How are crimes classified?

Crimes may be classified in various ways. One type of classification is given below:

1. crimes against a person (murder, assault and battery, kidnapping, rape),

2. crimes against property (robbery, hijacking, embezzlement, receiving stolen property),

3. crimes against the government and the administration of justice (treason, tax evasion, bribery, counterfeiting, perjury),

4. crimes against public peace and order (rioting, carrying weapons, drunk and disorderly conduct, illegal speeding),

5. crimes against buildings (burglary, arson, criminal trespass),

6. crimes against consumers (fraudulent sale of wild cat securities), or

7.crimes against decency (bigamy, obscenity, prostitution, sexual harassment).

Crimes are classified in terms of their seriousness as felonies or misdemeanors.

1. Felonies

A felony is a crime of a serious nature. It exists when the act:

1) is labeled so by law or

2) is punishable by death or confinement for more than one year in prison.

Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, larceny (also called theft) of large sums, and perjury are examples of felonies. A person who lies when under oath commits perjury.

2 Misdemeanors

A misdemeanor is a crime of a less serious nature. It is usually punishable 1) by confinement in a jail for less than one year, 2) by fine, or 3) by both confinement and fine. Crimes such as drunken­ness in public, driving an automobile at an illegal speed, shoplifting, and larceny of small sums are usually misdemeanors. A lesser misdemeanor is known as infraction. Parking overtime on metered parking, failing to clear snow from sidewalks, and littering are examples of infractions. Ordinarily, no jury is allowed in cases involving infractions because the punishment is no more than a fine.

What are business related crimes?

A business, like any person, is subject to general criminal law. Some crimes, however, are found more frequently in the business than elsewhere. Business firms are frequently the victims of crimes, such as robbery, burglary, shoplifting, employee pilferage, passing bad checks, vandal­ism, receiving stolen property, and embezzlement. Because such criminals are generally well-educated, respected members of the community, the offenses are called white-collar crimes.

Common examples of white-collar crimes are income tax evasion, consumer fraud, bribery, and embezzlement. Normally no physical violence is involved in crimes of this nature.

Here are some of the common business-related crimes:

1. Larceny

Larceny (commonly known as theft) is the wrongful taking of money or personal property belonging to someone else. Variations of larceny include robbery (taking property person in immediate presence and against the victim’s will, and by force or by causing fear) and burglary (en­tering a building with the intent to commit a crime). Other types of larceny include shoplifting, pick­pocketing, and purse snatching.

2. Receiving Stolen Property

Knowingly receiving stolen property is an offense separate from larceny. It consists of receiving, concealing, or buying property known to be stolen, with intent to deprive the rightful owner of the prop­erty. One who receives stolen property is known as a fence. Special statutes deal with the fencing of types of property that are commonly stolen, such as motor vehicles and valuable airplane, ship, or truck car­goes.

3. Forgery

Forgery is falsely making or altering any writing (for example the signature of another person). In forgery there must be intent to defraud either the person whose name is signed or someone else. The most common forgeries are found on checks when one has signed another’s name without permis­sion to do so. Forgery is usually a felony.

4. Bribery

Bribery is offering or giving to a government official money or anything of value which the official was not authorized to receive in order to influence performance of an official duty. Accept­ing the money or offer is also bribery.

5. Extortion

Extortion (commonly known as blackmail) is obtaining money or other property from a person by wrongful use of force, fear, or the power of office. The extortionist (blackmailer) may threaten to inflict bodily injury on the victim or a close relative of the victim. Sometimes the extortionist threatens to expose a secret crime if payment is not made. Kidnapping is a related crime.

6. Conspiracy

Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to do an unlawful criminal act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means. Usually the agreement is secret. Depending on the circum­stances, the crime may be either a felony or a misdemeanor.

7. Selling and Buying Narcotic Drugs

Narcotics, when abused, can cause serious mental and physical harm. There exist laws, which make certain narcotic-related activities criminal offenses. The activities include selling or offering to sell, possessing, tran­sporting, administering, or giving narcotics without a license, except by medi­cal prescription.

8. Computer Crime

Society has only recently addressed the problems of crimes made possible by the computer revolution. One problem involves the stealing of valuable information from other persons’ com­puters.

Exercise 28. Listen to the news reports and match each person with the crime described, then write a story based on listening.

1. John Pierce a. fraud

2. Sally Smith b. terrorism

3. Ann Daniels c. blackmail

4. Tom Corman d. joyriding

5. Jerry Parr e. drug trafficking

Exercise 29. Translate the following definitions into English.

1) Статья 14 УК РФ. Понятие преступления.

1. Преступлением признается виновно совершенное общественно опасное деяние, запрещенное настоящим Кодексом под угрозой наказания.

2. Не является преступлением действие (бездействие), хотя формально и содержащее признаки какого-либо деяния, предусмотренного настоящим Кодексом, но в силу малозначительности не представляющее общественной опасности.

2) Статья 15 УК РФ. Категории преступлений.

1. В зависимости от характера и степени общественной опасности деяния, предусмотренные настоящим Кодексом, подразделяются на преступления небольшой тяжести, преступления средней тяжести, тяжкие преступления и особо тяжкие преступления.

2. Преступлениями небольшой тяжести признаются умышленныеинеосторожныедеяния, за совершение которых максимальное наказание, предусмотренное настоящим Кодексом, не превышает двух лет лишения свободы.

3. Преступлениями средней тяжести признаются умышленные деяния, за совершение которых максимальное наказание, предусмотренное настоящим Кодексом, не превышает пяти лет лишения свободы, и неосторожные деяния, за совершение которых максимальное наказание, предусмотренное настоящим Кодексом, превышает два года лишения свободы.

4. Тяжкими преступлениями признаются умышленные деяния, за совершение которых максимальное наказание, предусмотренное настоящим Кодексом, не превышает десяти лет лишения свободы.

5. Особо тяжкими преступлениями признаются умышленные деяния, за совершение которых настоящим Кодексом предусмотрено наказание в виде лишения свободы на срок свыше десяти лет или более строгое наказание.

3) Умысел – это форма вины преступника, при которой он осознаёт общественно опасный характер своих действий и предвидит неизбежность возможных последствий

4) Статья 20 УК РФ. Возраст, с которого наступает уголовная ответственность

1. Уголовной ответственности подлежит лицо, достигшее ко времени совершения преступления шестнадцатилетнего возраста.

2. Лица, достигшие ко времени совершения преступления четырнадцатилетнего возраста, подлежат уголовной ответственности за убийство (статья 105), умышленное причинение тяжкого вреда здоровью (статья 111), умышленное причинение средней тяжести вреда здоровью (статья 112), похищение человека (статья 126), изнасилование (статья 131), насильственные действия сексуального характера (статья 132), кражу (статья 158), грабеж (статья 161), разбой (статья 162), вымогательство (статья 163), неправомерное завладение автомобилем или иным транспортным средством без цели хищения (статья 166), умышленные уничтожение или повреждение имущества при отягчающих обстоятельствах (часть вторая статьи 167), террористический акт (статья 205), захват заложника (статья 206), заведомо ложное сообщение об акте терроризма (статья 207), хулиганство при отягчающих обстоятельствах (часть вторая статьи 213), вандализм (статья 214), хищение либо вымогательство оружия, боеприпасов, взрывчатых веществ и взрывных устройств (статья 226), хищение либо вымогательство наркотических средств или психотропных веществ (статья 229), приведение в негодность транспортных средств или путей сообщения (статья 267).

Exercise 30. Listen to the following street survey about the rise in crime and fill in the table below.

unemployment	some people may turn to crime as an easy way of …….. ……….
advertisement	some people end up ………… things they want but they can’t …………
TV programmes	too much violence on TV makes young people more likely to act in a ………… way in real life criminals are shown in a way that makes them and their lifestyle look glamorous and …………
social pressures	teenagers have to commit petty crimes, such as shoplifting, in order to ………. By the gang once you begin a life of crime it can be very difficult to ………. ……………

Exercise 31. Business tycoon, George Henderson, aged 45, was found murdered last night in the library of his mansion. Police detectives are questioning the four suspects pictured below. Read the information about the victim and the suspects and decide who the murderer could be.

George Henderson (the victim)

The multi-millionaire had been stabbed in the back at about 10 p.m. No murder weapon was found. The victim had been watching a docu­mentary on TV Channel 3 when he was killed. His supper tray was found on a table in the library; the food had not been touched!

Roy Smith (the butler)

The butler’s mother is very ill, but his salary is too low to pay for the surgery she needs, even though he had been working for Henderson for twenty years. He was considered by all to be a loyal employee. He claims that at the time of the murder, he was watching a documentary on TV Channel 3,

Charles Herderson (the nephew)

George Henderson’s nephew, Charles, had been warned by his uncle to change his “wild ways” or he would be cut out of the will. He had no keys to the mansion. He was secretly seeing Henderson's housemaid, Claudine. He says he was at home alone watching a sports programme on TV Channel 3 between 9 and 11 p.m.

Claudine Dupont (the maid)

George Henderson’s maid for the past two years, Claudine, was believed to be a reliable employee. She says she was washing Henderson’s supper dishes in the mansion’s kitchen at the time of the murder.

Charlotte Henderson (the wife)

Henderson and his wife Charlotte had been separated for seven months. She was not living in the mansion at the time of the murder, although she still had a key! The divorce was not yet final when the murder occurred. Charlotte believed she'd probably be awarded very little money in the divorce case. She says she was at the home of Henderson’s lawyer when the murder occurred.

Exercise 32. Fill in the correct idiom from the list below:

caught red-handed in cold blood at large doing time on the alert

1. To avoid being mugged in large cities, one should be………at all times.

2. The burglar was……trying to break the window of the house.

3. He killed his enemy……….and claimed that he felt no regret afterwards.

4. The police announced that a dangerous criminal was…….and advised people to remain inside with their doors and windows locked.

5. After……for robbery, he swore he would never commit another crime.

Exercise 33. Complete each sentence with the correct word from the box.

bullies burglar dealers drink driving fine gangs

graffiti hooligans judge mugged robbers

shoplifting speeding theft violence

1. A _______ broke into our house while we were away this weekend and stole our video.

2. Drug ________ who sell heroin to teenagers are among the worst kind of criminals.

3. Car _______ in this area is increasing. Fifty cars were stolen last week.

4. Fourteen football ________ were arrested after the match. They were fighting and throwing bottles onto the pitch.

5. He should have taken a taxi home after the party. He got stopped by the police and lost his licence for _________.

6. He was doing 80 kilometres an hour in the centre of town. He was caught ________on a camera.

7. He’s scared to walk home from school on his own because last week some ________ in the year above him broke his personal stereo.

8. If you park on a double yellow line, you might get a parking _______.

9. In court, the _______ said he should stay in prison for the rest of his life.

10. She was arrested for ________. She stole a pair of jeans and a sweater from a clothes shop.

11. Some people think that the _________ on TV and in films leads to crime.

12. The health centre wall has some big red ________ on it. They’ll have to repaint the wall.

13. There was a big fight between two ________ of teenagers outside the club. Seventeen people were hurt.

14. Two armed bank _______ got away with ₤ 50,000 yesterday.

15. Two guys _______ a friend of mine recently and ran off with her handbag.

Exercise 34. Use one of these words to complete the paragraph

· sentence · criminal · offence · judge · jury

· kidnapping · reward · trial · ransom · arrest

There are many different kinds of crimes. 1)____, taking somebody away and demanding a 2)_____for their return, is a particularly serious 3)_____. The police often offer a 4)_____, which is sometimes quite a substantial sum of money, for information leading to the 5)______ of a 6)_______. It is not always easy for a 7)_____to decide whether the suspect is guilty or not. The 8)______of a suspect often takes days, or even weeks. Having decided on their verdict, the jury do not, however, have to decide how long a 9)_____ to give. That is the job of the 10)_____.

Exercise 35. What’s the crime? Write a word which has the same meaning as the definitions in 1-6. The first letter of each word is given.

1. breaking in to steal something b_______

2. driving more quickly than the limit s_______

3. killing unintentionally m_______

4. killing intentionally m_______

5. attacking and robbing violently m_______

6. the act of stealing t________

Exercise 36. What crimes are these people committing? Discuss in pairs what precautions should be taken so that these crimes can be avoided?

Exercise 37. Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions. Some may be used more than once.

· under · before · of · in · with · to

1) The accused is being kept………..custody until the trial begins.

2) He was sentenced…………10 years in prison for committing armed robbery.

3) The police have placed 2 men suspected of the kidnapping………arrest.

4) I was shocked to hear that Mark was accused………..fraud.

5) He’s been charged…….a crime he did not commit.

6) The witness appeared………..court and gave his testimony.

7) the accused was kept……..handcuffs throughout the trial.

8) The case was brought………..the court.

9) When the jury reached a verdict……..not guilty, the accused breathed a sigh of relief.

Exercise 38. Read, translate and retell the text.