An introduction to law enforcement in the United States, including a brief history of policing, contemporary trends in criminality, and current issues facing police administrators. Attention will also be given to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their implications for law enforcement. This course examines the origin and general principles of criminal law, principles of criminal liability, and elements of offenses. Additionally, the course considers the ideology, structure, and role of the criminal courts in relation to criminal law. An introduction to the types of evidence, collection of evidence, the chain of custody, and procedures relating to its introduction into judicial proceedings.
Special attention is given to Fourth Amendment constitutional issues.
An examination and analysis of organized crime, of controversies surrounding the phenomenon, and of efforts aimed at its control. Attention will be given to defining organized crime, to its development, and to various theories that seek to explain its existence. Other topics include the activities that constitute the business of organized crime, the relationship between organized crime and curruption of governmental officials, the techniques used to control it, and the policy implications inherent in responses to organized crime. An introduction to research and to statistical methods, data bases, and computer applications in relation to the various fields of criminal justice. Special attention will be given to the problems associated with collection and analysis of criminal justice data.