Crime preparation

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Crime preparations are acts or actions performed by criminal offenders during any period of time before the actual crime is committed and range from mere intent to overt action.

Contents

In some jurisdictions, the very act of preparing for a crime is a criminal offense in itself, though it is generally viewed as being natural behavior for lawbreakers. The preparations that criminals take prior to their illegal actions are very often prosecuted as inchoate offenses, described in law as the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common examples of an inchoate offense are conspiracy and the possession of tools necessary to execute the crime or crimes. "Inchoate offense" has been defined as "Conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done, provided that the harm that would have occurred is one the law tries to prevent." [1] [2]

Selected common preparations

Since criminals often to do act randomly to lead into their crimes, they often conspire and prepare greatly the executions of their action, their getaways, and their success in not being found out. Law enforcement and investigators in the field of forensic psychology describe these activities as most often being performed by the "organized offender". [3]

Conspiracy

In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future. [4] Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act must also have been undertaken in furtherance of that agreement, to constitute an offense. [5] There is no limit on the number participating in the conspiracy and, in most countries, no requirement that any steps have been taken to put the plan into effect. [6] For the purposes of concurrence, the actus reus is a continuing one and parties may join the plot later and incur joint liability and conspiracy can be charged where the co-conspirators have been acquitted or cannot be traced. [7] Finally, repentance by one or more parties does not affect liability but may reduce their sentence. [8]

Solicitation

It is the action or instance of soliciting; petition; proposal. In criminal law, it most commonly refers to the act of offering money to someone with the specific intent of inducing that person to commit a crime. [9]

Stalking

Stalking is the unwanted and repeated surveillance of a person by another individual or group. [10]

Gathering of tools and clothing

The possession of tools used to facilitate a crime and clothing used to conceal the identity of the offender is usually prosecuted as 'possession of burglary tools'. An example can be: "The bank robber packed a crow bar, lock picks, and a saw to be used to break into the bank and its vault. Before he ventured towards the bank, the robber put on sunglasses and a ski mask to hide his face, and he slid on a pair of leather gloves to hide his fingerprints". [11] [12]

See also

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to criminal justice:

Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary. To commit burglary is to burgle, a term back-formed from the word burglar, or to burglarize.

An inchoate offense, preliminary crime, inchoate crime or incomplete crime is a crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is "attempt". "Inchoate offense" has been defined as the following: "Conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done, provided that the harm that would have occurred is one the law tries to prevent."

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Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause" another person to attempt or commit a crime, with the purpose of thereby facilitating the attempt or commission of that crime.

Under the English common law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even if they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and demands the money is guilty of armed robbery. Anyone else directly involved in the commission of the crime, such as the lookout or the getaway car driver, is an accomplice, even if in the absence of an underlying offense keeping a lookout or driving a car would not be an offense.

Articles related to criminology and law enforcement.

An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur. Attempt to commit a particular crime is a crime, usually considered to be of the same or lesser gravity as the particular crime attempted. Attempt is a type of inchoate crime, a crime that is not fully developed. The crime of attempt has two elements, intent and some conduct toward completion of the crime.

In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but may or may not have actually occurred.

An accessory is a person who assists in, but does not actually participate in, the commission of a crime. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree:

Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in constitutional law and public law to describe the power of courts to hear a case brought by a state accusing a defendant of the commission of a crime. It is relevant in three distinct situations:

  1. to regulate the relationship between states, or between one state and another;
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Crime scene getaway Act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law

A crime scene getaway is the act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A crime scene is the "location of a crime; especially one at which forensic evidence is collected in a controlled manner." The "getaway" is any escape by a perpetrator from that scene, which may have been witnessed by eyewitnesses or law enforcement.

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In English criminal law, an inchoate offence is an offence relating to a criminal act which has not, or not yet, been committed. The main inchoate offences are attempting to commit; encouraging or assisting crime; and conspiring to commit. Attempts, governed by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, are defined as situations where an individual who intends to commit an offence does an act which is "more than merely preparatory" in the offence's commission. Traditionally this definition has caused problems, with no firm rule on what constitutes a "more than merely preparatory" act, but broad judicial statements give some guidance. Incitement, on the other hand, is an offence under the common law, and covers situations where an individual encourages another person to engage in activities which will result in a criminal act taking place, and intends for this act to occur. As a criminal activity, incitement had a particularly broad remit, covering "a suggestion, proposal, request, exhortation, gesture, argument, persuasion, inducement, goading or the arousal of cupidity". Incitement was abolished by the Serious Crime Act 2007, but continues in other offences and as the basis of the new offence of "encouraging or assisting" the commission of a crime.

Glove prints

Glove prints, also sometimes described as gloveprints or glove marks, are latent, fingerprint-like impressions that are transferred to a surface or object by an individual who is wearing gloves.

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References

  1. ↑ Larry K. Gaines, Roger LeRoy Miller (2006). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core. Thomson-Wadsworth Publishing.
  2. ↑ See lists and chapters of texts at McCord and McCord, Infra, pp. 185-213, and Schmalleger, Infra, pp. 105-161, 404.
  3. ↑ Gilmore, Lance E. (4 November 2011). "Experimentally Evaluating Statistical Patterns ofOffending Typology For Burglary: A ReplicationStudy". University of South Florida Scholar Commons.
  4. ↑ Newton, Brent E. (1999). "The Antiquated Slight Evidence Rule in Federal Conspiracy Cases". Journal of Appellate Practice & Process. 1: 49.
  5. ↑ Collier, N.C. (1910). "Criminal Conspiracy Needing Overt Act to Make it Indictable". Central Law Journal. 71: 387.
  6. ↑ Kaplan, R.J. (1971). "Attempt, Solicitation, and Conspiracy under the Proposed California Criminal Code". UCLA Law Review. 19: 603.
  7. ↑ Mensa-Bonsu, A. (1992). "Conspiracy in Two Common Law Jurisdictions - A Comparative Analysis". African Journal of International and Comparative Law. 4: 419.
  8. ↑ "Criminal Law Act 1977, c. 45, p. 1, s. 5". legislation.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Solicitation". Wex. Cornell Law School. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "State and Federal Stalking Laws". The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  11. ↑ See Schmalleger, Supra, p. 404.
  12. ↑ James W.H. McCord and Sandra L. McCord, Criminal Law and Procedure for the paralegal: a systems approach, supra, p. 127.
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