Sociology of Crime

Deemed a “Triangle murder” in the news article, two friends who had formally been involved with one and other were gunned down by Michael Ruiz, the current lover of Debra Silver, the woman that was killed. After shooting both Silver and her friend Daniel Tedlie, Ruiz turned the gun on himself.

Love triangle murders seem to occur quite often, or it seems they are reported more often than other murders. What is interesting about this case is the way in which Ruiz felt that Silver somehow belonged to him. And as Black discusses when going through moralistic crimes: “ The wife’s lover is defined as the victim, even though he was shot because of an offense he committed against the woman’s husband. Moreover, the lover’s offense is precisely the kind for which violent social control-by the husband-is viewed as acceptable and appropriate, if not obligatory, in numerous tribal and other traditional societies.”(Black, 38) While this murder wasn’t committed by a husband protecting the sanctity of his marriage, the same sort of social moral code still applies. And by following what Black is saying with it being acceptable for the husband to use violence, the worst part of this crime(from Black’s perspective) would be that there was a complete misunderstanding and Ruiz shot a friend of Silver’s not a secret lover.

In the rest of the Black article he talks about both murders and robberies as forms of debt collection within society. As opposed to being irrational, random occurrences. As far as can be derived from the news article it seems as if this was a more or less unplanned murder, that it occurred more spur of the moment than anything else. The only reason I say this is because if Ruiz had taken time to analyze the situation he would have undoubtedly found that Silver and Tedlie were not lovers, but “platonic friends.” Another interesting facet of Black’s article is that he is not looking at crime in the traditional sense but is instead explaining crime “ as a totally different-event opposite- phenomenon, namely, social control.”(Black, 42) As a social control, this kind of murder would therefore act as a means of stopping other love triangle’s from occurring as it becomes understood that a relationship is more then an emotional occurance, that there is a certain amount of “face” involved in it.(Goffman) That when a woman starts cheating on her boyfriend, it causes her boyfriend to lose face; so to regain face and control of the situation he uses physical force.

news article

Article Url: http://news.aol.com/article/man-kills-sisters/403079?icid=main|aim|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fman-kills-sisters%2F403079

            This article describes the murder of two sisters and the attempt on the life of a third sister by an older brother. A 911 call brought the police to the scene where they fatally shot the brother before he could succeed in his attempt to kill the third sister. No motive has been given to explain this event.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the brutality of the event. The oldest sister (17) was murdered first, making the police suspect that she was the intended target, by being stabbed with a kitchen knife. The nine year old managed to call the police who arrived in time to watch the brother kill the youngest girl (5) by decapitating her. They do not disclose if it was a full removal of the head from the body or just a very deep laceration bisecting the neck.          The nine year old survived the attack on her life due to the intervention of the cops, but she is in the hospital with defensive wounds to her limbs and a stab wound to her abdomen. This attack coincides with the statics we are given in class which states that victims are more likely to know their attacker and even that the attacker is likely to be a family member. However, when we talked about family crime it was stated that it was more likely to be the son attacking the father. So while this event coincides with the male being the aggressor it stands out in that the sisters are the victims of his rage.

The brother (23) had recently served jail time for a gun charge and had an altercation the night before with a neighbor. This speaks to repetitive violent behavior and that the state and the prison do not rehabilitate people. Someone who lashes out so violently should be given rage or anger management counseling. There was no further information given about his prior crime but he does not seem like the type of person that should be allowed to be around young and vulnerable people.

Another thing that interested me was that it was reported that the police responded within minutes of the 911 call. This does not seem like an exaggeration as they arrived before he completed his second kill and were able to stop him before the third. So this does not appear to be the pro-police hype that the police and the media would feed the community. It does, however, speak of that the residential area where this happened has a high police patrol presence. So either this is a high crime area which needs constant patrols or a low crime area due to the constant controls, it is not clear as to which one it is. However, the truth remains that the nine year old girl was fortunate in that the police responded quick enough to save her life and that of the grandmother who was in the basement at the time this happened.

The last thing that was interesting was at the very end of the article they talk about the police officers who responded to the call receive counseling. Normally counseling would be viewed as a weakness, especially of those in authority. However, here it serves to humanize those to whom we look to for protection.

As is the case of many still unsolved homicides reported that involve one victim killed under atypical circumstances, this article starts off with a narrative that details the back-story of the victim in a manner which appeals to the element of human interest and also invests the reader in the report’s further development.
Although there has been no closure made to the case yet, the article seems to inadvertently (or perhaps deliberately) convey a compelling if not a feasible case that her husband may have committed Chiquita Tate’s murder
Chiquita’s husband, Harris Tate, who is currently under custody is a 37-year-old black male employed as a carpenter. Their marriage had lasted a little over a year before her death. Harris was taken in and charged with second-degree murder and illegal use of a dangerous weapon when Tate’s body was found in her law firm with 38 stab wounds inflicted.
Suspect Harris’ attorney, Lewis Unglesby, stated adamantly that the police have the wrong man, insisting that his background contains nothing that would imply a motive. In addition, his lawyer points out the fact that Harris has shown full cooperation with the police. All this seems like an unmarred potential defense stance detailed in the article. This is until an outstanding warrant from December 2007 tying him to a battery-domestic violence case that occurred between him and Chiquita while they were home is brought to the reader’s attention later in the article.
Furthermore Tate’s marriage license is dated two and a half weeks after this domestic violence report from the police. The article provides the reader with some more background information on this case as well, identifying the victim as upper middle class with both her and her husband driving luxury vehicles.
Looking at all the factors in the case, what can be seen is an incident of homicide which is likely to end in things going either way in terms of the culpability of Harris in his wife’s death. The definition of second-degree homicide is murder committed with malice and premeditated intention (3-13-09). This charge of premeditated murder committed by an individual who in the words of his lawyer has “nothing in his background” seems not to fit entirely however with where and how this crime was committed. Premeditation coupled with what we know about the statistical relationship between the likelihood of strangers using weapons being higher than those familiar all seem to notable points that might cast doubt on the speculation of Harris as a guilty suspect in this incident. However a past history of battery that falls into the trend of intimate partner violence and also what is already known on the statistical likelihood of victims to become repeat victims seem to be equally effectual in a argument indicting him in this murder.
This case will be followed closely by the news in coming reports due to its high profile nature and the overall conflict surrounding Harris as a suspect.

This article drawn from the BBC news falls into the standard pattern of crime reporting (Gilliam & Iyengar 2000) . However, there does seem be a noticeable bit of variation on its part as it is being delivered from an international based perspective. As such, the reader the may come to find a certain level of perfunctory detail and brevity that results from this abroad perspective as well as it being relatively breaking news.

The article starts off by first listing those who were injured during the course of the incident-making note to highlight among those injured being a police officer and the gunman. It then follows into the location of where the crime had taken place. Again, as this is breaking news the level of detail is very limited to what the circumstances of the crime and its suspects encompassed.

There is some attempt at identification of the suspect made, but it only results in the most vague of descriptors. The assailant is listed as an adult male. This is the only information provided to the reader to work off of.

Following the attempt at identification of the assailant is a more detailed account of the casualty or damage that has occurred. Quotation from the local police confirms the injury of six individuals who have all been stated to be fatalities of this shooting. Of the non-fatal deaths, two were listed as “potentially” injured along with the officer. However to assuage some of the concerns of the public that may be generated by the magnitude violence that inflicted during this crime, the article tries to affirm that at least the police officer was one confirmed “fine” according to the article’s cited quotation from the Police Department’s Chief.

The article does not reveal the source of the dispute until later into the final segment when it is understood that crime may have possibly been the result of a domestic dispute. This case is likely to be revisited in later reports as the suspect is still due for questioning on his motives which have not been fully revealed yet. There is also something here to be said, on the plausibility of domestic dispute as the potential cause of this violent crime based on D. Black’s believed sources of homicide.

Homicide is often a response to adultery or other matters relating to sex, love, or loyalty, to disputes about domestic matters (financial affairs, drinking, housekeeping,) or affronts to honor. to conflicts relating to debts, property, and child custody, and to other questions of right and wrong. (36 Black)

Finally, a larger question is now raised on the debate around gun laws in the United States which we will likely see further unfurl in the course of the coming weeks with this incident as one of the reference points for those in favor of more stringent or abolitionist policies regarding guns in the states. In 2005, 9 percent of violent crimes involved firearms resulting in nonfatal incidents. (3-23-09)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7971065.stm

Three weeks ago Nancy Moyer from Washington State, a 36 year old mother of two, was reported missing. She was last seen “dropping a colleague off on her way home from work”. Police have not found any clues as to what happened to Nancy.

This article is similar to other “missing women” reports. The victim is a well-to-do white mother (the article displays a picture of her smiling face) who “would not leave her children”; she is innocent and respectable. It also describes the search for the missing woman and the family’s reaction to her disappearance.

Although separated from his wife Bill Moyer is not suspected of the crime. The article does not state whether he initially was a suspect, and why he is not considered one.

The article goes on to further describe how this case is classified as a homicide due to its unusual circumstances, such as how there were no signs that Nancy Moyer was planning on leaving her home and her children, and the fact that there has been no information about Nancy’s whereabouts after 3 weeks of intense searching. It is unusual that the police would go on record and say they haven’t found any information or clues about Nancy Moyer’s whereabouts. Normally police prefer to publicize their successful efforts and promote their competancy.

Thousands of missing women cases go unreported by the national media everyday. The fact that Nancy Moyer is a beautiful white woman with two young children and a respectable job could perhaps be one of the reasons why this case was made national. If Nancy were say a black woman with a less respectable family life would the case have been reported by the national media? Probably not.

Most cases that involve missing women are not considered homicides (because there is no body and no proof). Without any suspect (I would think) it would be difficult to state that a homicide has occurred. Although the case is extremely sad, it is not atypical, and it is an unusual jump from missing women to homicide. There is no information as to whether other crimes of this nature have occurred near or around the area where Nancy Moyer resides.

http://news.aol.com/article/missing-mom-case-puzzles-police/398190?icid=main|main|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fmissing-mom-case-puzzles-police%2F398190

John Lee Stephens, a 44 year old man from Kentucky is being charged with one count of armed bank robbery and use of a firearm during the crime of violence. He is accused of robbing the Highlander Point branch of Your Community Bank at gun point. After robbing the bank he then fled the scene and was finally caught after and eleven hour manhunt. The ironic part of this story is that he used techniques he saw in TV news reports about several Louisville-area bank robberies. Stephens realized through these reports that the suspects got away with the most money when they ordered the bank workers to the ground and then jumping over the counter. His intent was to take the money himself and avoid having a teller put an exploding dye pack in his bag with the cash. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work because he still got a dye pack, which witnesses reported has exploded and they saw Stephens “surrounded by a large pink cloud of smoke”. In this robbery Stephens also allegedly used a silver or nickel plated .38 caliber handgun, which he later threw out in his getaway.

In this piece it appears as if the media is making a mockery of this individual because they make a note that he learned how to rob a bank through watching TV, which almost seems childish. Although he may have done his “research” the media portrays this situation as playful. Part of the reason for that, I feel is because he was caught and is in custody, where as if he were still armed and on the run I have a feeling the article would not have been so laid back. I also feel like the media is making a mockery of him because of the quote in which they chose to describe him after the dye pack exploded.

The article unfortunately does not make it clear whether the gun was used during the robbery. I am assuming based on our class discussion on March 23, because he is being charged with the use of a firearm during a crime of violence, that it was at least made visible. If it wasn’t ever made visible but they knew that he had thrown it away during the getaway, could they still press those charges on him? I mean if it was never shot or even shown, how could they press charges, all he had was possession of the weapon.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090328/NEWS02/903280355/1008/NEWS01

Six alleged members of a West Seattle-based street gang have been charged with running a prostitution ring involving at least 13 girls and young women. The members of the Bloods- affiliated Westside Street Mob, according to court documents used violence and coercion to force the women to prostitute themselves. The investigation into this prostitution ring started in November when officials conducted a sting on a 19 year old woman selling herself on Craigslist. Following her arrest, officers were informed that she had been assaulted in the past and was afraid her pimps, Deshawn Cashmoney Clark and Thomas Foster would hunt her down. After further discussions with the woman, officials were given the identities of 13 other girls and women who were also working in the organization.

At the same time that Seattle officials were conducting this investigation the King County Sheriff’s Office was conducting a separate investigation into the Westside Street Mobb. Within this investigation King County detectives identified three women who were working for the same men responsible for prostitution ring that the Seattle Vice Unit was investigating. The collaboration of these two organizations also found that two other men Mycah Maurice Johnson and Gerald Nataniel Jackson were also involved in the prostitution ring and that all of these men were affiliated with the Westside Street Mobb.

The media does a good job constructing the outline of this crime because as a reader you are inclined to have sympathy for the girls involved in the prostitution ring. The reason for this is because the author mentions how the girls have been assaulted and that they are scared for their lives, if their pimps were to find out they were talking to law enforcement officials. I also see there being a lot of significance placed on the fact that there was gang association involved in the prostitution ring which might explain how they were able to acquire a large number of girls involved. By having a gang behind this organization it is a lot easier to have control over the situation because there are more individuals who can keep an eye on the state of affairs. I feel that if they were able to minimize the gang involvement with in the prostitution ring, it would not have grown to the size it did. The other factor that I feel has an effect on this case is technological advance. I ponder on whether the internet has had any significance on the rate of these crimes and if so what the impact is.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/404253_prostitution25ww.html

Dale Hausner was convicted of killing 6 people in Phoenix, Arizona, is sentenced to 6 death sentences for his crimes.  However, in light of all the evidence against him, Hausner denies having committed any of his convicted crimes.

This particular article was especially interesting in many ways.  First of all, it strays from all forms of traditional reporting.  Although it starts with the announcement that an event has occurred, the remainder of the article does not follow the framework of reporting.  It included long dialogues and quotes from Hausner, himself.  This detailed information from the offender is not usually found in crime reports.  Not only did it give extensive narrative from Hausner, it reported on background information about the crime itself.  “According to one transcript, both men seemed to brag about the death toll, saying they wanted to ‘kill 500′ and how much they ‘loved shooting people in the back.’”  In other words, the amount of coverage and detail given on the offender isolates this article from other traditional types of reporting.

From the information given, this article goes against Luckenbill’s article, “Criminal Homicide as a Situated Transaction” in many ways.  Luckenbill states that, “in sixty-three percent of the cases, the victim initiates the transaction, the offender states his intention to kill or injure the victim, and the offender follows through by killing him” (179, Luckenbill).  However, in this case, Hausner picked his victims randomly without any provocation of any sort.  Therefore, Hausner’s murder spree cannot be explained by Luckenbill’s theory of homicide as a transaction.

Hausner is considered a serial killer because he is responsible of the death of 6 people included the attacks of 19 others.  However, he does not fall into any of the myths regarding serial killers either.  The first myth that serial killers are dysfunctional loners is false since Hausner had a roommate–who infact killed alongside with him.  Since Hausner only killed people in the metro area of Phoenix, the myth that serial killers travel around killing people does not apply to him either.  Although unclear what his motivations were, the article never mentioned any sexual intent in his murders–therefore implying that his killings were not motivated by sex (which is another myth).  Lastly, the myth that serial killers want to get caught is false because Hausner continues to deny his crimes yet accept the penalties given to him (Sociology of Crime website).  Hausner is eligible for the death penalty because Arizona, unlike New York and many other states, still support the death penalty system.

In this article, published in the Los Angeles Times on March 16^th 2009, explains that an Orange County police officer shot and killed an innocent twenty-year old man in his front yard.   Prosecutors will not peruse criminal charges against the police officer, who is still currently on patrol.  

            The district police chief called this case a “tragic situation.”  This is an obvious example of how police protect themselves, which is typical in stories of criminal activity.  As in the usual patterns of news reporting, police are most often portrayed to the media in a heroic way, and at the very least treated as being above the average citizen  (Lecture 2/2). However as we all know, police are regular people, who are capable of committing crime.  In this case the police officer was chasing burglary suspects, and when the innocent man heard a commotion outside his window, he came outside holding a broomstick when the officer shot the man twice in the chest.  The innocent man was concerned about something going on near his home, and by opening his door, got shot by a police officer.  Obviously, it is completely irresponsible of the police officer to use his firearm on an innocent victim.  In this case the officer was not in immediate danger, threre the victim clearly did not have a firearm drawn, so for the officer to shot the man twice for no reason is a crime in my opinion. 

            While the officer may not have had the intent to harm the victim, he still committed murder.  The police officer should be charged with involuntary manslaughter, also known as criminally negligent, which is killing without malice (Lecture 3/16).   It doesn’t matter that he is a police officer; he still killed an innocent man.  At the very least, the officer should be forced to resign.  It is appalling that the police department let him off on a paid leave, and then let him back to work. 

            The protection of police officers is not unlike the inequality in the legal system.  There is such a disproportion of minorities and people of lower socioeconomic status more often criminally charged and jailed than people who are white and of a higher socioeconomic status.  This is an example of conflict theory, which states that people in power decide what is considered criminal.  This explains class and power conflict because the criminal justice system represents the rich and powerful and they have power so they are able to maintain their social position (Lecture 1/30). The case of this shooting is a perfect example of conflict theory.  If the officer had been a poor man, with no power he would have been convicted of a crime.  

To view the article:

#mce_temp_url#

A jury finds a California man guilty of 1^st degree murder after causing multiple fires in the San Jacinto foothills.  These fires caused the death of 5 firefighters and wide-scale destruction to the surrounding areas.

This case is very different from the typical homicide situation we have been discussing in class and reading about.  In this case the victim’s are firefighters, which according to New York State statute (and presumably California statute based on the case) constitutes 1^st degree murder.  Under these statutes police, firefighters, judges, and other state officials who are victims of the perpetrator cause an increase in the sentence to life without possibility of parole or death (California statute based on the article).  The case is made more unique by the fact that the deaths occurred as a result of arson by the perpetrator.  The victim’s did not know the perpetrator nor did they know the circumstances behind the fire but instead were killed in the line of duty. 

It is difficult to prove that the arsonist had intended to kill anyone beyond a reasonable doubt; a subject noted upon by the jury.  This is because the injuries caused were as a result of a rather long though predictable chain of events.  The specifics of this case are very interesting (and well timed, as I had been surprised that firefighters where included in the 1^st degree murder rule); is every arsonist convicted of 1^st degree murder if a firefighter dies attempting to put out their blaze?  Not to say this wouldn’t be just, I had just never considered it. 

Assumable all cases of arson are performed with the risk of committing murder; this would mean anyone killed by your actions has been put in foreseeable risk by the perpetrator.  Unlike many crimes in which the victim can typically be seen through the entire duration of the criminal act, the victim may be unknown to the offender.  This would bring the offense closer to a terrorist action, as the general intent behind it was to cause mayhem and potential catastrophe.    

All of these circumstances lead to the conclusion that justice has been served here.  Following the media script for a crime story this article falls perfectly into place, with an announcement that a crime has been committed, transportation to the scene, and information on the offender and their being brought to justice.  This was a very interesting case and a well written and objective article.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-oylerx19-2009mar19,0,273480.story

Jermaine Goodman is wanted for shooting a security guard at a grocerty store in Philadelphia.

This article loosely fits the layout for crime reporting (Gilliam & Iyengar 2000). The article only briefly described the victim, Leroy Jefferies, but emphasized the fact that he was innocently performing his duty as a security guard. This perfectly fits the picture of an “ideal victim” as we had discussed in class.
The offender, on the other hand, had more detailed information provided. This is most likely due to the fact that police are currently in search of him because they had included a separate name that the offender uses and three of his addresses. Unlike most crime reports, there was more detailed information provided about the offender which strays away from the traditional form of reporting. The article concludes with contact information and efforts that police have used and will take in the future.

In fact, the article explained in quite a bit of detail the interaction between the victim and offender prior to the shooting–showing Jefferies following the usual protocol. With regard to the theory of self-help, Black states, “Much of this conduct is intended as a punishment or other expression of disapproval… Some is an effort to achieve compensation, or restitution, for the harm that has been done” (Black 35-36) This interaction between the victim and offender does not fall under Black’s explanation of crime.

The events reported in this article supports many statistical facts we have been recently learning in class. Based on the description of the incident from the article, it was probable that Goodman can be labeled as an Opportunist when it came to this incident. Even though he had a gun on him, the fact that he was simply taking minor and cheap items (dental floss and cologne) and not planning and plotting to rob the grocery store. This crime also relates to workplace violence and supports the data found from researching the area of study. Only 37% of victims to workplace violence claim to know the offender; the rest may include places with a lot of workers or people simply do not work there (3/25). This incident falls into the larger majority of workplace crimes– the victim did not know the offender and the offender did not work there.

On the other hand, this incident describes the offender using his weapon. In class, we learned that the majority of armed robbers do not use their weapons or use fake/unloaded weapons (3/25). In fact, research shows that unarmed robbers are more likely to attack their victim. This particular shooting is considered more unlikely compared to other robbery cases.

     This article, from the Los Angeles Times on March 20^th, 2008, tells of a sad case in which two Southern California Gas Company employees were shot to death.  The alleged killer, a former worker who resigned in November, drove to the Anaheim Police station the day after the shootings and shot himself in the head while sitting in his car.

   This news story follows the traditional “news script,” format and patterns of reporting (Gilliam and Lyengar 2000).  The first pattern is that crime is violent, as 83% of news stories are dedicated to violent crime, as in this case with the fatal shooting of two people.  Next, the idea of the innocent victims, who are respectable people engaged in innocent activities.  In this case, one worker was in the parking lot of the company, just going home, and the other victim was shot to death in his own driveway.  There were six separate parts of this story dedicated to telling how the victims were kind, well thought of people, just trying to do their job.  With quotes from the family such as “He was a gentleman,” she said, “He was always so respectful”…and “he was working hard to save money to buy a house,” it makes the crime seem even more tragic, that it took the lives of innocent, hardworking people for no apparent reason.  The last typical part of reporting is how the police are brought into the story.  Police have a tendency of promoting themselves, and emphasize their success or their efforts to solve the case.  In this article it states, “Detectives are now trying to sort out what happened and what the motive might be for the violence,” these types of statements attempt to assure the public that they are on the case, and figuring out exactly what happened.  The news script is set up almost to shock the readers by telling them of a heinous, random act of violent, but then tries to put people at ease by assuring them that the police can be trusted to solve the case.

            Another interesting component to this story is the parallels that it has with most workplace violence statistics.  First, as in this case 37% of victims know their attacker (lecture 3/23).  Next, both victims were male in this case, and as with 67% of workplace related violence.  Finally, as we learned in class, most workplace related crimes take place in places of lower end work, and usually with people of a lower socioeconomic status.  In this case, the company involved was a gas company, which is lower end, blue collar work, and the first victim was described to have lived in a trailer, indicating that he was from a low socioeconomic status.  While these bits of information are not all that relevant in the crime itself, it is interesting that it follows the statistical pattern for workplace violence.  

For the full article: #mce_temp_url#

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Here is the link to the full report: http://www.fbi.gov/publications/serial_murder.htm

Here is a brief excerpt from the discussion of myths (discussed in class):

Myth: Serial killers are all dysfunctional loners. The majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone.. Serial murderers often have families and homes, are gainfully employed, and appear to be normal members of the community.

• The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed ten victims in and around Wichita, Kansas. He was married with two children, was a Boy Scout leader, served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, was employed as a local government official, and was president of his church.

Myth: Serial killers are all white males.?-?Contrary to popular belief, serial killers span all racial groups. There are white, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian serial killers. The racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors that of the overall U.S. population.

Myth: Serial killers are only motivated by sex. Will talk about other motivations in a moment

Myth: All serial murderers travel and operate interstate. - Most serial killers have very defined geographic areas of operation.

Myth: Serial killers cannot stop killing. – It has been widely believed that once serial killers start killing, they cannot stop. There are, however, some serial killers who stop murdering altogether before being caught. – EX – BTK

Myth: All Serial killers are insane or are evil geniuses. - As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders, including psychopathy, anti-social personality, and others. Most, however, are not adjudicated as insane under the law.The media has created a number of fictional serial killer “geniuses”, who outsmart law enforcement at every turn. Like other populations, however, serial killers range in intelligence from borderline to above average levels.

Myth: Serial killers want to get caught. – As serial killers continue to offend without being captured, they can become empowered, feeling they will never be identified. As the series continues, the killers may begin to take shortcuts when committing their crimes. This often causes the killers to take more chances, leading to identification by law enforcement. It is not that serial killers want to get caught; they feel that they can’t get caught.

This article was featured in the New York Times on March 18th 2009. This article is about a bank robber who was caught because of red hands. The bank robber had previously robbed five banks before walking into the 79th and 3rd Avenue bank. From one of the previously robbed banks the robber had red died hands. This dye the teller noticed right away as this specific bank uses the same dye for a safety measure if its’ ever robbed. Right away the teller prepared a bag with the same dye in it and immeadiatly pressed the police alert button at their teller station. After the man approach he handed the teller a very similar note he had used for the previous banks that said, “$7000, no alarms and no dye then no one gets hurt.” Although the teller only gave in on one of these demands every still managed to remain unharmed. Immeadiately after leaving the bank, the robber was captured and taken into police custody. For the sprialing economic crisis banks have become a target for not only pointing the figure for being the reason of this economic crisis but banks are also being highly targetted for robberies. This economic crisis is pushing people in very poor urban areas to new extremes and looking for new sources of money. Since many businesses are shutting down or downsizing this elminates many targets that these criminals would normally attack. News reporting almost always follows a very strict pattern for reporting crime and this article follows all previous patterns. The article starts with a description of the crime and a background of the character involved then it turns to an FBI expert and he talks about how banks are being robbed at a much higher level than before then it concludes by talked about the police actions to stop future bank robberies. Most of all this article is very surprising to me because it presents police as somewhat vunerable to this threat of bank robbing. In the article it says that all of the five banks this robber targetted, they were all using “recommended” cautionary measures and he still managed to prevail at those places without being caught. To me this shows that these measures are very ineffective and not at all cost worthy as I’m sure alot of money is poured into these and it stops very few and even the few it does catch it, they didn’t get very much money anyways. Overall I think that there shouldn’t be a “Bank Scare” and everyone should realize that its just an effect of a struggling economy where people are confused where to get money from.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/nyregion/19bank.html?_r=1

This is another new story from the Dallas Morning News’ crime blog. This story talks about how a man, Gary Lenard Shaw, was using the threat of physical violence and harm to make his current girlfriend engage in prostitution. According to the girlfriend who was most recently being “pimped” he’s had a history of doing this to his women. Shaw was also arrested for physically assualting his girlfriend by beating her with extension cords and leather belts in an effort to continue her prositution. I find this article very disturbing not only on the level that this act is very much “mala in se” , inherently bad, but also that this women/girlfriend knew of this man’s previous history and still continued to date him. I believe that sexual crimes are the most devistating for the victims. Although this women wasn’t raped or forcefully sexually assualted she mise well have. Her boyfriend was forcing her into selling parts of her body in a way that no women should have to. This kind of news is normally left out of mainstream reporting just due disturbance factor that this may cause for many audiences. Despite being left out of mainstream news most of the time, this article does fit the mold of storytelling that most crime news stories all follow. First the author tells the event and what exactly happened. Then the story turns to expert or first hand witnesses to give a feeling of assurance on the facts then the story turns to how the police are doing their job and what this man will be charged with. I feel that a henious sexual crime like this shouldn’t be kept strictly to one of these news scripts. By keeping a such a devastating crime like this to a bland, basic script it doesn’t give any weight to the severity of this crime. Also this article is very short which leaves you empty worrying and wondering about the fill in details that were left out. Without elaboration of the female victims circumstances, you’re left to think that she wasn’t seriously effected and that she was somewhat of the cause because she never stood up for herself. By just including a little more personal information you could still achieve anonmitity but gain a sense of compassion for the victim. My last complaint about this article is that there’s little satisfaction that the criminal is actually being dealt with. At the conclusion of the article the audience is still left wondering if he’ll get away with it or not.

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/dallas-police-say-man-forced-h.html

This is an article about the murder of 3 Oakland police officers and the critical condition of a third. This is the result of multiple shoot outs earlier which started when two officers pulled Lovelle Mixon over for a parole violation. Mixon opened fire on the officers killing one and wounding the second. Two other officers were killed later in the day in a second shoot out which left Mixon also dead.

Earlier today (Sunday, March 22) Associated Press (AP) released a story proclaiming 4 officers dead. This was later changed when the precinct corrected the press by informing them that the fourth officer has been declared brain dead but that he remains on life support. This is interesting in that it casts shadows and doubts on the media. We have always been told by our parents and teachers to take things, and the media, with a bit of salt but incidences like these highlight the fact that sometimes what is being reported is not the truth. While this time was perhaps as simple as a misunderstanding it does not change that what was reported was not verified with facts. Facts make things true, or rational. This is a case of the lesson “do not take things as face value, double check the facts, verify them.”

However, the officer is being kept on life support only until a decision has been reached on what should be done with his organs.

An interesting part of this incident is that the suspect used different guns in each shoot out. The first one, when he was pulled over in his car, was a gun (presumably a hand gun). While in the second shoot out which happened after a foot chase was an assault rifle which is not a common weapon used in homicides.

Mixon was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. That he would break parole and then kill essentially any officer he could put a bullet in speaks to the repetition of this type of crime. ((What percent of criminals who have committed assault with a deadly weapon are likely to commit the same offense again?))

One of the saddest things about this story other then the loss of five lives, four of which were dedicated officers of the law, is how some members of the society reacted to the fellow officers of those who were slain. At one of the crime scenes some of the police force was openly mourning their fallen peers; their grief was mocked by some of the bystanders. There is an interesting dichotomy between the police and the communities they serve.

The article: http://news.aol.com/article/oakland-police-shooting/392279?icid=main|aim|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Foakland-police-shooting%2F392279

This story discusses the recent burst of crime that has been recently coming across Albany, NY. Not only is this significant in regards to the amount of crime on the street, and how safe it is for people to be out alone, but this article also mentions how this increase in crime may be an important factor in the politics of the city. As leaders that aren’t seen to be properly effective to be removed for those who might have a better chance at combating the increases in crime.

This article goes into a string of different crimes that are occurring over a specific area. It goes into how politics and crime can be connected, such as how the current mayor may not be doing enough to fight crime and how the mayoral candidate may be able to do a better job then the current mayor. With the most recent statistics presenting crime as going down in nearly all areas, this recent surge in crime is surprising and seems to be taking advantage of the local residents who have been feeling safer and have therefore been less watchful for crimes. The crimes that are discussed in this article are not so terrible that they would be cause for such large action, yet they are enough to create the idea of a minor crime wave across the city.

This feeling of increased safety for the residents of the city has actually had a reverse effect on crime, as people have put themselves in much more vulnerable positions. The media goes on to see this as being somehow related to the current mayor, and goes on to take the opinion of the opposing mayoral candidate. Who obviously will say that the current mayor is doing something wrong and they would have the solution for the issue once they are made mayor. This obvious partisanship makes it clear that the news organization is partisan to the subject and obviously likes the candidate more than the current mayor.

As a crime wave, this article isn’t really talking about one of the larger ones thought it can be looked at as a way that a larger crime wave could occur over a larger geographic area. Though the media’s reaction would undoubtedly be much more involved and more alarmist then just one article as is this case.

link to article

This article focuses on the ethical aspect of castration as a means of rehabilitation for sexual predators.

As discussed in our definitions of normality class last semester this issue brings about many ethical questions.  Is the castration of a convicted sex offender cruel and unusual punishment?  How extreme a case must it be for castration to be an acceptable punishment?  The article makes it apparent that castration is requested by the convicts in order to serve lesser punishments or even be released into the public again.  The offenders must be repeat offenders with severe sexual-psychological problems.  It also answers the question of whether the practice is affective, as the European psychiatrists noted on significant drops in the amount of offending (from 80% to 2.3% chance of repeat).  However, the European method of surgical castration is much different from the United State’s chemical castration.  The European version is permanent and is only offered at the expressed request of the offender, while in the United States the chemical affect only lasts a number of years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/europe/11castrate.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

In this story, a 22-year-old man was convicted of raping and killing his 6-year old cousin in Dedham Massachusets.  While his attorney claimed he was insane, and “tortured by demons,” the jury found him guilty, and sentenced him to life in prison without a possibility of parole. 

This case is a tragic example of a violent crime committed by a member of the family.  As we discussed in class, violent crime, including homicide often happens to people who know their attacker, many times even a member of their own family.  According to statistics it is not unlikely for family members to commit homicide on other family members.  As we learned in class, not including parent/child, spouse, or sibling relationships, other family members are responsible for about 500 victims of homicide (Lecture 3/13).  In this the man killed his young cousin, which would fall into that category.  Similarly, statistics show that victims of homicide under the age of 18 are much more likely to be both sex related and family induced, which are also both present in this heinous case. 

            Another interesting piece of this case was that the defendants attorney claimed that the offender was insane, and “tortured by daemons,” as a way to explain his cruel and vicious behavior.  By claiming the offender was mentally ill, it is a way of denying his intent to harm the victim.  Raping and killing an innocent six year old girl, and a family member on top of that is one of the most heinous crimes and is viewed as universally immoral in our society (Lecture 1/30).  The victim being young and innocent, even sleeping at the time the crime took places make the crime seem even more brutal.  The attorney blamed mental illness and insanity as the only way to explain the evil actions of the offender. 

            A big misconception about crime is the idea of “stranger danger,” especially as it pertains to little kids.  In the article “Media Construction of Crime,” by Vincent Sacco, he describes the media to portray and focus on “the epidemic of random violence.”  The idea that women and children are most vulnerable to random acts of violence by strangers is guided by the media and heavily taught in schools.  The irony is that most violent crimes including rapes and homicides, as in this case are committed by acquaintances, lovers of family members.  “Stranger danger,” is over emphasized because we want to believe crime is random and not by people we know an trust. 

Link

The New York Times crime page had a brief report on three killings in an Air force hospital done by the attending doctor. The three patients were terminally ill when the doctor injected them with lethal amounts of medication. The doctor will face an Article 32 hearing which will determine if he will go before a court-martial.

The article, because it is very brief, is also very lacking in details. It gives the doctors name, status and the location of where the crime took place but the article does not talk about how these killings were brought to the official’s attention, who was in charge of apprehending the doctor and nothing is mentioned about the doctor’s motives for these killings. Because the patients were terminally ill this occurrence is reminiscent of Doctor Kevorkian’s own administration of lethal injections (sometimes his method was the inhalation of lethal gasses with a “death mask”) to terminally ill patients. For Doctor Kevorkian these were mercy killings, freeing the patients from a long, slow and suffering death. Without specific mention of motive are we to believe that Dr. Capt. Michael Fontana had the same reasons. Is the fact that the motive is not mentioned due to this connection or because one has not been given yet.

Because not a lot of details are given it is hard to tell how to feel about the event(s). Are we supposed to view these as mercy killings and that it was, while not right perhaps, maybe justifiable? Or are we supposed to be horrified that a medical personal is taking the power over life and death into his own hands and killing victims who are defenseless? In this case the media is not putting a spin on this article; it is not driving the public’s opinion one way or another. (Which seems unusual). In the second class (1-23) we discussed mala in se and mala prohibita situations. This incidence, for me, seems to toe the line between the two. Killing is wrong; this is something that humans seem to generally agree on (barring certain motives for war or psychotic mental states). But America has also decided that cruel and unusual punishment is wrong. Now being terminally ill is not a punishment by the authorities but it is painful and making someone suffering is torture, which is something that does fall under cruel and unusual. At that point which is the right action to take, murder or torture?

This article does bring up the question of how many mercy killings actually take place? Are they always multiple-murders?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/us/18brfs-MILITARYNURS_BRF.html?_r=2

In February Los Angeles officials took down one of the cities gang headquarters in a symbolic but rather destructive fashion.  They bulldozed a house this particular gang had been using as their headquarters in an effort to drive the gangs out.

This article is problematic in many respects.  First and foremost it perpetuates the belief that immigrants are more likely to be involved in criminal activity, something which Sampson disagreed with in his article.  On top of this the neighborhood is now left with a visible scar which almost certainly has an affect on the people living nearby.  Many of the views expressed by the onlookers revealed signs of distrust for the police as well as officials and policy makers.  Actions such as this further a conception of isolation on the part of the underprivileged.  Mistrust of the government and policing agencies as well as a lack of identification with common benefits provided by the law assumable would lead to an increase in criminal activity.  If police agencies are seen as the enemy the law will likely be discarded as arbitrary and actions like this by government officials do not help the process.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100357195

In Buffalo, New York, a man was charged with murdering his wife.  Since this occurred in New York, he was charged for second-degree murder (with malice, intentional and premeditated) instead of first-degree.  Police believed the reason for his wife’s murder is due to the fact that she filed for a divorce along with previous cases of domestic violence.  At first, the news media stated that her murder could possibly be an “honor killing.”

The media construction of this particular case followed the typical model of reporting.  The victim was described as innocent and living in fear of her husband.  She had done nothing morally wrong except file for a divorce.  On the other hand, the husband is portrayed as dangerous; the media especially emphasized the fact that she had a restraining order against him.  There were pictures shown of the couple including a brief description of their careers.  The end of the article was a follow up commentary of past incidents that the police had responded to involving this couple.  The police reported that they had responded several times which could show their continuing efforts and hard work.  Therefore, the article had followed the basic guidelines of reporting.

Two things that I had found particularly interesting is the fact that he had been charge with only second-degree murder.  According to the New York State court system, first-degree murder is reserved for “heinous murders” and other gruesome crimes.  In my opinion, beheading qualifies for such a label.  Another thing that was unusual was the fact that this article was different from many of the typical crime stories you find on the news.  Instead of the commonly used concept of “stranger danger”, this article was about violence against women from someone they are intimate with.

This article directly contradicts Richard B. Felson’s article in many ways.  Felson argued that male violence towards women does not imply that men are showing dominance.  He believes that it is simply because women make up half the population.  However, if this murder was truly an “honor killing,” the husband is clearly attempting to show dominance over his wife by killing her.  Since she had formally filed a divorce against him, he probably felt that his “power” was threatened/violated and reinforced it through violence.  Felson also states that “some women are certainly terrorized by their husbands, but those husbands may be nasty brutes, not domineering sexists.”  From the media portrayal of the offender, he was described as the chief executive officer of Bridges TV and had no noted prior major offenses in other areas of crime.  This suggests that the husband was a good standing citizen with no traits of a “nasty brute”.

This article, printed in the Los Angeles Times, is about a recent trend that immigration detention is a growing source of income for law enforcement agencies.  With recent budget cuts, law enforcement agencies are looking for other sources of government funding and Washington pays millions to house immigrant detainees.  Jail has become like a business. 

            At about $100.00 per detainee, per day it is clear that law enforcement officials are only using immigrants for a profit.  This is unfortunate because many immigrants are harmless and simply want to make a better life for themselves, the government is no handling them the way they should.  Using immigrants for government funding is unethical.  However, in our society immigrants are seen in a negative light, they are seen as dangerous and unworthy of having rights.  Therefore, as the article points out immigrants are seen as valuable government funding, nothing more. 

According to the Robert Sampson article “Rethinking crime and Immigration,” while stereotypes view immigration to drive up crime rates, studies have shown that in areas with immigrants, “even if illegal, is associated with lower crime rates in most disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.”  In addition the article points out that immigrants are statistically “forty-five percent less likely to commit violence than third-generation Americans.”   (Sampson p 29) These statistics may be a bit shocking because of the strict immigration laws in America and the federal Government’s recent “crack down” on their illegal immigration policies.  However it should make it clear that, while immigration laws should be followed, there does not need to be the sense of urgency of detaining most immigrants. 

There are many other problems for law enforcement agencies to worry about.  However, since the Federal government gives so much funding for each and every detained immigrant, the incentives to keep immigrants detained are high.  There are so many immigrants detained that they are put in local jails and not separated from other criminal inmates because there is not enough room.  Although immigrant rights activists have argued that this policy is unethical, as we discussed in class, police and law enforcement agencies often promote themselves.  (Lecture 1/30)  Cities that are the most in need of funding are the strictest with detaining immigrants.  In order to make this policy legitimate, they make a case about how dangerous these immigrants are and how necessary it is for them to be detained.  Law enforcement officials also make it known that they need more staff, and more spaces in their jails because they are catching so many immigrants.  It is unfortunate that money controls so much and that peoples jail time is the results of budget cuts. 

 View the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-immigjail17-2009mar17,0,1022273.story?page=1

This article is about the murder of an 80 year old woman by her grandson, who had suffered psychotic breakdowns throughout his life. The article mostly focuses on the life of the murderer, and his descent into madness with hardly anything written about the victim.

What interested me the most about the reporting of this crime was the way in which the media chose to focus almost entirely on the perpetrator of the crime. More specifically trying to give a reason for why he committed the crime. This news report was constructed so that it seems as if any sane member of society would never do something like this. Therefore comes in the emphasis on the perpetrator, James Clarke’s mental illness. More than half of the article is focused on the ways in which psychiatrists and social workers tried to help him. Yet from what the article says it seems as if they were never able to help him in any significant way. Therefore it almost seems like the person writing the article is blaming James Clarke’s murder of his grandmother on medical and social institutions that should have been able to “cure” him of his intense psychosis.

This seems to be even more emphasized by the fact that he is being charged with 1^st degree murder. Which as we discussed in class and is stated within Massachusetts Murder Law as: being premeditated or with malice. In the article it appears as if Clarke does show regret for what he did, though there is never any discussion of having the charge be lowered to 2^nd degree murder due to his altered mental state. In general it seems as if the media never really disagrees with the charges given to criminals, never suggesting that a charge might be too high for the crime. Though there are definitely incidences where the public will see a heinous crime and push for the maximum sentence/punishment, which will undoubtedly also come out through the media.

Overall this article seems to be an example of the bias that the media has, especially in regard to people within society who don’t fit social norms and may have already been considered “deviants.” Due to the stress on Clarke’s mental health this seems especially apparent, and that in other cases where a “normal” person perpetrated such a crime; the media would surely go out of its way to find some kind of deviance in that person’s life. Without this deviance, the public would see murderers and criminals as being anywhere and anyone. That there might not necessarily be some kind of pattern to those who commit crimes.

Link to article

The lay-out of the article fit the typical news crime story model (Gilliam & Iyengar) in which we discussed in class. It started with the reported that a crime had occurred along with visuals of the suspect and crime scene. As you can see on article, the first sentence basically acts as the announcement of the crime and the video is used as a visual. It ended with the apprehension of the criminal who was linked to the murder in some form along with further police efforts. As mentioned in class, the police were presented as successful and promoting their efforts in this investigation. Also, in the article, the victim was described as responsible, innocent, and “knowing better” by her family and friends. Although there was sparse information given, by putting the victim in a positive light, the media is able to stir up the emotions of the readers/viewers. Lastly, also talked about in class (2/2/09), Best (1999) states that a major theme in news crime stories is that crime is random. This gives the reader/viewer a sense that anyone can be a victim at anytime. In the case of Alycia Nipp’s murder, the situation was unusual due to the fact that not many people have sex offenders nearby. Therefore, this article followed the script by avoiding stories that could potentially harm public welfare directly.

In addition to following the news script, the reporting of this particular crime story related to Stanko’s article, “Women, Crime, and Fear”. Media is one of the biggest contributors to the fear that women feel when walking down a street at night. I felt that this particular news story, along with many more, emphasized the concept of “Stranger Danger” and how women are in danger of being attacked by a sex offender who happened to be “camping out” near their backyard. As we learned from the article, “both officially recorded crime and the vast hidden violence against women suggest that women’s assailants are most likely to be men known to them” (Stanko, 50). Even though statistics show otherwise, the continuation of violence against women by random strangers still remain heavily emphasized in our media today.

Fox 12 Link: http://www.kptv.com/news/18771423/detail.html#-