Before we begin, are there any questions about anything?

In our final seminar, we will review your unit 9 written assignment, discuss terrorism and have a class wrap up. Remember, there is no seminar in unit 10.

The assignment is this…

“Illustrate the ethical and legal preparations required for successful prosecution of a case.

Research the various crimes discussed in this course and the techniques used to investigate those crimes. 

Choose at least 2 specific offenses (Homicide, Arson, Burglary, etc.)

Consult at least 2 research sources 

For this assignment, focus on the following:What are the specific ethical considerations that

need to be addressed when investigating the specific crime?

How can we reduce the ethical problems involved in the investigation of the crimes you selected?

What prosecution problems could arise when the case is presented for trial if the investigator was unethical?

What ethical issues are directly related to the prosecutor in the case?”

That’s the assignment, here are my thoughts…

- Use at least two sources, and cite them properly in the body of the paper and on the reference page. This is a big deal. Be sure to use sources and cite them properly! There are link to several sources in the class webliography which you might find helpful.

- Do short introductory and concluding paragraphs. - Review the assignment checklist to make sure you

have covered all aspects of the assignment.

I would organize it this way. Pick your two crimes. Discuss each one in separate sections of the paper. For the first one, do a topic sentence something like…”investigation of the crime of robbery presents several ethical challenges to the investigator working the case.” Then go down and touch on each one of the 4 areas of focus listed above. I might do a paragraph each or maybe combine two into a paragraph. Then, take your second crime and follow the same format.

Be aware of the required length. It is supposed to be 2 to 3 pages, not including the title page and reference page. Both pages should be in the correct format. There are samples in docsharing.

The paper requires a focus on ethics. Webster defines ethics as “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.”

Please give me some examples of how ethics apply to the Criminal Justice System.

As always, if you have questions about the assignment, please contact me.

Let’s move on to our discussion of terrorism.

When Americans think about terrorism, we think about 9-11. However, terrorist acts occurred well before that and many have occurred since.. Often, local law enforcement thinks combating terrorists is someone else’s job, the FBI, the CIA or homeland security. However, local law enforcement plays an important role in the war on terror. Please tell me how local agencies assist in the war on terror.

There are several ways that local officers can and have contributed to anti-terrorism efforts.

Terrorism is approached from two perspectives… international terrorism and domestic terrorism. We will look at international terrorism first.

What are some of the difficulties faced by the US when it comes to combating international terrorism?

Now let’s discuss issues relating to domestic terrorism

FEMA camps

Infiltrating terrorist groups

Eco-terrorism

Other countries also suffer from domestic terrorism as well

There are several new targets for terrorism now…

Has the Patriot Act been responsible for an erosion of personal freedoms?

Lockerbie as an example of a terrorist incident. Let’s discuss that attack.

Now onto the class wrap up! Everyone please take a moment to tell us what you thought was the most interesting subject we studied in the class and why.

About what aspect of criminal investigation did you learn the most?

Was there some information relayed in the class that changed your mind about how criminal investigation works or enlightened you in some way?

Do any of you have burning questions that didn’t get answered in class, or that were generated by the class?

Final thoughts…

Thanks for a fun semester! Best of luck to everyone here at Kaplan and in the future!