Lesson 16 - Final Project

Final Project: In at least three (3) pages, identify a category of crime, provide a specific example of the elements of the offense from your state (or state of your choosing) and discuss the investigative approaches and choices that an investigator would most likely consider when conducting an investigation.

In your paper:

(1) identify the category of crime that you will be exploring: Crimes Against Persons; Crimes Against Property; or Crimes Against Society;

(2) identify at least ONE statute from your state (or state of your choice) associated with that crime category and explain the major elements of that offense that need to be investigated and proven;

(3) discuss the type of crime scene you may encounter with that type of offense and how you would handle that crime scene - will it be a large complex scene with many witnesses, lots of physical evidence, or a small scene with no witnesses, etc; OR is this the type of crime that requires special investigation techniques like confidential informants, undercovers, surveillance, etc?

(4) discuss the type(s) of evidence you are likely to be collecting from that scene - is it mostly witness statements, or forensic evidence like DNA, fingerprints, computer evidence, etc - and how you would best handle that evidence;

(5) for the type(s) of evidence you are collecting, what are the potential challenges you may be expected to overcome? Is contamination an issue? What types of witnesses/victims to you potentially come across that would potentially cause reliability issues?

(6) do you think the type of crime you are investigating will likely lead to search warrants? If so, what would you be searching for, where would it be, and what level of evidence do you need to obtain that search warrant?

(7) for the type of investigation you have selected, discuss the clearance rate of offense in general (see reading below) and give an opinion as to if that rate can be improved or not. If you believe it can be improved, explain what additional resources or techniques would lead to improvement. If you do not believe the clearance rate can be improved, give an opinion as to why not.

NOTE: If you chose to discuss Crimes Against Society, discuss what you think the biggest challenge is associated with detecting/investigating the type of offense you selected and what types of additional resources or techniques could lead to more successful investigations of that type of crime.

READING: Lesson 16 - FBI 2018 UCR Clearance Rates - Violent Crime and Property Crime.pdf Download Lesson 16 - FBI 2018 UCR Clearance Rates - Violent Crime and Property Crime.pdf

Assignment Instructions:

APA-Perdue OwlLinks to an external site.

• APA format is required.
  • Title page, reference page, in text citations (see above link for help.)
• References and in text citations must be formatted in APA.
• Do not copy and paste.
• All assignments are scanned by Turn It In Plagiarism checker.
• Length of paper should be a minimum of 3 written pages. (Title page and reference page are not included in this number.)
• You should include AT LEAST THREE (3) references in your reference page in your final project. The class text plus two additional references would be appropriate.

Uniform Crime Report Crime in the United States, 2018 Crime in the United States, 2018 U.S. Department of JusticeFederal Bureau of Investigation Released Fall 2019 Offenses Cleared In the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, law enforcement agencies can clear, or "close," offenses in one of two ways: by arrest or by exceptional means. Although an agency may administratively close a case, that does not necessarily mean that the agency can clear the offense for UCR purposes. To clear an offense within the UCR Program's guidelines, the reporting agency must adhere to certain criteria, which are outlined in the following text. (Note: The UCR Program does not distinguish between offenses cleared by arrest and those cleared by exceptional means in collecting or publishing data via the traditional Summary Reporting System.) Cleared by arrest In the UCR Program, a law enforcement agency reports that an offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been: Arrested. Charged with the commission of the offense. Turned over to the court for prosecution (whether following arrest, court summons, or police notice). In its clearance calculations, the UCR Program counts the number of offenses that are cleared, not the number of persons arrested. The arrest of one person may clear several crimes, and the arrest of many persons may clear only one offense. In addition, some clearances that an agency records in a particular calendar year, such as 2018, may pertain to offenses that occurred in previous years. Cleared by exceptional means In certain situations, elements beyond law enforcement's control prevent the agency from arresting and formally charging the offender. When this occurs, the agency can clear the offense exceptionally. Law enforcement agencies must meet the following four conditions in order to clear an offense by exceptional means. The agency must have:

Crime in the United States, 2018 U.S. Department of JusticeFederal Bureau of Investigation Released Fall 2019 2 Identified the offender. Gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution. Identified the offender's exact location so that the suspect could be taken into custody immediately. Encountered a circumstance outside the control of law enforcement that prohibits the agency from arresting, charging, and prosecuting the offender. Examples of exceptional clearances include, but are not limited to, the death of the offender (e.g., suicide or justifiably killed by police or citizen); the victim's refusal to cooperate with the prosecution after the offender has been identified; or the denial of extradition because the offender committed a crime in another jurisdiction and is being prosecuted for that offense. In the UCR Program, the recovery of property alone does not clear an offense. Clearances involving only persons under 18 years of age When an offender under the age of 18 is cited to appear in juvenile court or before other juvenile authorities, the UCR Program considers the incident for which the juvenile is being held responsible to be cleared by arrest, even though a physical arrest may not have occurred. When clearances involve both juvenile and adult offenders, those incidents are classified as clearances for crimes committed by adults. Because the clearance percentages for crimes committed by juveniles include only those clearances in which no adults were involved, the figures in this publication should not be used to present a definitive picture of juvenile involvement in crime. Overview In the nation in 2018, 45.5 percent of violent crimes and 17.6 percent of property crimes were cleared by arrest or exceptional means. When considering clearances of violent crimes, 62.3 percent of murder offenses, 52.5 percent of aggravated assault offenses, 33.4 percent of rape offenses, and 30.4 percent of robbery offenses were cleared.

Crime in the United States, 2018 U.S. Department of JusticeFederal Bureau of Investigation Released Fall 2019 3 Among property crimes, 18.9 percent of larceny-theft offenses, 13.9 percent of burglary offenses, and 13.8 percent of motor vehicle theft offenses were cleared. In 2018, 22.4 percent of arson offenses were cleared by arrest or exceptional means. What you won't find on this page Arrest data are not on this page. In its clearance calculations, the UCR Program counts the number of offenses that are cleared, not the number of persons arrested.