Bell Ringer

1
Bell Ringer

• List four types of swindles listed in the text,
  briefly explain each.

2
Crime Victims

• Chapter 4

3
Who are Victims?

• They come from all walks of life and all age
  groups
• Studies show that teenagers are the most common
  victims of both violent and property crimes
• Most studies show that criminals tend to
  victimize members of their own race.

4
Being a Victim

• Crimes against property like fraud, burglary, and
  theft are the most common crimes in the U.S.
• Violent crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery
  are less common. BUT they probably cause more
  anxiety and fear.

5
Victimology?

• The branch of criminology that studies crime
  victims.

6
Reported Crime
7
Crime Reports by Race
8
Victims of Violent Crimes

• Crimes against the person
• Murder, Rape, Robbery, and Assult
• In these crimes, the criminal either uses force
  or threatens to use force against the victim.

9
Violent Crime By Age
10
Gender
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Two Examples

• The Robbery Victim
• The Domestic Violence Victim

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The Robbery Victim

• The criminal takes property by force.
• Victims can lose their property, suffer injuries,
  and even die
• Almost 99.8 of all robbery victims survive
• About 1/3 of all victims suffer injuries (minor)
• Only 2 receive wounds serious enough to stay
  overnight in a hospital.
• Victims are most likely to be hurt by unarmed
  robbers
• Victims are most likely to be killed by armed
  robbers
• Victims who resist are more likely to be injured
  or killed

13
The most likely victim

• Male between the ages of 12 and 24
• As the persons age increases, the likelihood of
  being robbed declines
• People over 65 make up the group least likely to
  be robbed.

14
The Domestic Violence Victim

• Typically refers to Spousal Abuse
• Can be committed by
• Spouses
• Ex-spouses
• Boyfriends
• Girlfriends
• Also has a broader definition that includes
• Family violence
• Child abuse
• Elder abuse
• Abuse by residents in the same household

15
Domestic Violence Statistics

• Half of all 911 calls are related to domestic
  violence
• In most cases, NOBODY CALL THE POLICE AND THE
  INCIDENT GOES UNREPORTED
• Of the 1,300,000 who suffer abuse 75 are women.
• One study showed that 65 of all murdered female
  abuse victims are separated from their abuser at
  the time of death.

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Victims of Property Crimes

• Property crimes include
• Theft
• Burglary
• Fraud
• They differ from violent crimes because the
  criminal neither uses force nor threatens to use
  force.

17
Property Crime Statistics

• Losses from property crime add up to more than
  17 billion a year.
• Every family in the country sufferssome from
• Direct loss
• High insurance rates
• Fear and insecurity

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The Burglary Victim

• Burglary is the unlawful entry into a building
  with the intent to commit a crime.
• About 3.5 billion in losses are reported each
  year.
• Only 50 are reported to the police
• Although not a violent crime, burglaries often
  greatly upset the victims, because the criminal
  has intruded into the privacy of the home.

19
Bell Ringer

• What is victimology?
• What is violent crime? List three examples of
  violent crimes.
• What is Property crime? List three examples of
  Property crimes.

20
The Identity Theft Victim

• A criminal steals a persons credit card or
  Social Security number.
• The criminal may
• Pay for goods
• Get loans
• Apply for new credit cards
• Rent houses
• Get a job
• And even declare bankruptcy

21
Identity Theft

• Almost 10 million people fall victim each year
• The victim usually never meets the criminal
• The victim usually does not discover the crime
  until it is too late.
• The Victim is not responsible for most of the
  debts, however, they must convince the merchants
  a crime took place.
• POOR credit

22
2009 Statistics

• An estimated 4.3 million violent crimes, 15.6
  million property crimes, and 133,000 personal
  thefts were committed against U.S. residents age
  12 or older in 2009.
• Violence against males, blacks, and persons age
  24 or younger occurred at higher or somewhat
  higher rates than the rates of violence against
  females, whites, and persons age 25 or older in
  2009.
• About half (49) of all violent crimes and about
  40 of all property crimes were reported to the
  police in 2009. Violent crimes against females
  (53) were more likely to be reported than
  violent crimes against males (45).

23
Helping Victims of Crime

• Some ancient legal codes called for compensating
  crime victims
• The Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC)
• Had to pay back 5 times the value of the damage
  caused

24
Early English and American Law

• Forced criminals to pay restitution to victims.
• Gradually criminal law shifted away from helping
  victims and focused exclusively on punishing
  law-breakers.
• The only way a victim could get restitution was
  to sue under civil law.
• Usually did not work. WHY?

25
Change is needed

• In the 1960s society begins to look for ways to
  help crime victims
• In 1963 New Zealand passed the first victim
  compensation legislation.
• Spread to England (1964) and California (1965)
• Today every state has a victim comp. program

26
New York State Crime Victims Board

• Provides monetary aid to families who have
  suffered financially from violent crime.
• A five member panel

27
The Process

• Crime victims, their dependents, or immediate
  family members can apply for compensation.
• The board will pay for medical expenses, mental
  health counseling, job retraining, funeral or
  burial expenses, lost earning, and loss of
  support.

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Current limits

• What kinds of expenses may I get
• compensated for?
• The CVB offers compensation related to
• personal injury, death and loss of essential
• personal property. The specific expenses CVB
• may cover include
• Medical and counseling expenses
• Loss or damage of essential personal
• property (up to 500, including 100 for
• cash)
• Burial/funeral expenses (up to 6,000)
• Lost wages or lost support including lost
• wages of parents if a child victim is
• hospitalized (up to 30,000)
• Transportation (necessary court
• appearances for prosecution)
• Occupational/vocational rehabilitation
• Use of domestic violence shelters
• Crime scene clean-up (up to 2,500)

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Who may be eligible?

• The victim must be an innocent victim of
• the crime
• Victims of crime who were physically
• injured as a result of the crime
• Victims of crime who are under 18, 60
• and over, or disabled, who were not
• physically injured
• Certain relatives and dependents,
• including surviving spouse, child, parent,
• brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister,
• stepparent or person primarily
• dependent on the victim for support
• Those who paid for or incurred burial
• costs for an innocent crime victim

• Child victims, a child who witnesses a
• crime, and the childs parent, stepparent,
• grandparent, guardian, brother, sister,
• stepbrother or stepsister
• Certain victims of unlawful imprisonment
• or kidnapping
• Certain stalking victims
• Certain victims of labor trafficking or sex
• trafficking
• Victims of terrorist acts outside of the US
• who are a resident of New York State
• Victims of frivolous lawsuits brought by a
• person who committed a crime against

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What is the Problem?
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Other Victim programs

• Private organizations offer other services
• Shelters for battered women
• Rape counseling
• Crisis intervention programs
• Child abuse interventions
• Medical counseling

32
Community Programs

• Free low cost legal advice
• Psychological counseling
• Employment assistance

33
Goal

• The primary goal of most victim assistance
  programs is to help the victim get through the
  crisis with dignity and get back to as normal
  life as possible.

34
The Push for Victims Rights

• Advocates claim that crime victims are injured
  twice first by the criminal and then by an
  insensitive criminal justice system.

35
New Federal Programs

• Victim and Witness Protection Act (1982)
• The crimes impact on the victim should be
  considered in deciding penalties
• Anyone threatening or harming a witness should be
  punished severely
• Court orders should be used to restrain anyone
  from harassing a witness
• A victim is entitled to restitution from the
  criminal.

36
Response from the States33 States now have

• Michigan 1988 Victims Bill of Rights
• Keep the accuseds trial from unnecessarily
  delayed
• Be protected from retaliation
• Be notified of court proceedings
• Attend all court proceedings the accused has
  right to attend
• Confer with prosecution
• Make a statement to the court at sentencing
• Get restitution
• Receive information about the sentence and
  release of the accused.

37
Proposed Constitutional Amendment

• Give victims of violent crimes the right to
• Be given notice of and attend an public hearing
• Be heard at hearings and to submit statements at
  any hearing determining release from custody, a
  negotiated plea, a sentence, or parole
• Notice of any release or escape from custody
• Not have unreasonable delays in the trial
• Restitution form the convicted offender
• Consideration for the safety of the victim in
  determining any release form custody

38
Bell Ringer

• Make a list of problems that crime victims face.
  How can we as society solve these Problems