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Prepared by Emily Berthelot, University of Arkansas at Little Rock ©
2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
CHAPTER SIX
VICTIMS AND THE
POLICE
1. To establish the ways in which victims suffer.
2. To find out what the criminal justice system can accomplish in
behalf of victims.
3. To become familiar with the ways that the police can serve
the best interests of crime victims.
4. To uncover issues and relationships where victims and law
enforcement agencies can find themselves in conflict rather
than in an alliance.
5. To become acquainted with the kind of evidence that is
useful to evaluate whether a police department is
effectively meeting the needs of victims in its jurisdiction.
6. To recognize the features of a victim-oriented police
department.
Learning Objectives
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
How the System Handles Victims
Which CJ professionals are involved with
victim issues?
Police
Prosecutor
Judges
Corrections
The system often creates more conflict than
resolution for victims.
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What Do Victims Want,
Punishment or Restitution?
Three Goals
1. Punish offenders
2. Compel lawbreakers to undergo
rehabilitative treatment
3. Repay victims for losses and injuries
they suffered
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
What Do Victims Want?
1. Punishment
Make examples of criminal—provided
deterrence theory really works
Incapacitate
Prevents future vigilantism
Retribution—morally sound practice
Satisfies victim thirst for revenge
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
What Do Victims Want?
Punishment continued—
Opponents of this utilitarian approach
have documented that punishment:
Results in high rates of imprisonment
Is expensive
Is often impractical
Can be ineffective
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What Do Victims Want?
2. Rehabilitation
Some victims want professionals to help offenders
become decent, productive, law abiding citizens.
Do not want them to victimize others.
Victims most likely to endorse rehabilitation if the
offender was NOT a complete stranger.
Victims may become dismayed when ―heavy
handed‖ policies drive the offender to become
more violent and attain new heights of antisocial
conduct.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
What Do Victims Want?
3. Restitution
Some victims want restitution rather than
retribution or rehabilitation.
Want to recoup losses and pay bills incurred
as result of the crime.
Loss of pay, medical expenses, household bills
unpaid due to being out of work
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Reporting Incidents
Most likely to report crimes involving
brandishing weapons, physical injuries, or
substantial financial loss.
Of the violent crimes, aggravated assaults
are most often reported; rapes least often.
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Victims and the Police
T A B L E 6.1 Trends in Reporting Crimes to the Police,
Selected Years, 1973–2013
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Leading reasons for victims reporting violent crimes:
―to prevent future violence,‖ ―to stop the offender,‖ and
―to protect others.‖
Smaller percentages of respondents’ motivations were:
―to catch and punish the offender‖ and ―to fulfill their
civic duty.‖
Citizens not required to inform authorities of crimes
committed against them on their property.
If they conspire or collaborate in a cover-up to
conceal a serious crime, they can be charged with
“misprision of a felony.”
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Responding Quickly
Want police to respond quickly and apprehend
offender
Calls are prioritized by dispatchers
Sometimes there is a lag in time between the
crime and its discovery
Confusion about whether an illegal act occurred
Coping with emotional conflicts, personal trauma,
and physical wounds, and then regain their
composure before informing authorities
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Victims and the Police
Trends in Police Response Times to Violent Crimes, Selected
Years, 1990–2008
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Police Investigating Complaints
Victims anticipate that the police will be sensitive and
polite, treat them with dignity, respect their rights, and
make decisions in an open and transparent manner
(Murphy and Barkworth, 2014).
Handling Victims with Care
Officers can seem disinterested, remote, unconcerned
about plight of victim
Police sometime doubt the victim’s credibility and
discontinue investigation
Emotional detachment is a necessary defense against
burning out
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Many police departments conducting
training to assist officers with victim issues
Teach how to administer ―psychological
first aid‖
Learning importance of responding quickly,
listening attentively, showing concern and
refraining from challenging the victim’s
versions of events
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8/18/2015
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Victims and the Police
Complaints
Founded—verified by police
Unfounded—police reject claims
Defounded—police believe a crime
occurred but not as serious as reported
Police accused of misclassification of above to
make statistics look better for themselves and
department or the workload was too great.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Investigating Complaints/Solving Crimes/Clearance
Rates
Homicides— 64% overall cleared
Larceny— 23% cleared successfully
Vehicle Theft— 14% cleared successfully
Robberies— 29% cleared
Rape— 60% no attacker arrested
Aggravated Assault— 42% no arrests made
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
T A B L E 6.2 Trends in Clearance Rates, United States,
Selected Years, 1953–2013
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Victims and the Police
Law enforcement is under no comparable
constitutional pressure to read victims
their “rights” about their obligations and
opportunities.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Recovering Stolen Property—unlike clearance
rates, no good data of recovery
Data remains fairly consistent through the
years
Recovered property often kept by police for
evidence to be used in a trial
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
Victims and the Police
Victim-Oriented Police Department
Victim advocacy units are a vital component
of a Community Oriented Police Department.
Police departments must consider a revamp
of their operations and reconsider their
priorities to deal with the victim’s concerns.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
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