Script Criminal Justice

The writer’s advice blog for questions about the Criminal Justice system. Want to know how to create a fictionist police department, accurately portrayal certain crimes or criminals, or even how the different criminal justice branches interplay? Then this blog is for you. NOTE: The ask box will be open for submissions the first day of every month.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

What background checks are needed for someone to become a police officer? I have a couple of characters who won't have a background because they are aliens and only recently came to earth. What would they need to check out okay?

When a background check is for a potential police officer is done there are six areas that are checked:

Family and Friends

Education

Employment History

Criminal Record

Credit History

Drug Abuse

A background check is quite thorough and they may even contact your hometown, your school, or your neighbors. There is even a polygraph that you have to pass.

It would take time and money to create a fake background that will pass muster.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

Generally it seems that traumatised women respond better to females than males. What would be assumed/done if one or two such characters acted the opposite? Could it take awhile to even notice if effort was made to keep male officers/doctors/nurses etc away? What might be some reasons for this? Would it be assumed there's actually an important reason or just outlier? IE. Perpetrator = female? Could upbringing/background be the reason? IE. Raised by all male family.

Trauma triggers can latch on the smallest details that can take a while to identify, even for those who are looking for them. The arrival of an abuser is accompaniment with the sound of the garage door opener and now the sound is a trigger. The smell of eggs in the morning if someone was force to make eggs for their rapist. Someone was abused by a woman may now be trigger by other women.

Unfortunately, people often dismiss the notion that woman can be abusive, especially towards their partners, and as such it may take a while for other people to notice that you character wary or fearful towards women. But if the background of the abused is releveled then it may help with understanding why they are acting that way.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

Would a pedophile character actually only assault 18-19 year olds who look young for their age, even ones who might get mistaken as young as 12 and ones with delayed puberty? Is he even called a pedophile? I mean for this character to like underage kids, but legally being 18+ means police might delay involvement and if caught then it'll be treated as if the victim was a adult not a minor. Even if in his mind, the sick guy sees them as kids?

First off, pedophile is a clinical diagnosis, not a criminal or legal term. The diagnosis can only be given by a psychiatrist or psychologist and not a police officer. The officer can only use terms such as like Forcible Sexual Offense, Rape, or other terms that describes the act itself and not the Offender.

Secondly, I see no reason for the police to delay their involvement. An assault is still an assault and the police still have to investigate, regardless the age of the victim. And since the victims are adults, the offender would be charge with the assault of an adult. The mindset of the offender may be used in the trial, but I doubt it would affect the initial charges.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

In my fantasy story (tech vaguely late 1800s inspired) A is hanging out in the woods w/ his friends and they’re messing around w/ their magic (resembles lightning), knocking cans off branches and stuff when sudden thunder makes someone scream, causing A to stumble and hit B w/ his magic, killing them. Idk if I'd equate it to knowingly playing w/ a gun bc magic isn’t viewed as inherently dangerous in this society, as 99.99% of people have weak, harmless/healing magic - what would the charge be?

It really depends on your worldbuilding, but since it was an accident and magic isn’t considered a weapon, I would probably guess Involuntary Manslaughter. Involuntary Manslaughter is the killing of a human being without the intent of doing so, either expressed or implied. 

[scriptcriminaljustice]

If my oc finds evidence of a big pedophile ring, and they take the evidence but cant trust their local police department (due to either corruption or one of the heads is involved), who should they contact with instead? Can they directly go the fbi? And if my oc suspects their life is in danger as member of the ring knows she has important evidence of the ring and their members identity, would that be enough for the oc to be put under witness protection?

Becausethe of the Lindbergh Kidnapping in 1932, Congress gave the FBI jurisdiction to immediatelyinvestigate any reported mysterious disappearance or kidnapping involving achild of “tender age” (12 or under). No ransom is needed, nor does the childhave to cross state lines or be missing for 24 hours for the FBI to investigate.The OC can report the pedophile ring to the local FBI field offices, to FBI Headquarters, or to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. If the OCcan’t get to the FBI and they can’t trust the local police, there is always theState Bureau of Investigation (SBI). If the evidence, and threat of life, isdeemed credible then, yes, the OC could put under witness protection.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

So my oc is confronting this killer who is trying to kill their friend and my oc assumes he has already killed their other friend. To stop them from killing their friend, my oc shoots at them multiple times. As it was in self defense, would the amount of shots effect the charges the oc is arrested with? How would the legal proceedings go in this situation? Would the oc be arrested and brought in questioning for a little while Or they would be let go?

The oc would be brought in for questioning because every time someone dies without a medical officer present, the death is considered suspicious and is investigated. Intent and premeditation is very important when it comes to homicide/manslaughter. If the oc hunted down the killer, that is Malice Aforethought, add in fact that the oc shot the killer multiple times, and the oc may be charged with murder. A Jury may decide to bump down the charge from Murder to either Manslaughter or Justifiable Homicide since the oc thought the killer had already killed one friend and was aiming for another.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

It seems people rarely get fined for things like only littering, smoking, or jaywalking. I've only known one count of someone I know actually ever being fined even though I know many do it (including me). But at a police station, just how often would such cases happen and how it's dealt with? Is it ever considered busywork for rookies or officers who are being reprimanded for something else?

Getting a ticket for jaywalking, littering, etc. usually only happens if the violator had someone call the police on them, or if the violation was blatant and was seen to potentially cause a hazard, (i.e. your jaywalking caused a traffic jam).

It usually varies from officer to officer on how often a ticket for a city ordinance violation is given. Officers have the choice of discretion and most just give a verbal warning instead of a ticket when the offense is minor.

It's not considered busywork that is given to new or reprimanded officers. Tickets are something that officers focus on between calls. Though it's usually tickets that are connected to driving that officers had out.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

Would there be any charges if A was unwittingly masterminded a bank heist? B tells his A he's gonna rob a bank and has floor plans and security rotations asking what A would do. The plans are all hand copied by B so it doesn't look like official plans and B makes it all sound like joking. So A gets into it for fun and goes let's play the bad guy, not knowing it's actually all real and the bank really gets robbed.

While judges do say that ignorance of the law is no defense to criminal charges, intent does matter. Depending on the law, and whether or not the prosecutor can prove intent, planning a crime may not be an offense at all. But the fact that a crime was committed by another person in your scenario changes things. While there are mitigating circumstances, Person A may still be charged with criminal conspiracy or be liable as an accomplice since Person B used them to rob a bank.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

I hope this isn't stupid but if emergency numbers are like 999 would it ever cause more occurances of accidental butt dials, especially from a mobile phone?

While I have never heard of a butt dial emergency call, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. We get many calls that are, officially speaking, cancelled since there is no answer or information given. We do call back such numbers, so if someone does accidentally butt dial, it is quickly cleared up.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

Hi, I'm wondering how I can have a primary school class (age 7-8) go to a police station as a field trip? A naughty kid is supposed to get into trouble but I'm pretty sure supervision would be way heavy and I'm not going for inept police, so like no way he can just pick up evidence, grab a gun or just wander off alone, so I'm thinking maybe the toilet is the only place he could potentially cause trouble?

Whenever there is a school field trip at the police department, a guide directs the students and they are heavily supervised. Also, evidence is kept in a entirely separate building and there are electronic locks on all the doors that can only open with a pass card. The only time a child would be left alone is the bathroom but there would be an adult waiting outside the door.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

Hello. My young 6 YO character “K” witnessed a cop “L” rape and kill his mother. When being interviewed, he says it was L. But other police officers have provided an alibi for L. They basically cover up for him. How would this investigation go? Would they believe the cops and move on with the investigation?

Whenever an investigation is conducted and a cop is a suspect, internal affairs steps in. Internal affairs refers to a division of the law enforcement agency that investigates incidents and possible suspicions of law-breaking and professional misconduct of officers. It is a type of limited self-governance, “a police force policing itself”, which unfortunately can cause problems since the IA investigator is investigating their coworkers and friends. 

It is impossible to be unbias in any situation, even more so in a culture when a “Us vs Them” mindset can develop. And that’s not even getting into the fact that since they are cops, they know what kind of alibi is the most believable. The only hiccup in the alibi is how K knew L. But K is a child so the investigator might believe the cops and move on. But that’s only if the forensics of the scene backup the alibi. If it doesn’t, then the investigator will take a serious look at the cop.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

A teenager leaves around 9pm before his 18th birthday planning to hit bars and drink after midnight but the family don't discover him missing until noon the next day. It hasn't been 24 hours, but he was under 18 when he was last seen. Would this case be handled as an adult or minor? Also, if the parents mention their son would come into a lot of money at 18 would that be any immediate concern for kidnapping?

The teenage would be consider an adult because there’s no evidence that he went missing while still a minor. And considering it’s just a few hours, an argument that he was still a minor is really just a quibble.

There’s no law that you must wait 24 hours to report someone missing. As soon as you notice they’re gone, you can file a report. Though I will mention that adults have the right to go missing. As long as the police can ascertain that you are alive and well by meeting in person, the police will close their investigation and they can not force you to go back or tell others where you are.

 And yes, the fact that the teenage comes to money at 18 might be a concern. But as I stated above, the teenage has a right to go missing but the police will still track the missing teenage to make sure they are alright.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

I have two characters who have their house broken into they were asleep. Character A gets up to go to the bathroom, the intruder, who believed the house to be empty, pushes A into a table which alerts character B and B uses what I've determined to be a fairly reasonable use of force for a citizens arrest. A calls 911. (1/2)

(2/2) My question is what the police proceedings/questioning would look like after an event like this. Is it is it reasonable for them to stay with a friend for a few days and then leave town? Also B was falsely branded a most wanted terrorist for a few years but was given a pardon for crimes he committed well preventing worse ones. Would this present any additional challenges in his situation?

~~~

First off, citizens arrest is determined by state statute and not every state allows this, North Carolina and Washington being those states.

A and B are not required by law to stay in town since they are victims but the police may request for them to stay in contact since they are victims of a felony. But the fact that B was falsely branded a terrorist may complicate things. B was pardoned for the crimes surrounding that event and therefore the police must still treat B as a victim but that doesn’t mean they have to be polite about it.

Legally speaking, the police cannot treat B as a suspect beyond determining the use of force was, in fact, reasonable and well inside the limits of a Citizen’s Arrest. But the police may try to trip up B and make it sound like B went outside the limits and committed Aggravated Assault.  As I do not know what B did to the intruder, I cannot tell you whether or not the police can arrest B for Aggravated Assault.

What You Need to Know About Making a Citizen’s Arrest

Crime Victims’ Rights Act

[scriptcriminaljustice]

The police are at a murder scene when a second shot is heard on a different floor and the entire building goes into lockdown hopefully trapping the murderer inside. There is a taunt written in lipstick at the second murder scene. Do the police go around bagging lipsticks from everyone there, and do men get searched too?

I’m going to assume that the murders happened in an apartment building since that makes the most sense.

Collecting lipsticks from every apartment, purse/bag/pocket, and person seems the most logical in order to match the color of the taunting message. And, yes, men do get search too. Just because the message was done in lipstick, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a man. The Lipstick Killer, William Heirens, was a serial killer in the 1940s who scrawled a message in lipstick at one of his murder scenes. 

[scriptcriminaljustice]

If my OC who is secretly a government scientist gets arrested for something like trespassing and destruction of property (partying and being rowdy) with a group of regular friends of his that don't know his secret, how would the the police explain to them that the FBI just came and took their friend into custody without saying why? Or would the FBI have to inform the police who he was before taking him? How do they explain this to the friends he was with?

The FBI don’t have to tell the local police anything, that’s just a courtesy. And since the OC is secret government scientist, they would be less likely to explain, unless the FBI just straight lie about why they’re taking the OC.

I don’t think there is a proper procedure about local police explaining to the friends why the FBI took the OC in custody without explanation. They would just probably say that the OC was transferred by the request (demand) of the FBI.

[scriptcriminaljustice]

rainbow-rapier

Person A was found dead. Police suspect Person B and mark them down as person of interest. B gets a lawyer. Here's my question: does B tell this lawyer, yes I killed person A? Or do they come up with an alibi? (Supposing b really did commit the crime)

 ~~~

Lawyers are legally bound by attorney-client privilege, this means a lawyer cannot present confidential communications with a client in court as evidence without that client’s express consent. And any lawyer who breaks this, either deliberately or negligently, is guilty of legal malpractice

A lawyer can only break client confidentiality Under ‘crime-fraud exception’. This only happens when if a client reveals that they are planning to carry out a crime or fraud or is in the process of doing so.

Person B committed the murder, if they tell their lawyer this fact, the lawyer cannot reveal this fact. But if Person B says to their lawyer, that Person B intend to kill a witness to the murder, then the lawyer must disclose.

A lawyer can only protect a client if the lawyer knows all the facts and only after knowing what has happen can the lawyer help their client with an alibi.

Links:

Everything you need to know about attorney-client privilege (and when it no longer applies)

Breach of attorney-client confidentiality can torpedo your case

The Attorney-Client Privilege: Most, but not necessarily all, of what you tell your lawyer is privileged.

How to Lose Attorney-Client Privilege

[scriptcriminaljustice]

what would happen if there was conjoined twins and one broke the law but the other was innocent?

The conjoined twin wouldn’t be innocent because they are an Accessory to the crime. They might not have committed the crime itself, but since they are physically conjoined, the twin had knowledge of the crime and allowed it to happen. A good lawyer might even argue that the twin was also Aiding and abetting and a full partner in the crime that was committed since the twin was there every step of the way.