Police and Law Enforcement

On the evening of December 28, 1950, in the small town of Salina, Kansas, the Salina Police Department received a call claiming that a local liquor store was being robbed. Officers Smith and Rodgers reported to the scene to find two suspects preparing to make their escape. Officer Smith pulled one perpetrator from a car and restrained him as the other was leaving the store. Smith told his partner to watch the woman leaving the store, but the woman was able to reach the car, remove a shotgun, and fire at Rodgers. Officer Rodgers was knocked to the ground, but fired alongside Officer Smith and the liquor store owner at the woman as she escaped in the car. (Image of Kansas police officers originally from City of Pittsburg, Kansas)

The female perpetrator was able to get away from the scene of the crime, but was caught by police the following day. She turned out to be a man named Teddy Pearsall, who became known as the "Petticoat Bandit" for his tendency to masquerade as a woman in robberies. Both were charged and convicted for their crimes and were sentenced to the Kansas state penitentiary. Officer Rodgers was seriously injured, but survived, although he was unable to return to his job as a police officer and retired in May of 1951 (City of Salina, 2006). Other Kansas police department histories can be found here and here.

Over 50 years have passed since that incident. Although crime rates were probably lower in 1950 than they are now, the types of crimes would likely have been the same - property crimes, burglaries, and such, with the exception of internet crimes. At the time, the police force didn't have access to the technology that is frequently used today. Problems they might have encountered would likely have been with communication. Without cell phones or GPS tracking, things were very different. The organization that police have today would have been much harder to accomplish with the technology available to police in the 1950s, who didn't have personal computers like officers have now. The above story could've played out very differently today, with police having Tasers available to them that could've incapacitated the perpetrators before a single shot had to be fired.

In contrast with 1950s police, today's police offers face entirely new situations, including internet crimes. Other problems that are likely much more prevalent include identity theft, drug trafficking, and vehicular theft. Identity theft is more of a problem with the internet and credit cards, and vehicular theft has increased due to many more people having vehicles today than they did in 1950. Besides this, the problems the police encountered then, such as funding, keeping crime rates down, and other related issues, are similar to what they would encounter today - the difference is how they go about solving them.

Community Policing is described as "a police philosophy suggesting that problem solving is best done at the neighborhood level, where issues originate, not at a far-off central headquarters (Siegal, 2008)."

From the Kansas City Police Department on community policing:

"Principles of community policing are the foundation of the KCPD commitment to the people, highlighted by our Mission Statement: To protect life and property while reducing fear and disorder (Kansas City Police Department, 2008)."

The Community Policing of Kansas City connects with the community by having officers regularly attend community meetings, and provide presentations on safety and crime prevention. The police department also has a downtown bike patrol unit that works closely with downtown Kansas City businesses and residents in addressing crime and safety. They are viewed as accessible to residents, business owners and visitors in the area and routinely speak with residents to remain aware of any current or potential problems. This police department also teams up with community and neighborhood groups to help and prevent problems such as drug use, homelessness, teen parties, and also to create outreach programs to keep school-aged kids out of trouble.

One problem that can come from community policing is reorienting police values. Officers may feel dissatisfied with community policing compared to traditional crime control oriented policing (Siegal, 2008). It is even thought that community policing may be looked down upon within the department. The Kansas City Police Department confronts this problem by engraving the philosophy into every officer’s mind from the beginning:

"Although KCPD has established several proactive units that deal more directly with community, early on community policing was adopted as a department-wide philosophy, not just a program for specialized units. For this reason, all officers are involved in the problem identification and problem solving associated with public safety issues. The current economic situation and pending budget cuts, with the threat of lay-offs and long term officer vacancies, has the potential to highly impact our programs. Funding from the COPS Hiring Recovery Program will provide the necessary means to continue, and enhance, our community policing efforts (Kansas City Police Department, 2008)."

Locally, the state of Kansas has 238 police agencies, with 5,292 total officers and 4,039 sworn personnel. Kansas has 104 sheriffs' offices with 3,758 total officers and 1,975 sworn personnel. On a state-wide level, Kansas has 840 full-time employees and 541 sworn personnel. The numbers of sworn officers per 100,000 people for local police, sheriffs' offices, and state police are 149, 72, and 20, respectively (Reaves, 2007).

Kansas seems to have an adequate amount of police officers per 100,000 people. Its numbers are rather high compared to most other states. Additionally, Kansas isn't known for high crime rates. Besides that, Kansas is already facing budget problems and has a good community policing program (Kansas City Police Department, 2008).

References
City of Salina. (2006). Salina Police Department Officer's Stories. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from http://www.salina-ks.gov/content/126/193/1634/1471/2271.aspx

Kansas City Police Department. (2008). Budget and Community Policing. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from www.kcpd.org/masterindex/informant/08_25_grantApp.doc

Reaves, Brian A. (2007). Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004, NCJ 212749. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Siegel, Larry J. (2008). Introduction to Criminal Justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Felonies, Misdemeanors, and Insanity Tests

In Kansas legal statutes, it is a felony to kidnap someone and a misdemeanor to commit an act of assault. Kansas law, under Statute 21-3420, defines kidnapping as "the taking or confining of any person, accomplished by force, threat or deception, with the intent to hold such person." It further states that expressly illegal scenarios include ransom/hostage situations, facilitation of a crime, inflicting bodily injury to the victim, or interfering with a government function [1]. Kidnapping is listed as a level 3 felony. Statute 21-3408, describing assault, states that it is unlawful to "intentionally [place] another person in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm." Assault is listed as a class C misdemeanor [2]. Image by Barangay RP.

Although kidnapping is not listed as a common-law crime in the list, it relates to some of the other crimes listed - one of the scenarios mentioned in Kansas statutes under kidnapping refers to battery and assault, and any crime against the person except robbery could be tied to the kidnapping. Assault is listed under the common-law crimes as the "intentional placing of another in fear of receiving an immediate battery [3]," closely relating to the definition in Kansas law. Although the descriptions seem to mean the same thing, Kansas law uses the phrase "reasonable apprehension" while the common-law crime description says "fear." The difference may be negligible, but "fear" seems to have more urgency than "reasonable apprehension" and the former seems to favor the victim more than the latter, which in including "reasonable" leaves more room for an argument to be made.

If you've ever watched the popular police drama Law and Order by Chris Wolf, you've probably seen a defense attorney say something along the lines of, "Not Guilty, by Reason of Insanity" once or twice already. At that point, there's usually unfriendly criticism from the opposing acting counsel trying to stay strong to the image of an adversarial system. But how is the Insanity defense shined upon in real life? It is not the most accurate depiction of law, but it is a fairly large gambit where the state or other injured party can lose greatly. Insanity is an allowed defense and if the defense attorney is successful can get their client off with less than a slap on the wrist. Kansas particularly uses a ruling derived from the 1800s. According to Frontline PBS twenty-five states (including Kansas) adhere to the M'Nagten Rule as do Federal Courts and the District of Columbia. The rule is named after the man Daniel M'Naghten, who attempted to kill Sir Robert Peel, England's Prime Minister in 1843. He failed and he ended up killing the minister's secretary instead. M'Nagten first claimed that it was out of Self-Defense as Sir Peel had been intentionally and vengefully causing harm to himself. His rantings went on and nine witnesses, including medical experts testified in his defense. He was found not guilty due to reasons of insanity [4]. The public and Queen Victoria were outraged by the outcome and demanded the House of Lords review it. Images by ceand.com and UCLA's Political Science Dept.



From that, they established that if a person did not know that his actions or intentions were wrong at the time it occurred, that they could not be held accountable afterwards. The rule is defined better by Larry Siegel's Intro to Criminal Justice 12ED. If a person were to be insane at the time of the act, under duress or defect of reason arising from a disease of the mind and therefore could not tell both the nature and quality of the act was wrong, they could not be held accountable for their actions [3]. In short, if they were unable to tell right from wrong due to mental disease or disorder, they did not have the mens rea or criminal intent for the act.

The M'Naghten rule, although accepted by over half of the US, can be interpreted differently by each state and have differing outcomes. You may research individually here. Kansas sticks to the conservative view. People can be found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. If they are, treatment is mandatory and the court will act as the committed party's guardian.

A report of internet crimes in the state of Kansas in 2007 listed 1,418 total complaints. Auction fraud and non-delivery of merchandise/payment topped the list by far at 34.5% and 25.1%, respectively, with 8 other categories of complaints comprised mostly of frauds completing the list. The report lists exactly 75% of perpetrators as males and 25% as females. Those who reported crimes were nearly evenly split at 53.7% males and 46.3% females. The largest group of complainants was those in the 20-29 age range at 24.8%, with all other groups being close except those under 20 at 3.0% and those over 60 at 7.8%; however, the amount of losses reported rose rather consistently as age rose, ranging from $475.00 at age 20-29 to $1100.24 at 60 and older [5]

[1] Kansas Statutes (2009, April 04). KSA 21-3420: Kidnapping. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from Kansas Statutes Website: http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_21/Article_34/21-3420.html
[2] Kansas Statutes (2009, April 04). KSA 21-3408: Assault. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from Kansas Statutes Website: http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_21/Article_34/21-3408.html
[3] Siegel, Larry J (2008). Introduction to Criminal Justice. Exhibit 4.6 Common-Law Crimes and Various Insanity Defense Standards (pp 150-152). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
[4] Educational Foundation (WGBH, 2000). State Insanity Defense Laws. Frontline PBS. Retrieved September 20, 2009 from Educational Foundation Website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/states.html
[5] Internet Crime Complaint Center (2008). Kansas's IC3 2007 Internet Crime Report. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from Internet Crime Complaint Center's Website http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2007/Kansas%202007%20Report.pdf

Crime Data and Analysis

Taking a look at the most recently available data from UCRs (Uniform Crime Reports) for the state of Kansas, which is from 2008, one statistic stands out among all others: the striking frequency of property crimes compared to all other crimes. The only crime that came close in quantity was larceny, barely ²/3 as common as property crimes. Most other crimes were at moderate levels, with the lowest being murder (113), rape (1,190) and burglary (1,684). Figures were generally lower in 2008 than in 2007, but typically by only a small margin. Although a statistic for 2008 was not available, one number that attracts attention was that in both 2006 and 2007, Kansas was ranked 6th-highest for incidents of rape per 100,000 people.

In analyzing the UCR data, some questions could be asked to help gain further insight:

1. The drop in frequency of property crimes from 2007 to 2008 was rather significant. Why did this happen?
2. Larceny was the second most common crime in Kansas in 2008. What items were being stolen most often?
3. Why might Kansas have a higher rate of rape relative to other states?

If NCVS data from the state of Kansas were analyzed, the following questions could be asked:

1. Were the trends of high rates of property crimes and larceny reflected in NCVS data?
2. Could the decrease in property crimes from 2007 to 2008 be explained by people not reporting the crimes?
3. Of the victims of property crimes, is there a common profile that might explain why they were victimized?

Research questions that could be asked regarding self-report data include:

1. Was the data accurate compared to the UCR data? What about the NCVS data?
2. Property crimes were the most common type of crime in Kansas. How many people admitted to committing property crimes?
3. How many of the criminals were repeat offenders?

Associated Press (2009, September 14). Dumpster Love Broken Up by Theives. Action News KSHB-TV.

In this article, a couple went into a dumpster to have an "intimate moment" around 6 PM. Soon after, they were robbed at knife point by two suspects. Their shoes, jewelry, and the man's wallet were later found and returned (Press, 2009) [3].

The theory this crime most relates to is the theory of victimization. The victims put themselves (foolishly) in a vulnerable position, making it easy for the criminals to find them and rob them. If they had not been in a secluded place with no protection or help around them, they probably would not have been the victim of this crime. In the future, the victimized couple should probably find a safer place, such as a bed and breakfast, for their intimate moments. Criminals could be lurking in dark alleys and around every dumpster. The best way to prevent being a victim, according to the Victimization Theory, is to not put oneself in a bad or dangerous situation in the first place.

Growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, one tends to believe everything is as commonplace as things would happen here. Las Vegas thrives on tourism and what better way to draw in the crowds than the casinos along the Strip.

[2]

Times are difficult, though, and in this economy, fewer and fewer people are traveling to enjoy the leisure that is Las Vegas. That's not to say that it still is not pulling in a decent amount of cash. In 2008, the casinos along the Strip took in roughly $25,000,000,000 USD during a major slump. Year after year, the state of Nevada gets a bulk about of funding from gambling taxes. This income is seldom seen elsewhere across the United States.

This is not to say that other states don't have their own means of obtaining funds to better themselves and their country. Kansas in particular has one of the largest farm-driven economies in the nation, hosting over 65,000 farms (Parker, 2009) [4]. They provide a great service to the nation with their crops. It's a noteworthy (please don't be offended, Kansas) self-sacrifice. The land is vast and unemployment has increased in the past year - legalization of gambling may be a great kick start. The state's motto is Ad Astra per Aspera, Latin for "To the stars with difficulty" and that's just what Kansas is doing. They're working harder than other states just to get the same results. Kansas's Code 21-4302 et seq.; 74-8801 et seq. should be edited to allow commercial gambling (Reuters, 2009) [5]. The state only allows gambling under two different pretenses:

• That all gambling must be hosted by a non-profit organization and it must be based on a test of skill (strength, speed, intelligences, and other traits disregarding luck).
• It is illegal except in accordance with Indian tribal gaming statutes.

We realize that gambling is controversial, but not too long ago the only state in the union that allowed commercial gambling was Nevada. Now, it is a topic of debate among several states who are considering the switch and others have already legalized it. Kansas should join in the fray instead of abiding by William Allen White's old quote, "Kansas is a state of the Union, but it is also a state of mind, a neurotic condition, a psychological phase, a symptom, indeed, something undreamed of in your philosophy, an inferiority complex against the tricks and manners of plutocracy - social, political and economic." The ban on commercial gambling should be overturned.

As for laws that Kansas should add, there is a saying, "The law paces itself slower in the race against technology." One surprising fact about Kansas is the fact their laws do not prohibit the use or cell phones in any manner while driving for full-fledged drivers. I wouldn't say this is because they haven't gotten to the point of discussion or barring it yet like "this is brand new news to them" since it had already been discussed, debated and ruled upon.

The laws of Kansas prohibit novice drivers, or by definition anybody under the age of 20 from using a cell phone for talking, texting or any application while they are currently driving. Anybody over the age of 20 is in the clear and may not be pulled over, cited or charged for cell phone usage (GHSA ,2009) [6].

The scary thing is according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, commercial drivers in Kansas are allowed to use cell phones freely. That's right, truck drivers and school bus drivers are both welcome to pull out their iPhones and play with all the latest apps. Pardon the cliche, but
(Copyright The Simpsons)

Considering the amount of publicized commercial drivers getting into accidents in the media (celebrated cases if you will) like the train accident on October 2, 2008, this is just shocking. The train conductor had been found texting moments before the train's deadly impact. This completely preventable accident ended up killing twenty-five people and injured over one hundred others. It was deemed one of the worst train crashes in history (Chatterjee, 2008) [7].

One of the authors of this blog has had personal experience with cell phone-related accidents. The first occasion was when he unfortunately drove into a light post while attempting to dial a number. $2300USD later, he learned his lesson. The other instance was when he was attempting to make a left turn at a light and stopped in the middle of the street to allow traffic to pass. A young lady behind him had saw him advance and assumed he left when she was texting, and ended up pushing him into oncoming traffic.

According to the FOX news network back in 1997 (yes, that far back when cell phones in Japan were talking about how they were getting cameras next year), "Younger and older drivers with a cell phone faced essentially the same risk" [8] (Bluejay, 1997) There has been no change in their publishing since then and instead have only furthered to push that using a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk. According to LiveJournal, accidents involving cell phones resulted in 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries as well each year in the U.S. (Roy Brit, 2005) [9].

This is as controversial as gambling. Would banning cell phone usage when driving make a politician Pro-Not Dying or Seriously Injuring Themselves, Their Family or Others Citizens and force them to drop out from re-election or further any political campaign? Ban cell phones in Kansas.

[1] The Disaster Center (2009). Kansas Crime Rates 1960 - 2008. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from Disaster Center Website: http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/kncrime.htm
[2] Wild Nature Images. Panoramic Photo of the Las Vegas Strip. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from Wild Nature Images Website: http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Las%20Vegas%20Pano.htm
[3] Associated Press (2009, September 14). Dumpster Love Broken Up by Thieves. ABC News, Retrieved September 15, 2009, from NBC Website: http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/news/kansas/story/Dumpster-Love-Broken-Up-by-Thieves/g84Bpy0O6Uib-4KTB9Ho1w.cspx
[4] Parker TP (2009). Data Sets. Economic Research Service. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/stateFacts/KS.htm
[5] Reuters TR (2009). Kansas Gambling Laws. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from FindLaw Website http://law.findlaw.com/state-laws/gambling/kansas/
[6] Governors Highway Safety Association (2009). Cell Phone Driving Laws. Retrieved September 14, 2009, from Governors Highway Safety Association Website: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
[7] Chatterjee, SC (2008, October 02). Train Engineer Was Texting Just Before California Crash. Retrieved September 14, 2009, from Reuters Website: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0152835520081002
[8] Bluejay, MB (1997, February 13). Cell Phones: As Dangerous As Driving Drunk. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from Bicycle Universe Website: http://bicycleuniverse.info/cars/cellphones.html
[9] Roy Brit, RBB (2005, February 01). Drivers on Cell Phones Kill Thousands, Snarl Traffic. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from LiveScience Website: http://www.livescience.com/technology/050201_cell_danger.html

Criminal Justice and the Wedding Cake

Samuel Walker a writer for Wadsworth CJR publishing created a model to explain the different elevations of Criminal Justice Courts which was contradictory to the President's Commission Model back in 1997. He dubbed it the Wedding Cake Model of criminal justice. Just as in a traditional wedding cake (not like this) there are four layers of the cake. Their names, starting from the top they are: Celebrated Cases, Heavy Duty Felonies, Light Weight Felonies and A World unto Itself, respectively.


(Image Taken from Fancy Cakes Shop of PA)

The relation is fairly easy to grasp. Here are some related cases from Kansas that fit into the criteria:

The lowest level of the cake is built to handle the bulk of all cases, or the misdemeanors (lesser). Generally misdemeanors will not end up as news even for small towns, but oddities do pop up every now and then in the "A World unto Itself" layer. The range of misdemeanors is extensive from drug possession to trespassing. One thing to note is also a person's professional conduct. What a "reasonable" professional would do in their field. Two years back, an abortion clinic doctor in Kansas preformed several late-term abortions in which all he said were clear and legal to do while they were all risky and near if not past the final date according to the law. A reasonable doctor would have gotten a second opinion on more then 19cases, and so the state's attorney general filed 19 charges of found ill-conduct acts [1].

The "Light Weight" Felonies layer isn't exactly as minor as the name would imply. Generally most cases that would fall on the 2^nd level are crimes without assault, the use of a weapon or Larceny. This may be an extreme example of Larceny, but on August 21^st, 2009 a Kansas citizen held a lottery scam. One victim in particular forwarded roughly $93,000 USD as "taxes" to collect her winning lottery pot of $1,500,000 USD to the perpetrator. He was found, arrested and jailed in the state of Missouri where the elderly lady he scammed ninety-three thousand from lives[2].

The 3^rd layer of the cake is "Heavy Duty" felonies. These are crimes done with strong intent and include a list of drug trafficking, arson, grand theft, battery, rap, murder and robbery. One prime example would be one of the largest pharmacy robberies Kansas has ever seen. Four men armed with assault rifles and handguns rushed and robbed a pharmacy on May 11,2008. In just a few short minutes, they bound a pharmaceutical workers and ran off with roughly 2,500 liquid doses and 45,000pills which included powerful painkillers, morphine meperidine and fentanyl. The four who took place in the robbery had been caught and another person involved as well was brought in. They were convicted on September 6^th, 2009 for their crimes [3].

The cake's top is called "Celebrated Cases." For all practical purposes, they do not trump "Heavy Duty" felonies in any sense. They however are more widely known and publicized often for a celebratity, large company, Supreme Court Justice review, or another oddity like attacking another individual with a jellyfish. Earlier this evening, a man pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a minor. The man drove across stateliness into Kansas in response to a trap ad placed by Kansas Police. Once he paid the $60 USD to the "pimp and underage hooker" disguised cop, he was handcuffed and jailed [4].

-

"The Department of Corrections, as part of the criminal justice system, contributes to the public safety and supports victims of crime by exercising safe and effective containment and supervision of inmates, by managing offenders in the community, and by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens. [5]" - Kansas Department of Corrections, exhibiting a rehabilitation model

"The Kansas Supreme Court sits in Topeka in the Kansas Judicial Center and is the state court of last resort. It hears direct appeals from the district courts in the most serious criminal cases and appeals in any case in which a statute has been held unconstitutional. It may review cases decided by the Court of Appeals, and may transfer cases from that court to the Supreme Court. It also has original jurisdiction in several types of cases. [6]" - Kansas Judicial Branch, displaying the due process model

Interestingly, the Kansas Department of Public Safety does not have a website listed on either the Kansas Agency and Association Listing or a directory of department of public safety websites.

Federal statistics show us that the total justice system expenditures for 2006 in Kansas were $1,299,830. When you break that number down into the various systems that spent the money, $634,827 (48.8%) was spent on police protection, $288,607 (22.2%) was spent on judicial and legal, and $376,396 (29%) was spent on corrections.

The police protection system spends the most money due to several factors. First of all, there are extensive training programs to become police officers and sergeants. Field training, academy classes, and maintaining the institutions, these take up a lot of time and money. Some other examples are police vehicles and maintaining them, ammunition and guns, uniforms, etc. Another big issue is that the police department tends to be the first step in the justice system. They make the arrests and hold people in jail and it is important to have the technology and facilities to carry out these actions. The size and population of the town or city will also greatly affect spending. Some examples are how many officers they have and their salaries, how many police stations or vehicles are needed to cover the entire city, and crime rates.

[1] Winter, MW (2007, June 28). Kansas abortion doctor charged with 19 misdemeanors. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from USA Today's Website http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/06/kansas-abortion.html?csp=34

[2] The Associated Press, AP (2009, August 21). Kansas man held without bail in lottery scam. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from The Kansas City Star's Website http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1396961.html

[3] Rizzo, TR (2009, September 06). To date, five convictions and sentences in big KC pharmacy robbery. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from The Kansas City Star's Website http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1428487.html

[4] Rizzo, TR (2009, September 08). Olathe man admits seeking sex with a minor girl. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from The Kansas City Star's Website http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1432652.html

[5] Kansas Department of Corrections. Retrieved September 8, 2009, from Kansas Department of Corrections Website: http://www.doc.ks.gov/

[6] Kansas Judicial Branch. Retrieved September 8, 2009, from Kansas Judicial Branch Website: http://www.kscourts.org/kansas-courts/supreme-court/default.asp

Not in Kansas Anymore...

Not in Kansas Anymore is a group of several students from UNLV blogging about criminal justice for CRJ104. The blog will focus on various aspects of criminal justice, specifically from the state of Kansas. Check back for future updates!