Students at UC Santa Cruz have been occupying the administration building (Kerr Hall) at the school for the past three days. According to several of the the students (over 370 are involved in the protest) there is no way they are going to give up leading many to suspect that the police will soon begin forcibly removing them.  This all started after the regents board at the school approved a 32 % increase in tuition. The students are concerned that they simply won’t be able to afford going to school there any longer as that is a very large increase for them to absorb.  The school says they have no plans to negotiate with the students and have already warned them that they will have the police come and clear the students out if they don’t leave on their own.  The students expect that will happen very soon. Actually, this protest is one of several demonstrations going on in California universities this past week. On Friday night, 41 protesters occupying a building at UC Berkley were arrested and cited for trespassing (and quickly released).  On Thursday, 52 students were arrested at UC Davis after they refused to leave the school’s administration building where they were also protesting tuition increases.  UCLA’s Campbell Hall was also occupied for several hours this past Thursday by protesting students.  The tuition hikes will start in January when they rates will go up 15% which is more than double the average public tuition hike last year. On average, tuition and fees at the nation’s universities increased by 6.5%.  An interesting note is that students that qualify for financial aid that have families making less than $70,000 per year will have their tuition covered.  Which makes me wonder if the reason why the tuition increases are happening isn’t really being totally driven by the fact that they can charge more and have Federal grants and funding cover the costs for a majority of the students.  The schools adamantly reject that stating that they are being forced to raise the tuition to keep the university open.  In any event, it will be very interesting to follow these protests over the next couple of weeks.

If you are found guilty of indecent exposure among other possible punishments you will most likely find yourself on the registered sex offender list. Here is a map of the U.S. with the number of registered sex offenders by State:

There are several crimes that will end up causing you to get your name added to the registered sex offender list, one crime is indecent exposure and it certainly is not the worst possible offense that will land you on this list.  However, it’s an example of one that seems to be very subjective.  Last month (October 2009) there were a couple of cases which I think are interesting as they point out that what everyone thinks or assumes is indecent varies pretty wildly. While this can lead to interesting discussions and even heated debates, the reality of the situation is that as a matter of law whether an act is indecent or not varies by State and to a wide degree by the people investigating the situation. Take for example two recent cases that were in the news and posted all over the Internet.

The first case is the case of Eric Williamson, the Virginia man that was arrested for making breakfast and coffee in the nude… okay that’s not the whole story. Apparently he was sipping coffee in clear view of a window that faced a public sidewalk.  A mother and child were walking by, took offense and called the police.  This resulted in the police arresting Williamson and charging him with indecent exposure.  Williamson was in the privacy of his own home true enough, but does that really protect him from an indecent exposure charge?  Would a reasonable person do what he did?  I don’t think so.  It’s one thing to drink coffee naked in an interior room of the house completely out of the view of anyone passing by your house and quite another to stand in front of your window in plain view of the public, butt naked sucking down your favorite home-brewed java.

So I did a little bit of research on the Internet as believe me this could go on for days (the research) if I didn’t cut it off at some point.  Let’s just say there are thousands of cases of indecent exposure on the Internet to read about.  Anyway here is the most basic legal definition I could find:

Indecent exposure is a crime that is defined as exposing one’s genitals or socially deemed “private parts” (such as behind or breasts) in a public place where others are present and may witness the act. A person who commits indecent exposure does so intentionally with an understanding that his/her conduct will likely alarm and offend others.

Well, that’s a tough one… Did Williamson intentionally expose himself?  Does lack of common sense come intoplay here at all?  In a case like this how does one exactly prove that Williamson had intent to expose himself to the mother and child walking by the house.  Well, I still think he is guilty because a reasonable person would close the blinds, drapes, etc. and simply just not do what this jackass did.  I also just have a problem with giving a person a pass because they are a moron.

In a another recent case (October 2009) we have the story of a 33 year-old Pennsylvania man, Michael Parziale. Well if all cases were this clear, everything would be a lot easier. Okay so this idiot allegedly takes pleasure in sitting in his car in public places with his door open and then masturbating while women walk by (well he also is allegedly perfectly comfortable walking up to women and doing the same thing). Okay, so that is a clear case of indecent exposure. This guy is clearly exposing his private parts intentionally in a public place and should be quite certain that this will both alarm and offend just about anyone with a brain. The only question here is… Why?  What can cause someone to behave in such a bizarre way?  There can be no doubt that the indecent exposure laws were clearly written to protect the public from people like Parizale.

So in this sometimes crazy world where it can be pretty hard to shock people where do we draw the line?  Do we arrest everyone that comes close to the line (like Williamson) or do we just go after the people that completely blow past the line and blatantly violate the law (like Parizale)?  Obviously, we don’t really have to choose… Breaking the law is breaking the law and there is no such thing as only breaking the law a little bit.  Like many things though it is not 100% black and white and there is at least a little bit of gray involved.  I guess in either case the judge or jury will take the decision in the cases of Williamson and Parizale.  The moral of the story is if in doubt… throw on a pair of pants, a robe, ANYTHING!

According to a study prepared by the folks at College Board in 2009, the average cost of tuition for a 4-year college has increased from $9,501 in 1980 to an alarming $26,273 in 2009!  That has really put the price of a bachelor’s degree out of the reach of many Americans.  Fortunately, Criminal Justice University has put together programs for several online colleges and universities which makes a bachelor’s degree affordable again.  In fact, you have to go back as far as 1990 to see comparative rates in the National average.  Given the incredible savings and the high quality education you can get from a CJU school, why would you choose to go anywhere else?  So find out your options today and enroll in a CJU program.

In addition to offering the best prices for bachelor’s degrees, Criminal Justice University also offers associate’s degree programs for under $10,000 in total and certificate programs for under $1,000.  It really is amazing how much you can pay for the exact same education.  It used to be that community colleges were the only place that you could go to see a huge break in tuition costs.  Now, thanks to the ability to get degrees online, you can get the degree you need from a 100% fully accredited university right from the comforts of your own home.  Until something can be done about the spiraling costs of campus-based programs, online programs will surely grow in popularity as the only truly feasible option for many Americans.

We got a lot of response regarding crime facts in the U.S. so we decided to continue the series and to add some statistics that looked into each State and compared violent crimes on a per capita basis. This resulted in us coming across the following chart at the U.S. Census Bureau:

Take a look at Washington D.C.  that’s something!  It’s interesting to note where our nation’s capital ranks in the area of violent crime.  Is that odd?  It seems so to us.  In any event, there are quite a few States that are considerably worse off than others in this one aspect (not that there aren’t potential perils anywhere you live).

One of the best ways to pick a college is by making sure that they have a program that matches your specific interests and career goals. The criminal justice field is very diverse and covers everything from paralegal training to forensic science programs. CJU has done the research for you and found the best online programs for each field of study.

• = Certificate Program
• = Associate of Arts or Associate of Science Degree Program
• = Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science Degree Program
• = Graduate Program

Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime

• Computer Crime, Kaplan University
• Master of Science – Cybersecurity, Virginia College

Criminal Investigation

• Criminal Investigations, Everest College at Phoenix
• Criminal Investigations, Everest University Online

Criminal Justice

• Criminal Justice, Kaplan University
• Criminal Justice, Virginia College
• Criminal Justice, South University
• Criminal Justice, Upper IowaUniversity

Crime Scene Investigation

• Crime Scene Technician, Kaplan University
• Crime Scene Investigation, Kaplan University

Emergency Management – 911

• Fire Science, Upper IowaUniversity
• Emerencyy & Disaster Management, Upper IowaUniversity

Forensic Nursing

• Forensic Nursing, Kaplan University
• Legal Nurse Consulting, Kaplan University

Forensic Psychology

• Forensic Psychology, Kaplan University
• Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology, Argosy University

Forensic Science

• Forensic Science, American InterContinental University Online

Homeland Security

• Homeland Security, Everest University
• Homeland Security, Kaplan University
• Master of Public Administration – Homeland Security, Upper Iowa University

Law Enforcement

• Law Enforcement , Kaplan University
• Law Enforcement, Upper IowaUniversity
• Law Enforcement , American InterContinental University Online
• Master of Science – Law Enforcement , Grand Canyon University

Paralegal/Legal Studies

• Paralegal, Everest University
• Paralegal Studies , Virginia College
• Paralegal Studies , South University
• Master of Science – Legal Studies , Grand Canyon University

Frustrated by attacks on their campus, a couple of University of Washington students decided to take matters into their own hands and created a vigilante group to protect areas around the campus where attacks have occurred over the past year.  The group is led by Luis Garcia (left) and Stanley Luong (right) who both were victims of assault themselves on the campus. They put up a page on the social media site Facebook to recruit members, but it was quickly pulled down by the social media company.

They both got concealed license permits and bought handguns and now essentially walk the campus every night as “bait” for would-be criminals.  According to the UW Daily Newspaper, there have been ten assaults and robberies in the campus area in just two months, so Luong and Garcia are correct in identifying the problem.  The only issue is that of legality.  It is definitely illegal to carry a concealed handgun on college campuses in Washington.  So given that there is a problem and the students can’t legally protect themselves with their 2nd amendment right to bear arms, what is the solution?

It would be ideal for the University of Washington to step in here and beef up the security patrols and/or the local police.  While the students are doing what comes fairly natural to them, in fact, they are putting themselves in grave danger.  Some may consider this to be courageous, unfortunately it is probably more just dangerous.  They aren’t really just putting themselves in harm’s way.  They may potentially cause a situation to escalate more than necessary and there are lots of possible ramifications of that.

We hope that the law enforcement officials in the area will step in and take care of this situation before it gets further out of hand.  While in some cases vigilantes are necessary, it doesn’t seem like a college campus should be one of those cases.

You can see a video by their local news station here.

CJU spends a lot of time talking about criminal justice careers and everything that prepares someone for a criminal justice job including a great education. Sometimes it is hard for people to envision the types of classes that someone would take in order to graduate with a criminal justice degree. We thought we would put together a list of some of the really cool classes that most criminal justice majors take as they earn their degree (and possibly some just really fun extra courses):

Intro to The Criminal Justice System – Okay, this is not so cool or exciting but is a foundation class that most programs will start with. Generally this is a study of all of the agencies that exist in our court system including: the courts, the police, prosecutors, public defenders, and corrections (officers and facilities). This one is sexy, but just makes sure everyone was paying attention in their civics classes in high school.

Retail Security – Well this is starting to sound more fun, but wait are we talking about mall cops (not that there is anything wrong with that at all)?  In fact, it is about loss prevention and general tactics used to make sure that shoplifting and other theft does not occur.  This is a much maligned career (partially due to the recent Mall Cop movie starring Paul Blart), but is a HUGE problem challenging our retail industry.

Crime Prevention – Now we are getting to some law enforcement work, we are probably starting to get your attention. This class talks about different times of crime prevention strategies that can be deployed by police departments, community organizations, or any other group looking to reduce the crime rates around them (local businesses, etc.).  So again, the focus here is really on avoiding a crime, not investigating crimes.

Forensic Biology – This sounds like some CSI stuff (very cool).  In fact, this is exactly about crime scene investigations and different techniques for collecting evidence.  This course covers topic like ecological, entomological, and biotechnological techniques used by law enforcement personnel across the country.

The typical criminal justice program will offer somewhere around 20 to 50 different classes for a student to choose from to fulfill their degree requirements.  It is important to take a look at the classes that are offered before you plan your class schedules to make sure that you are getting exactly what you are interested and/or need to learn to advance your criminal justice career.

We can’t cover all of the programs offered by every university in this one blog article but did want to wet your whistles and to let you know that the criminal justice field is complex and full of lots of specializations.  So it’s not normally as easy as the criminologists make it look on TV.

Court Reporting

Job Description

The life of a court reporter is challenging as they need to keep track of everything that is going on during legal meetings, such as court hearings. They participate in meetings that require transcripts and are responsible for keeping very accurate records of everything that is said and done during the proceedings. The documents they produce are legal documents and they are considered court records.

The position requires several skills ranging from an excellent sense of awareness to stenography, electronic reporting, and voice writing. These skills take time and dedication to learn at the speeds that are required for a person to have a good career as a court reporter.

Requirements

In most States, formal training is required to become a court reporter. The amount of training that is required really depends upon which skills you are looking to master. In general it take one year of training to become a voice writer while it takes over two years to become a stenographer. There are many colleges that provide highly specialized training for court reporters which normally includes excellent employment placement services upon graduation. In most states you also have to pass an exam to become a licensed court reporter.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for court reporters is faster than average according to those at the College Board, www.collegeboard.com. This field is one that is always needed given the nature of our society and how busy our courts always seem to be.

Find out more about degrees for Court Reporters by clicking below:

Sage College - Sage College is fully accredited and has a 35-year history of producing quality court reporters. You can earn your Associates Degree or a Diploma in Court Reporting and be well on your way to a rewarding career in our court systems. Sage College offers great financial packages to make starting this career very affordable for everyone. Sage College is accredited by the Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

Bryan College- Bryan College prepares you for a fast-paced career as a court reporter. Be an observer as a legal drama unfolds every day in your career as a court reporter. Bryan College prpares you for your state’s Court Reporting licensing exam and will help you start your career as a court reporter, deposition reporter, hearing reporter, statement reporter, convention reporter, real-time captioner, or real-time reporter. Bryan College is accredited by the Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

So we know that there are many top 10 lists that people would love to be on, this is not one of them.  This is a list reserved for the worst of the worst and people that are tied to organized crime of some sort (gangs or mob), tied to drug trafficking, or other horrible crimes.  This is the list of the top 10 American Fugitives (people that are wanted by the U.S. government).  The ultimate resource for this list is located here: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm.  We were going to cover this list to try and bring it to your attention but it’s actually a federal crime if you don’t reproduce the list properly so it seems safest to just point you in the direction of the official list.

But we think it is interesting to ask yourself if you could name any of the top 10 people without going to the site first to check it out.  I would guess that most Americans would identify Usama Bin Laden as one of the top 10, but I would guess that most Americans could not name another person on this list.  That seems to be something that we should try to address as a society.  These are people that are extremely dangerous and that we need to assist the authorities in any way possible with apprehending.

Do you know what you should do if you do spot one of America’s most wanted?  Here is a list of your options:

1) You can fill out the tip form on the FBI site: https://tips.fbi.gov/

2) You can call the FBI at: 1-800-CALLFBI

3) You can visit or call your local FBI office which you can lookup here.

4) You always have the option of calling 911, but please be sure that this is a real emergency before you do that.  If it is not, you can just contact your local authorities at your earliest convenience.

Please give this a little more than a passing thought.  You came to CJU because you are either interested in a criminal justice career or you saw something closely related.  Stay aware of these top criminals and stay alert as you never know when you may possibly cross paths with one of America’s most wanted.  In any event, you now know what to do if you do spot one of these fugitives.

Our judicial system does an amazing job day after day, but even the best of systems can be flawed.  Given the number of crimes committed in the U.S. and the number of people convicted every year it does seem like there are very few cases that get over-turned.  With that said, it is hard to say exactly how many more people that are in prison are actually telling the truth when they say they didn’t commit the crime.  Another debate which is actively being raised is how much should we compensate people that have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.  It’s a tough call for sure.  It seems to us that there should be some level of compensation and I do think it is important to raise the level of awareness as to why these people were falsely convicted.  As you can see from the table below, eyewitness misidentification was a factor in most of these cases.  It’s also true that there were a few cases that the forensic scientists appear to have gotten wrong.  Here is the list of people that have been exonerated after 14 or more years (that is what the Years column in the table below represents… how long it took for them to be exonerated):

More information on all of these cases can be found at: Innocent Project.

We bring this issue up to remind everyone currently in the criminal justice profession how much we can impact the lives of people (mostly in a positive way, but sometimes not so much).  These types of reminders help to make sure that we apply good critical thinking on our jobs every day.

We wish all of these people the best as  they adjust to life after prison and after being exonerated.