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Law and Crime
The Crime and Law Quiz Once Again
This quiz shows what you know (or don’t) about cops, crooks, and the law.
Posted June 19, 2016
With the third time being the charm, here’s another Crime and Law Quiz. No Googling allowed.
Questions
1. The police get called to a canyon where two 10-year-old boys are throwing rocks at a house. Witnesses see the boys break out the large patio glass doors of a house near the canyon with rocks. The damage to the glass doors is substantial and expensive. A police officer confronts the two boys about throwing the rocks. Before he questions them, does he need to read them their Miranda “right to remain silent” rights?
Legally, yes. The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no age limit for the Miranda warning. All citizens have the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney without charge, and the right to stop speaking to police. Juvenile suspects must have the “knowing, intelligent, and voluntary nature of their waiver of rights.” Courts look at the child’s age, education, and personal background, the circumstances of the questioning by police, use of any coercion or trickery, and the duration of the questioning. With the 10-year-olds, instead of arresting and interrogating the boys, most officers would ask them what happened, contact the boys’ parents, write a crime case report for vandalism, and refer the case for some kind of juvenile diversion program, like having the parents pay to replace the windows for the property owner. The police routinely read the Miranda warning to all juveniles for serious crimes, regardless of their age, and often in front of their parents, so they can explain what waiving their rights means. Many studies suggest, accurately, that most juveniles under the age of 15 don’t understand the Miranda warnings anyway. Many legal advocates ask police to use an easier and shorter version, which can help their comprehension and protect the self-incrimination right we all have.
2. Why is the Sheriff called the Sheriff and the cops are called the cops?
Sheriff comes from the Reeve (protector) of the Shire (neighborhood) or Shire – Reeve. Cops comes from Chief of Police (COP), Constable on Patrol (COP), and from the copper buttons and copper helmets they used to wear in the old days.
3. True or False: It’s illegal to drive any motor vehicle without wearing shoes in the United States.
False. It’s legal in all 50 states. Just not sure how safe it is.
4. Are commercial airline pilots allowed to carry guns in the cockpit?
Yes. After 9-11, the TSA or Transportation Security Administration, created a program where screened and trained commercial pilots can volunteer to carry firearms in the cockpit. They are known as Federal Flight Deck Officers. They are trained by the Federal Air Marshal Service to protect the flight, the crew, and the passengers with their firearms. This training includes range training, use of force issues, legal issues, defensive tactics, weapons retention, the psychology of survival, and standard operating procedures for carrying, transporting, storing, and using a firearm while in flight, if necessary. So besides just sitting behind heavily-fortified cockpit doors, your armed and trained pilots are now also part of the post-9/11 fight against terrorism.
5. Who investigates when a crime happens on a military base?
The Navy has its own Base Police for traffic and police-related crimes in base buildings, barracks, and personnel housing units. For major crimes, they use the NCIS (just like the TV show), which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They cover US Navy bases worldwide and are deployed on ships at sea. And because the Department of the Navy is also responsible for the Marine Corps, they use NCIS agents on Marine Corps bases too. The US Army uses its CID or Criminal Investigation Division, for crimes on their bases, worldwide. The US Air Force calls its agency the OSI, or Office of Special Investigations, for crimes on air bases worldwide. Serious crimes committed on US Coast Guard bases are most often investigated by the FBI.
6. When a crime happens on an Indian reservation, who investigates it?
Crimes that take place in Indian Country, as it is called, are investigated by either a Tribal Police Officer from an Indian police department created for that tribe, or by a member of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs Police. There are nearly 2,400 US BIA police officers, and there members cover 1.4 million Indian reservation residents across 56 million acres of land. Indian Tribal police would need at least 4,300 cops total to provide the staffing levels equivalent to a major police department and its residents. Those officers are working on their own a lot, in tough weather conditions and rocky terrain, and on tribal lands with high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and violent crime.
7. The police use lots of phrases and code words. What does the phrase “Code 4” mean and why do the cops say it so often?
In cop talk, Code 4 means “no other assistance needed.” Cops use it over the radio to tell the Dispatcher and each other that the scene they are at is under control and no other officers need to be sent. In the field, they hold up four fingers (sometimes behind their backs so suspects don’t see) as other officers drive by, to tell them visually but non-verbally that they don’t need them to stop and cover them on a traffic stop, a field interview, or a radio call. Code 4 is so common as a radio code that even crooks know what it means, which is why most officers are careful saying it around them over the radio or to other officers passing by, so the crooks don’t attack them or try to escape because they know more help has already driven away or is not coming.
8. Do the words “sociopath” or “psychopath” have the exact same meaning?
No. Psychopaths are those who can manipulate other people by lying, cheating, or hurting other people to get what they want. The hallmark of the psychopath is a lack of empathy; they just don’t feel emotions the way normal people do. They can be quite clever, smooth, smart, and even attractive. But their motives are always evil. They can harm other people, even quite severely, and not feel bad about it all, emotionally or physically. One way of defining a sociopath is as a “criminal psychopath.” In other words, sociopaths are psychopaths who engage in criminal behavior, almost exclusively, as part of their lives. While not all psychopaths are sociopaths, all sociopaths are psychopaths. You may have even known or worked with or for a psychopath – someone who treated you horribly but did not break the law. Serial killers are sociopaths; but a psychopath could be your boss or your neighbor. So it’s not completely accurate to use those terms interchangeably.
9. Do cops have a ticket quota?
No. Well, sort of. Here’s the deal: ticket quotas by the police are illegal in all states and outside their agency policies. Cops can write as many tickets as they want or as few as they want. But, most police supervisors use the number of citations their officers write as a measure of their activity during their shifts. It’s possible, because of a lot of radio calls or a lengthy investigation, that officers couldn’t write at least one citation per patrol day. The trouble comes, for the police supervisors, when their officers go days or weeks without writing any tickets. So they ask is, “What are you doing in the car for 8, 10, or 12 hours? Why aren’t you stopping people?” In the police world, traffic infractions give them a legal right to stop a driver, get their driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. It also lets the cops look at what they can see in plain view in the car, which often includes open cans of beer, bags of drugs, and the occasional gun. Based on a traffic stop, they can discover that the car is unregistered or the driver has never had a license and they can tow it away. Before they tow it away, they search it before the tow truck comes, to make sure evidence or contraband doesn’t end up at the tow yard. There are two reasons the police write tickets: to enforce Vehicle Code laws that lead to better driving habits and safety – think about how much better you drive, at least for a few hours or the rest of the day – after you get pulled over by a cop, a state trooper, or highway patrol officer. The second reason is as an investigative tool to have a legal right to stop and talk to potential crooks. So while they don’t have a quota, they had better be stopping speeders, blatant texters, cell phone talkers, beer and weed enthusiasts, and other drivers who need a corrective reminder. And they had better be getting out of their patrol cars on a regular basis, to look for possible crooks who drive past.
10. How many sworn law enforcement personnel are working in the US?
For some unknown reason, that number is hard to pin down. Some research says 800,000 people work as cops, sheriff’s deputies, troopers, special agents, rangers, game wardens, constables, marshal, and investigators. Other numbers say as low as 700,000 and as high as 900,000. It’s probably hard to categorize accurately because there are some many variations of "cop" out there. Wave to the next one you see.
Dr. Steve Albrecht, PHR, CPP, BCC, CTM, is a San Diego-based speaker, author, and trainer. He is board certified in HR, security, and coaching. He focuses on high-risk employee issues, threat assessment, and school and workplace violence prevention. In 1994, he co-wrote Ticking Bombs, one of the first business books on workplace violence. He holds a doctorate in Business Administration (DBA); an M.A. in Security Management; a B.S. in Psychology; and a B.A. in English. He worked for the San Diego Police Department for 15 years and has written 17 books on business, HR, and criminal justice subjects. He can be reached at drsteve@drstevealbrecht.com or on Twitter @DrSteveAlbrecht
