belief that by working together, the police and the community can accomplish what neither can alone
crime
act forbidden by law and punishable by a fine, imprisonment or death
crime mapping
the focus on the location of crimes
criminal investigation
process of discovering, collecting, preparinq, identrifying and presentingevidence to determine unit happened ane who vas responsible.
criminalist
person who searches, collects and preserves physical evidence in investigations of crime
Criminalistics
Branch of forensic science that employs specialists trained in recording, idenitying andinterpreting
criminal statute
legislative act that defines a crime and attaches a penalty punishment
culturally adroit
skilled in interacting across gender, ethnic, generational, socal and political
data mining
process that uses powerful analytical tools to quickly and throughly explore mountains of data related to a críminal case to discover new patterns
deductive reasoning
logical process in which a conclusion follows from specific facts
Elements of crime
specific conditions that must occur for an act to be called a specific kind of crime
exculpatory evidence
favorable evidence to the accused that would clear them from accusation
felony
a serious crime (homicide, aggravated assault, robbery) punishable by more than 1 year of prison or death
Forensic science
the application of science, technology and the scientific process in law
hotspots:
geographic areas with higher incídence rate of criminal activity
inductive reasoning
using specific facts and observations to establish broad generalizations
intuition
a "sudden knowing" without conscious reasoning or logic
investigate
observe or closely study
leads
avenues bearing clues or potential sources of information relevant to solving a crime
Locard's principle of exchange
theory that postulates that when objects come into contact with each other there's always a transfer of material
misdemeanor
crime of offense that's less serious that a felony that is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of a year or less.
modus operandi(MO)
characteristic way or preferred method used by a criminal when committing a type of crime
ordinance
an act of legistative body of municipality or county relating to all rules governing
res gestae statements
Spontaneous, unrehearsed statements made at the time a crime is committed and closely related to actions involved in the crime; considered more truthful than later, planned responses.
solvability factors
elements of information relating to a crime that are known to increase the likelihood of that crime being solved