CJ - Types of Crimes Lesson
Types of Crimes Lesson
An offense against a person usually refers to a crime in a criminal case. Crimes are usually committed by direct physical harm or force by one person to another. They can be categorized into several divisions such as: Fatal offenses, sexual offenses, or non-fatal offenses. Sexual crimes are usually categorized separately from those involving harm or death. Although homicides are an offense against a person, they are generally classified as more serious crimes.
Violent Crime
A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force against a victim. Violent crimes are usually committed with or without weapons. There are five categories of violent crimes including:
Murder
The killing of one person without a valid excuse or justification
Forcible rape
Sexual assault, usually involving intercourse without the victim's consent
Robbery
Taking anything of value by force or threat or by putting the victim in fear
Aggravated Assault
A form of assault involving a deadly weapon
Simple Assault
A lesser form of assault usually charged as a misdemeanor
Categories of Crime
Researchers and commentators may classify crimes into categories.
- Property crimes: Property crimes include burglary, theft, larceny, arson, shoplifting, vandalism, and motor vehicle theft.
- Public order crimes: Public order crimes are crimes that involve an act that interferes with the operation of society and for the ability of individuals to function efficiently. The behavior is considered criminal because it interferes with the customs, social values, and norms of society.
- Violent crimes: A crime where the offender uses force or threatens a victim with force. Violent crimes include burglary, acts of terrorism, kidnapping, torture, gang crimes, airplane hijacking, drug trafficking, and more.
Classifying Crimes
Analysts can also classify crimes by severity, some common categories include:
Federal Crimes
Acts that are made illegal by the federal government... These crimes are punished under federal criminal law. Federal crimes include kidnapping, child pornography, obscenity, tax evasion, counterfeiting, aircraft hijacking, bank robbery, and much more.
Felonies
A felony is a serious crime. Felonies are punishable by death or imprisonment for more than a year. Felonies include murder, arson, manslaughter (unintentional murder), perjury, treason, kidnapping, copyright infringement, and much more.
Infractions
A crime that is less serious than a felony. Infractions include parking tickets, a violation of an ordinance, breach of contract, and much more.
Misdemeanors
A lesser criminal act punishable by less than a year in prison or fines... Misdemeanors include petty theft, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, trespassing, vandalism, reckless driving, and much more.
FBI and Census Bureau
In the United States, crime statistics come from two major divisions, the FBI and the Census Bureau. These two organizations have different ways of collecting data. As a result, they publish crime statistics and data in different ways.
The following nine crimes are tracked and are part of the crime index that is published in the United States each year:
- murder
- forcible rape
- robbery
- aggravated assault
- burglary
- larceny-theft
- motor-vehicle theft
- arson
- hate crimes
Crime statistics that are published by the FBI and Census Bureau are reliable statistics in terms of the frequency and types of crimes reported. There are many more crimes that are committed every year that are never reported or publicized. Therefore, these are not counted in the statistics.
Juvenile Crimes
Juvenile crimes refer to legal violations committed by individuals under the age of eighteen. The majority of teenage crimes include rape, robbery, assault, murder, theft, and the buying and selling of illegal substances.
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