Text 20.

Studies have found that the critical ingredient in solving crimes is whether the public – victims and witnesses – provide information to the police that helps identify the suspect. This information may be a name, an address, a license plate, or a presumed relationship to the victim. Neither the amount of attention given to an investigation nor the way in which a police force is organized for criminal investigation affects clearance rates. Contrary to the picture painted by movies, television, and detective novels, successful investigations do not usually begin with the collection of small physical clues that lead to the identification of the suspect. Instead, successful investigations most often begin with the presumed identity of a suspect, which allows the investigators to collect information that will support prosecution. Studies show that unless the public can specifically identify suspects to the police, the chances that a crime will be solved fall to about 10%.

Police might argue that it isn’t their fault that clearance rates do not affect the crime rate, believing that their best efforts are being undermined by the failure of the rest of the criminal justice system, especially the courts.

Police complain about known felons being released on bail, plea bargains that reduce serious charges to minor offences, the liberal use of probation, fines and community services, which allow criminals to avoid prison.

Police are undoubtedly right in arguing that the preventive effect of their work depends on actions by prosecutors, judges, parole officers, and corrections officials that are beyond their control.

Unit 10 text 21. A rough profession

You’ve asked me to talk about what it’s like being a police officer in New York. I’m going to be honest with you. It’s a rough profession, and you have to be sure it’s what you really want to be. It’s one of the few occupations left in present-day society where a person can arrive for work and have no idea what the day will bring. It could be a traffic accident or a murder, an armed robbery or a false alarm, a request for directions or a drug overdose. I get asked about vacations, treatment for sick canaries, social security, ecology, politics, and prison visits. I have to deal with family abuse – battered children, injured wives, abused husbands. I get anonymous threatening letters and phone calls and a lot of times I recognize who they are from. I get invited to christenings, weddings, and divorces – and often in that order, particularly with young people. I rarely complete a holiday shift, especially Christmas, without having to report a suicide, usually caused by loneliness. Every day there are drunks, fights, bodies, demonstrations, the brutal and the brave, the villains and the victims, the haters and the lovers, and the just plain indifferent. It isn’t easy.

What kind of person measures up to such a job? Any one of you. There is no minimum height requirement – you can be tall or short. But regardless of your height you are obviously no good if you don’t have the stature for the job. This means having concern for people. And if you don’t have a sense of humor, forget it. These qualities are more important than qualifications, although you need some of those too. You have to be a high school graduate and at least 20 years old to get into the Police Academy, but you can take the exams before you are 20. And those exams are tough. First you have to pass a written exam. They want to find out if you’ve got common sense. If you make it through that, you have to take a physical exam, and you’d better be in good shape. Then you need a medical exam. If you pass that, you go to the Police Academy for six months. And the pay starts at $22,000 a year. But believe me, you’ll earn every penny of it. Violent criminals, horrible accidents, and freezing weather will turn up when you least expect them. You’ll have to put up with lonely hours on the night shift and you’ll probably work every Christmas.

But the reward you can get as a human being for doing a good job will more than compensate for the low pay.