3 Year Old Boy Kills His Mother?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/26/florida.toddler.shooting/index.html?iref=obinsite

This is a unique case but at the same time questionable. I do not think its possible to have a 3 year old hold a .9 mm glock gun which is a heavy gun for a 3 year old to hold and aim and unlock the safe from the gun (if it was locked) and fire all by himself. If the gun was unlocked then who unlocked it? Why wasn't the child stopped before he fired the gun? The recording from the dispatcher of the caller was a little questionable as well. As the spokesperson states the sound of the caller does raise questions. Just like the Body Language and Communication expert says that the father stated in the dispatch call that he "tried" to take away the gun from the boy. How are you gonna "try" to take something away from a 3 year old child. It's not hard. Also when they mention the fact that he was asking God why he was in "that spot." What spot is he talking about? He just seems really nervous about something. I agree with the expert and I would say that he is a good actor. Everything doesn't come together and doesn't make sense.

The Knoxville Massacre

I am very surprised to know that this story was not publicized by the news or media after an evil act like this that occurred in Knoxville. This is a big story! The actions perpetrated by these criminals were torturous acts and inhumane. Why wasn't this story known until along time after? Overall this story has hit the media not only of the crime itself but also because of the reason of why the public did not know about it when it happened. As one of the spokesman stated that this action could have been taken place due to anger. Why? How can humans hate this much. I honestly cannot understand how someone can torture, burn, and suffocate someone without feeling anything. Where has our communities come to? Where is it taking us? Anger is a very dangerous thing. It can even lead to mutilation just like in this story. WOW!  

Bid Laden Captured

As we all know Bid Laden was caught and killed by the US officials. My point of view? I am happy and relieved that they caught him but for the US to throw him into the ocean I believe was inhumane of us. I have many friends who served in the military and a few of them were injured. So yes, I am happy that Bid Laden was finally caught. He does not deserve to have freedom because he took it from many people. However, the US is viewed as a "good" country who helps people and and not kill people so why did we handle the situation like this? They could have made his death more humanely such as a lethal injection and cremation. To see people rejoice after the US killed a human being has me see a different view of the US. Who are we? I am not saying they should have pampered Bin Laden or take him out to dinner. There were better options to of handled capture. We are not sure of the details of what happen all we know is that we caught him and threw him over sea. I believe no matter how bad or evil a person is we need to treat them like humans not like animals. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"

Crime Gone Bad

Can this guy be anymore serious about trying to commit a crime? He went through all that pain to attempt to steal whine? If you are going to try to steal at least let it be something worth the pain. He should have given up after falling off the fence. It was obvious that this guy had no organized plan for his mission. At least we know that he does not give up so easy. What makes people do these things and not realize that the majority of businesses have cameras? This guy sure did learn his lesson.

Law Enforcement perspective of Racial Profiling

The media plays a big role on how police officers are going to conduct their job by disclosing the criminals on the news, newspaper, radio and magazines and giving the law enforcement an outlook of what to watch out for on the streets. The law enforcement also apply their daily experience and similar patterns such as what race is most stopped, what the individual is wearing and what was their behavior that caused the police officer to stop the individual and by using this as a guidance of what to watch out for the law enforcement can determine their decision when to question an individual when patrolling. Characteristics that officers may keep in mind when patrolling can consist of subjects of a certain race such as Hispanic and African American depending on the area, tattoos on their body, oversized clothes, sagging pants, and low rider cars. An example of a group of people that share these characteristics are gang members. They are known to cause problems and violence and sometimes lead to murder. Due to color rivalry and property ownership which is what they fight for, violence that can sometimes result in death can take place. Red versus blue, thirteen versus fourteen and a common belief of, “this is my hood” is what rises the violence amongst these gangs. The law enforcement may use racial profiling to watch out for individuals who may share similar characteristics that a gang member might have to make stops or arrests. Police officers do not want to risk ignoring these characteristics because this can lead to an act of violence. If the police refuse stopping someone because they do not want to be accused of racial profiling, someone can result in getting hurt. Law enforcement prefer to be safe than sorry. When police officers stop an individual of a certain race and driving a certain type of car and finds that they broke the law and then they stop another individual of the same race and same type of car and again they broke the law they are going to follow that pattern. When they see a common pattern like this, assumptions are going to be made on individuals that fit a similar description and they are going to be stopped by the police because of the similarities. Police officers want to establish a sense of security within communities by using their experience when patrolling and following a pattern that is consistent that they seem to have frequently in regards to what “type” of person they seem to arrest more consistently.

Can we stop crime?

         Murder, rape, robbery, violence, pedophiles, sex offenders, drugs are one of the few crimes committed in this world. Crime is an issue that society wants to stop today.

  Is it possible to get rid of crime? No, I do not believe it is possible to make crime disappear. There are too many resources out there being provided to the public by individuals who have access to them such materials can be drugs, guns, and knives. What makes crime and why is it unstoppable? Crime is all over the world. Individuals who break the law can be someone who is angry, mentally ill, people on drugs or people who are drunk. It could even have been a violent crime that resulted in self defense. Other individuals who commit crime may come from a family where crime was always present in their lives and it is not out of the norm to repeat or continue to have the crime present in their lives. Crime can be perpetrated by anyone. Due to this, crime is always going to be around. Drugs, alcohol, violence, gangs, individuals with psychological problems and etc... is not going to go away. 

One example is Marijuana to which can lead to a crime. Marijuana is illegal to the majority of the people However, it is not illegal for those who have it prescribed by a physician for health reasons. From previous conversations, I learned that many people want to cheat the health care system. There are individuals that want a permit to smoke marijuana and who do qualify for the permit. However, even though they do need it for reasons like minimizing spasms but they also want it to get “high.” This can be just the start of a crime. This can lead to selling marijuana to communities or this can also be a start of a drug addiction that can lead to violence or death. 

Alcohol is another example. There has been a high death rate on drunk driving resulting in someone getting killed by a drunk driver or the drunk driver killing himself in a collision. Alcohol is legal and I believe is impossible to have alcohol disappear. Imagine alcohol being banned, if inmates in prison have access to resources to make alcohol, society has even more of an advantage to get the resources to make alcohol. Drunken individuals are capable of doing anything. Violence, unintentional homicide, and even suicide are just some actions that can be taken place following a high level of alcohol in their system. Crime can also happen when someone is desperate for alcohol and has no money for it. Robbing a liquor store or shooting someone for money are options for them. 

  Gang is an obvious word where we can see violence and hurt being an outcome of anything. Gangs are currently a big problem in society and in other countries. Death, rape, robbery, physical and verbal violence, drug and alcohol use are just some of the hobbies in a gang. As of today, it is known that gangs are actually spreading and going worldwide. That makes it impossible for us to stop gangs. Children are being killed, citizens are not able to rest in peace because they fear of being confronted with a gang member. Gang members provide drugs, alcohol, and weapons to our communities. This is contributing to the growth of violence.

Psychological instability I believe is one of the biggest contributers to crime. Many people are able to handle and take control of their emotions but others are not. People who are sad, depressed, desperate, or even angry are able to commit a crime if they are not able to control their emotions. All these emotions can lead to verbal and physical violence, or even murder which I see a big resemblance among a lot of the crimes committed today. Murder amongst spouses that is caused by jealousy, revenge, or even out of anger. Even among humans in general, anger related crimes such as hate crimes is a big factor of crime.

  These are just a few points that I made of leading causes to crime imagine the outcomes of other crimes being committed that is present in society today. We cannot stop these issues from happening. In my opinion, crime is never going to disappear. I believe what we can do is provide help to those individuals at risk especially the youth. Some help can be by creating programs such as mentorships and counseling. I believe starting with the youth would probably be a good idea. Teenagers are easily influenced today and be curious to try risky things. Future problems can be prevented by reaching out to them. After school programs, providing them with jobs where they can feel that they are important is a great way to start. When reaching out to adults, I believe that counseling is a good way to help. There are times when individuals get in trouble with the law there is a good chance that it was an outcome of a rough childhood or trauma in their lives so if counseling or psychological help is given to them it might be able to reestablish their lives. We might not be able to stop crime but we can prevent people from doing it. I do believe that there are ways to make a difference in society and this can be a start. 

Police Brutality against 15 year Girl

Ok I am going to turn the tables a little in this post and show a crime that was committed by police officers. It is unbelievable how abusive a police officer can get. Is this the first person these cops have attacked an individual or even worse a teenage girl? I believe that with these types of actions society is going to develop fear against the people who are supposed to protect us. How are we supposed to feel safe?  The legal system need to refine their system. This is not the only case presented to the public where the law enforcement gets physical towards an individual. Going back to the video, what reason did the officers have to assault this teenage girl? She was not resisting arrest or did she fight back. It just seemed to me that the officers began to get irritated by her attitude and hit her. Not only that but if its against the law for parents to spank their kids what right do they have to beat children that they do not even know? In my opinion, these officers should be fired.

Police Pass Escaping Robbers

I know this video is different from my previous posts but I thought I should share it with you. I thought this video was hilarious. I cannot believe what I just saw in this video. They blocked the car but didn't bother to look in it. Uuugghhhh LA police!

Here is the link to the video incase there is some problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo_-3H9lJNA&feature=player_embedded

Child facing Life in Prison without Parole

http://www.good.is/post/should-an-11-year-old-boy-go-to-jail-for-life/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=outbrain

I am completely against children and teenagers doing life in prison. I know the crimes committed by them that led to this type of sentencing is uncalled for but these are still children. If a juvenile is behaving this kind of way then their is something going on with them and in their environment. Instead of sentencing them life in prison they need to find them psychological help. I do agree that they need to be punished for their actions but they do not have the full comprehension of life yet because their brain is not fully developed or mature. They cannot even take care of themselves. On the other hand, how did this kid get a hold of a kids size shot gun? Obviously, his parents need to be analyzed as well if the child was able to get a hold of a shot gun. Parents need to start having limits on how much freedom their children are getting. That brings curiosity which leads to unwanted behavior. I have previously taken Legal Psychology and I learned that these children have suffered some sort of trauma when they were younger and led to unwanted and illegal behavior. In this class, we watched a video on children who were serving life in prison and you saw an inmate as a child and the producer followed them years later as adults. When the interviews were conducted when they have become adults, you can see that they do not completely comprehend why they did what they did. They demonstrated a great remorse and told their traumatic stories that built anger, sadness, and pain inside of them which led to behavior and actions that got them in trouble.

Castration of a Father that led to his Death

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_woman_guilty_of_manslaughter_in_dads_castration_death.html

I know this article is not too recent but it is very interesting. This woman got 5 to 15 years in prison. Is this reasonable considering the psychological problem that followed this action? After years of sexual abuse by her own father she came to a breaking point and decided to unintentionally kill her father by castrating him to protect her nieces. I do agree that she does deserve the years given in prison. However, she needs to be evaluated and treated very intensively. Her behavior and actions that took place only individuals with extreme psychological problems will do. I still believe that what she did was not the way to go. What her father did was more than wrong, it was sickening what she could have taken other measures such as turning him in to the police or escaping from his presence. However, like mentioned before she has psychological problems and she decided to resolve the problem the quickest way and castrated him and boiled his penis. What somewhat surprised me was that she actually planned this ahead of time by doing some of her own research on the possibilities of reattaching the penis. She did not think about her actions and the consequences that she might have to pay stop. Not only that but the judge did not take this into consideration that this was a premeditated crime.

Rapist on Craigslist

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/16/new.york.sex.slave/index.html?eref=rss_crime&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_crime+%28RSS%3A+Crime%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Ok... who would move in with someone who they do not know and lives in another state and especially when free rent is offered. If someone told me they would offer me free rent for an exchange for housekeeping, that would be a little strange for me. If anyone offered me anything free I would definitely do some investigation. Unless it was something simple like a paper or pencil. Anything free in the US should be questionable. I am not at all stating that it is the woman's fault but she should have thought before  moving. However, the man is dangerous and deserves a long time in prison. His next step might have been to kill her. I do acknowledge that she responded quickly to the abuse and escaped from it. Many women fear for their lives and do not leave and continue taking the abuse and even sometimes end up dead. Craigslist has become a dangerous site for people communication. The craigslist killer is another crime that victimized and murdered many women. Individuals really need to be more careful when doing some sort of communication with others. This includes facebook and myspace and many other sites where people make contact with others. These sites give enough information to track you down. We need to be safe.

Alabama Prosecutor arrested for the intent of child pornography

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-18/justice/alabama.da.sex.crime_1_child-pornography-sexual-purposes-fbi-agents?_s=PM:CRIME

I am shocked to know that a now former prosecutor who specialized in sex crimes against minors was arrested for the intent of enticement and soliciting child pornography. It is unbelievable how deceiving people can be. These are people who are supposed to protect us, not hurt us. It makes me think about how are we supposed to trust the people who are there to "protect" us? How can we keep our children safe? Why are children being a dangerous target today? This article brings a lot to one's mind. This prosecutor is a sick man.

Police shooting in Oakland

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_17312435

What caught my attention in this article is the fact that this is another crime that is added to Oakland's crime rate especially towards police officers. Many individuals view Oakland as a "dangerous" city and is also rated as one of the most dangerous cities in the bay area. Why is the crime there so high? Why are police officers being attacked? It is ridiculous to me to know that someone who has just been released from prison can commit another crime shortly after. Didn't the shooter in this article learn anything in prison after serving five years? In this article, the shooter stated "... he did not want to go back to prison." Well, maybe he should have thought of that before he shot at the police officers considering he was just released from prison two weeks ago. It makes me think about how effective are prisons. It makes me wonder what prisons can do to help the inmates change their lifestyle prior to their release to make them stay away from committing another crime. The lack of safety is a concern in our communities who are receiving ex-convicts back in. Are the children, teens, and families safe? What can prisons do to make changes in these inmates? Too much crime is being committed in our communities and many innocent people are getting hurt or killed. Their has been too many cases where police officers have been killed. We need to change something in the justice system to make change especially in prisons. I also believe that there needs to be some way to protect our police officers. They are the community's protection.

Introduction

My name is Lucia Ramos and I am a Psychology major at SFSU.  When conversing about crimes, individuals tend to be aware of crimes that the media makes a big deal of. However, are they aware of other crimes that is going on near them, near their families or friends or even across the the US? Crime is everywhere. I believe it is important to recognize the crimes going on around us. We need to be safe in our communities. We cannot only be conscious on crimes that the media exposes to the public.  I hope everyone that reads my blog realizes that what is going on in our area is a serious problem and allows us to open our eyes to help and keep ourselves safe when we are out in the world. Many people do not know what is really going on because the news only gives us selected stories but when reading the online news or the newspaper we are informed of additional crimes that can be affecting us and we do not even know it. Recognizing the crimes being taken place in our communities can help us take the initiative to live a safer life and keep ourselves and families protected from getting hurt.