Criminal Justice Chapter 7/8 Vocab

Front 1

internal affairs unit

Back 1

a branch of police department that receives and investigates complains alleging violations of rules and policies on the part of officers

Front 2

latent fingerprints

Back 2

impression from the ridges on the fingertips that are left behind on objects due to natural secretions form teh skin or contaminating materials, such as ink, blood, or dirt, that were present on the fingertips at the time of their contact with the objects

Front 3

less lethal weapons

Back 3

weapons such as pepper spray and air fired beanbags or nets that intend to incapacitate a suspect without inflicting serious injuries

Front 4

usa patriot act

Back 4

a federal statute passed in the aftermath of the terrorits at attacks of 9/11 that broadens government authority to conduct searches and wiretaps and that expands the definitions of crimes involving terrorism

Front 5

affidavit

Back 5

written statement of fact, supported by the oath or affirmation, submitted to judicial officers to fulfill the requirements of probably cause for obtaining a warrant

Front 6

exclusionary rule

Back 6

the principle that illegally obtained evidence must be excluded from trial

Front 7

exigent circumstances

Back 7

when there is a threat to public safety or the risk that evidence will be destroyed, officers may search arrest, or question suspects without obtaininga warrant or following the other usual rules of criminal procedure

Front 8

good faith exception

Back 8

when police act in honest reliance on a warrant, the evidene seized is admissible even if the warrant is later proved to be defective

Front 9

inevitable discovery exception

Back 9

improperly obtained evidence can be used when it would alter have inevitably been discovered without improper actions by the police

Front 10

open fields doctrine

Back 10

officers are permitted to search and to seize evidence, without a warrant, on private property beyond the area imeediately surrounding the house

Front 11

plain view doctrine

Back 11

officers may examine and use as evidence, without a warrant, contraband or evidence that is in open view at a location where they are legally permitted to be

Front 12

probable cause

Back 12

reliable information indicating that evidence will likely be found in a specific location or that a specific person is likely to be guilty of a crime

Front 13

public saety exception

Back 13

when public safety is in jeopardy, police may question a suspect in custody without providing the miranda warnings

Front 14

reasonable expectation of privacy

Back 14

standard developed for determiniing whether a government intrusion of a person or property constitues a search because it interferes with individual interests that are normally protected from government intrusion

Front 15

reasonable suspicion

Back 15

a police officer's belief, based on articulable facts, that criminal activity is taking palce, so that intruding on an individual's reaosnable expectation of

Front 16

search

Back 16

official's examination of and hunt for evidence in or on a person or place in a manner that intrudes on reasonable expectations of privacy

Front 17

seizure

Back 17

any use by the police of their authority to deprive people of liberty or property

Front 18

stop

Back 18

government official's interference with an individual's freedom of movement for a duration that can be measured in minutes

Front 19

stop and frisk search

Back 19

limited search approved by supreme court in terry v. ohio that permits officers to pat down clothing of people on the streets if there is reasonable suspicion of dangerous criminal activity

Front 20

totality of circumstances test

Back 20

flexible test established by the supreme court for identifying whether probably cause exists to justify the issuance of a warrant