History, Handling, and Heuristics

In 1969, Tennessee included Brentwood as one of their cities. That same year, Emery Pewitt was elected to be the city’s first mayor. At the time, the sheriff’s department provided the city with most of their law enforcement needs. Mayor Pewitt and two of the city’s commissioners decided it would be better to provide full-time law enforcement services in Brentwood. On February 1, 1971, Howard D. Buttrey was hired as the city’s first Chief of Police, thus establishing the Brentwood Police Department (City of Brentwood, 2008). The United States Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Assistance Administration gave Chief Buttrey a grant of $40,000 to buy two police cars. The Brentwood Police Department hired three officers to begin patrolling the streets full-time. At the time, this police department did not have way of dispatching their own officers. Instead, it was done by a police station in Nashville. In 1972, however, Brentwood was able to hire communications personnel. They were in charge of taking phone calls and dispatching officers. Two years later, they opened their first police department headquarters. In 1989, the Brentwood Police Department received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Incorporated. It became the first department in Tennessee to be accredited more than once. In 2008, it was re accredited for the fifth time. The Brentwood Police Department is very proud of their accomplishments. More history can be found in the City Of Brentwood History Page.

The only "Community Policing Unit" in Tennessee is in the City of Maryville's Police Department. They must be pretty amazing with mission statements like "A primary goal is to be known by the community and to know the residents they serve. By having the ability to talk with and to listen to residents they are able to identify situations where additional police intervention or services by other community services are needed. Officers regularly attend resident council meetings and other neighborhood activities. Throughout the workshop the officers were exhibiting their “community” commitment in interacting with the residents." (Doggette, 2004). Among the normal objectives of Community Policing Units, the Maryville's Police Department also offer programs such as "Rape Aggression Defense classes and AARP Driver's Safety" classes (Maryville A to Z). To contact about services or programs through the Maryville Police Department you can request more information by calling (865) 273-3717.
I personally think that the hardest challenges that most Community Policing Units face that the Maryville Policing Unit has overcome is that challenge of reaching out to every community. Being that Maryville is a smaller city it doesn't have too many communities and can easily spread its various members of this organization effectively. Most of the communities won't need specific needs more than others or that seem too radical in comparison so this is also a plus for this program to work even better.

Around the time of 1971, when they first obtained their grant of $40,000, one problem would be depending on the size of their town or city, would be rough to patrol around in just two cars. Obviously there could be a lot more officers that sat around when two cars were out patrolling, but how would they be able to handle more than two disturbances? It seemed like they also could not find the room necessary for their headquarters since the first police department headquarters opened in the back of an Exxon station, then moved a few times within three years. Seems after they finally hit their final location in 1987, things went up. They established over fifty-eight officers with fourteen civilian personnel around the year 2000. Plus reaccredited several times starting with 1989 and last one was reported in 2008. The only problems that could be seen in today’s world, could be a lack of resources, lack of patrol officers to cover the size of their city or town, and a well funded budget to pay the officers to continue their services.

In the state of Tennessee there are 1,869 state law enforcement agency employees, which average out per 100,000 residents to 32 employees. The sworn personnel are 972 employees and then per each 100,000 residents there are 16 personnel’s. The local police departments and employees have 254 agencies and the number of personnel is 10,905 and per 100,000 residents it is 185. Then the number of sworn personnel is 8,680 and per 100,000 residents it is 147.The sheriff’s offices and employees have 94 agencies and the number of personnel is 9,545 and per 100,000 residents it is 162. The number of sworn personnel’s is 4,665 and per 100,000 residents it is 79(Reeves, 2004). Tennessee needs to have more sworn offices for the next three reasons. First, the more sworn officers that each area has, the fewer residents that they need to look over and the more control they may have over those residencies. The second thing is the more officers we have the more coverage there is going to be, security rates would go up, and areas will not only be patrolled once but two or three times. The last and final thing is that officers would arrive quicker to call in incidences, which means that instead of waiting 20 minutes to an hour for an officer to arrive, it may only be 5 to 10 minutes. All in all the more officers an area has the easier things will flow and the safer the area becomes.

City of Brentwood (2008). Department history. City of Brentwood, Tennessee, retrieved online from http://www.brentwood-tn.org/index.aspx?page=462.

Doggette, J. (2004). Community Mediation Center. http://www.2mediate.org/News/News_Archive_2004.htm

Maryville A to Z. http://www.ci.maryville.tn.us/Pam/Community%20Guide.pdf

Reaves, Brian A., Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004, NCJ 212749, Local police department and employees, by State, September 2004.

Reaves, Brian A., Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004, NCJ 212749, Primary State law enforcement agency employees, by State, September 2004.

Reaves, Brian A., Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004, NCJ 212749, Sheriff9 9s offices and employees, by State, September 2004.

Image from : http://www.brentwood-tn.org/Modules/ShowImage.aspx?imageid=1398

Assault, Asylums, and Accounting

39-13-101. Assault. —
(a) A person commits assault who:
(1) Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another;
(2) Intentionally or knowingly causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury; or
(3) Intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative.

(b) (1) Assault is a Class A misdemeanor unless the offense is committed under subdivision (a)(3), in which event assault is a Class B misdemeanor.
(2) In addition to any other punishment that may be imposed for a violation of this section, if the relationship between the defendant and the victim of the assault is such that the victim is a victim as defined in § 36-3-601(8), and if, as determined by the court, the defendant possesses the ability to pay a fine in an amount not in excess of two hundred dollars ($200), then the court shall impose a fine at the level of the defendant's ability to pay, but not in excess of two hundred dollars ($200). The additional fine shall be paid to the clerk of the court imposing sentence, who shall transfer it to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fine to the general fund. All fines so credited to the general fund shall be subject to appropriation by the general assembly for the exclusive purpose of funding family violence shelters and shelter services. Such appropriation shall be in addition to any amount appropriated pursuant to § 67-4-411.
[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 1030, § 11; 2002, ch. 649, § 1.]
39-13-503. Rape. —
(a) Rape is unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or of the defendant by a victim accompanied by any of the following circumstances:
(1) Force or coercion is used to accomplish the act;
(2) The sexual penetration is accomplished without the consent of the victim and the defendant knows or has reason to know at the time of the penetration that the victim did not consent;
(3) The defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless; or
(4) The sexual penetration is accomplished by fraud.
(b) Rape is a Class B felony.
[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1995, ch. 484, § 1; 1997, ch. 406, § 1; 2005, ch. 353, § 11.]


The similarities between these two examples of a misdemeanor and a felony in the state of Tennessee compared to those provided in Introduction to Criminal Justice (Siegel, 2008) are that they both define assault and rape in the same way. Really, the only differences here are that these two Tennessee statutes provide more of an in depth explanation of assault and rape as it applies to the state of Tennessee.
Tennessee uses the A.L.I. (American Law Institute) standard as a test for insanity defenses. The A.L.I. standard was introduced in 1962 as an alternative to the M’Naughten standard. To be eligible to use this defense, the defendant must be found to have a mental defect that causes him/her to lack the ability to realize that his/her action were illegal, and also lack the capacity to understand and follow the law. If the jury decides to accept this defense, the defendant will receive a verdict of Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity. The defendant will then enter into court-mandated treatment, instead of receiving jail time. For more information, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/history.html#ali

The state of Tennessee reported to the 2007 IC3, a total of 3,147 complaints. There is a list of the top ten complaints categories from Tennessee. Auction fraud at 36.6%, non delivery of merchandise/payment at 24.3%, credit card fraud at 8.5%, confidence fraud at 6.2%, check fraud at 6.1%, computer fraud at 3.3 %, identity theft at 3.2 %, financial institutions fraud at 3.1%, Nigerian letter fraud at 2.9% and threats at 1.5%. The percent of referrals by monetary loss starts at $00.01-$99.99 at 18.7%, $100.00-%999.99 at 39.9%, $1,000-$4,999.99 at 31.0%, $5,000.00-$9,999.99 at 6.9% and over $10,000 at 3.6%. The top dollar loss complaint was Nigerian letter fraud and totaled $170,127.00 and reported losses throughout the state were more than $3.4 million. The amount lost by fraud for individuals reporting monetary loss were, auction fraud with 99.6% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $512.00, Non delivery with 98.7% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $400.00, Credit card fraud with 98.5% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $358.66, Confidence fraud with 94.7% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $1,100.00, Check fraud with 98.9% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $2,975.00, Computer fraud with 16.0% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $500.00, Identity Theft with 71.4% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $800.00, Financial Institutions fraud with 97.9% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $1,500.00, Nigerian letter fraud with 97.8% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $2,400.00 threats with 13.0% who reported a loss with a median loss per complaint of $3,00.00. The total median dollar loss for all complaints reporting a dollar loss amounted to $606.18. The Tennessee perpetrator characteristics are 74.9% male and 24.1% female. The perpetrator statistics in the United States reports per 100,000 population Tennessee ranks 36th highest at 17.25 at the same time as ranking 21st on total number of perpetrators identified as residing in Tennessee. The total accounts for 1.4% of all complaints where the perpetrator was identified. The Tennessee complaint characteristics were 52.0% male and 48.0% female. The complaint demographics were stated as under 20 at 2.4% with amount lost per referred complaint of $222.00, 20-29 at 19.5% with amount lost per referred complaint of $605.94, 30-39 at 24.5% with amount lost per referred complaint of $655.34, 40-49 at 24.6% with amount lost per referred complaint of $651.74, 50-59 at 19.5% with amount lost per referred complaint of $619.00 and over 60 at 9.5% with amount lost per referred complaint of $650.00. The complaint statistics in the United States reports per 100,000, Tennessee ranks 31st highest at 51.11 while also ranking 20th on total number of complaints identified as residing in Tennessee. This total accounts for only 1.8% of all complaints in the United States. The complaint-perpetrator dynamics were reported as Tennessee at 8.7%, California being the highest at 12.2%, Florida at 10.3% and New York at 9.5%.

Michie's Legal Resources: Tennessee Code. (2009).
Retrieved September 21, 2009, from Michie's Legal Resources:
http://www.michie.com/tennessee

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/history.html#ali

http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2007/Tennessee%202007%20Report.pdf

image from: http://images.clipartof.com/small/5840-Insane-Man-In-A-Strait-Jacket-And-Padded-Room-Clipart-Illustration.jpg

Statistics, Slaughter, and Sagging

Tennessee crime trends within the state tend to be organized by the level of crimes. However they organized their own form of SAC, or form at which they record crimes known as the TIBRS or “Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System.” Within the system they have it organized in terms of the type of offenses, age category such as juvenile or adult, what has been reported and cleared, type of offense and finally grand total of each category. Throughout the survey which was last posted in 2008, the most common offense reported was simple assault at a total of 95,365 reported, 49281 were cleared, 27,888 were adults, and 5667 were juvenile. Throughout their various types of surveys, you could almost find any and all offenses of sorts in many different graphs or postings and types. In regards to UCR more information is required, for example: In 2008 have there been more adults reported of simple assault than juvenile in the state of Tennessee? Are men more likely to assault someone than women? Have the offenses of simple assault reported increased or decreased from 2006 to 2008? In conducting self report surveys we need to know: Are assault violators more likely to abuse drugs than thieves? Are assault violators more likely to assault someone at a bar or a construction site? Are assault violators raised in a rough environment? And most importantly the NCVS needs to be conducted on whether victims are more likely to be attacked during the day or night, are victims more likely to be men or women, and are assault victims likely to become assaulters themselves in the future? Analyzing the data on these factors is the key to understanding how and why crime is committed. For more statistics visit Tennessee's Justice Research Statistics Analysis Center.

The crime that has been on the local news media in Tennessee is the Cobbins' case. Cobbins had tortured, murdered and raped a couple in 2007 while they were on a date and he was now being convicted along with his brother Lemaricus Davidson and their friends George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman. The victim’s names were Channon Christian and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom both of who were in their early twenties. Cobbins proceeded to hijack their car at gun point then blindfolded them, took them to a rundown house and took Christopher where he sexually abused him, shot and burned him to death, then was thrown like a sack of potatoes by railroad tracks. Less than 24 hours later Cobbins grabbed Channon raped and beat her then put a paper bag over her head to suffocate her which led to her death then she was wrapped a plastic and thrown in a dumpster. The act of criminal behavior goes along with the Choice/ Rational Theory. There has been no evidence to the fact that he had premeditated, acted on a crime of hate or anything to the extent that he knew how everything was going to happen when it happened. As he was being charged guilty of 33 out of 38 crimes, he just shook his head as if he was saying no but he had no other emotion than that. He had weighed his options to if he were to commit such a horrendous crime that he could be charge with life without parole or even death, but even with thinking of the cons and pros he decided to go forth and do the crime anyways. In the end, a couple years later he is now facing life with no parole. In order to help these offenders in the future is to lock them up or if the state allows the death penalty. It is an eye for an eye, because the victim’s family now has to deal with remorse and not seeing their daughter or son anymore just because of someone wanting to do something hate and stupid. If the criminal was willing to kill once, he would be willing to kill again.

Currently, in the state of Tennessee, marriage between same sex couples is illegal (Nexis, 2009). What people fail to realize is that legalizing this issue can be greatly beneficial to the state’s economy. Six states in the United States allow same sex marriages, one of them being Massachusetts (CNN, 2009). Studies show that over the last four and a half years, Massachusetts’ economy has increased $111 million dollars due to same sex marriages (Lynch, 2009). Although an important factor, money is not the only reason as to why this issue should be legal. The United States gives every citizen religious freedom, yet they do not allow homosexuals to take part in marriage. In the year 2000, there were 595,000 households containing same sex partners (Avert, 2009). These couples are citizens and they should be given the rights of every other couple living in the U.S. In addition, same sex marriages are not harmful to anyone. Tennessee would not be placing their society in danger. Almost 70% of U.S. citizens are opposed to same sex marriages, yet nearly all of those same people believe that homosexuals should receive equal treatment when it comes to issues such as domestic rights, jobs, and government benefits (Bidstrup, 2009). Tennessee would only benefit from changing their current law.

When thinking of Tennessee and things that need to become illegal, the "Saggy Pants" Bill is probably the first to come to mind. The bill is trying to be passed so that: "Whether proposed legislation, which makes it a class C misdemeanor to knowingly wear pants below one’s waistline, in a public place, in a manner that exposes one’s underwear or bare buttocks, is constitutional." This act should be criminalized because it is purposefully disrespectful, offensive, and profane. This Bill is already supported by many government officials of Tennessee including Honorable Karen D. Camper, State Representative, and Rep. Joe Towns Jr. After the Ban on shirtless joggers in Palm Beach, Florida which "(1) stabilize its land values and maintain its role as a residential community; and (2) to maintain the history, tradition, identity, and quality of life of the town." There is much hope for this Saggy Pants Ban to become law. For first time offenders the fine would be that of $250 and for fourth time offenders the fine would be $1000.

Whether legality or constitutionality play an issue in the crime rates in Tennessee, it is fairly obvious that Tennessee, along with the rest of the United States, has a lot on their plate.

Mansfleid, D. (2009, August 25). Man convicted in brutal slayings of Tenn. Couple. The Associated Press, retrieved online from http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNmWe_648Dmb82xnnYiHPpdPTSkQD9AA2M3G0
Bidstrup, S. (2009, June 3). Gay marriage, the arguments and the motives. Bidstrup, retrieved online from http://www.bidstrup.com/marriage.htm.

Avert (2009, February 20). How many gay people are there? Avert, retrieved online from http://www.ask.com/bar?q=percentage+of+homosexuals+in+america&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avert.org%2Fgay-people.htm.

CNN (2009, May 6). Lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in N.H., Maine. CNN Politics, retrieved online from
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/06/maine.same.sex.marriage/#cnnSTCOther1

Nexis, L. (2009). Tennessee code and constitution. Tennessee.gov, retrieved online from http://www.michie.com/tennessee/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=tncode.

Lynch, K. (2009, May 31). Legalizing same-sex marriage benefits the economy. Examiner, retrieved online from http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-4107-Gay--Lesbian-Issues-Examiner~y2009m5d31-Studies--Legalizing-samesex-marriage-benefits-the-economy.


Channel 4, Nashville http://www.wsmv.com/video/18754401/index.html

http://tennessee.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2009/OP/OP73.pdf

Image received from: http://www.granbypdblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/image677810x.jpg

Callings, Cakes, and Corrections

The mission statement of the Tennessee Department of Corrections, which is responsible for maintaining the correctional system for the state of Tennessee, is “To enhance public safety in Tennessee through incarceration and rehabilitation of felony offenders”. This statement indicates that the TDOC demonstrates examples of both the crime control perspective of criminal justice (punishing offenders through incarceration) and the rehabilitation perspective (providing treatment and counseling so that offenders can be reintegrated into society after release.) The mission statement of the Tennessee Department of Public Safety is “Through education, regulation and enforcement the Department of Safety ensures the overall safety and welfare of the public. The Department was established in 1939, and currently encompasses the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Office of Homeland Security and Driver License Services.” This mission statement seems to fit with the crime control perspective of criminal justice, as it sets and enforces regulations on the people of Tennessee to ensure high standards of safety. The Tennessee Supreme Court reviews cases that have been heard by the Court of Appeals and determines whether the defendant’s Constitutional rights have been violated. The Supreme Court also determines whether the judge, lawyers, and jury involved with the case followed the Constitution when hearing the case. This is an excellent example of the due process perspective on criminal justice, as the Tennessee Supreme Court strives to ensure that all citizens are treated fairly and their Constitutional rights are observed.For more information visit www.tennessee.gov/correction/

The Criminal Justice system sure takes the “cake” when it comes to knowing how to classify all the different types of crimes and misdemeanors. This taxonomy is represented by a wedding cake. Now using this model it’s possible to classify the different temperaments of crime. At the top of the cake are the celebrated crimes that the media loves to follow. Tennessee is home to the infamous serial killer George “Machine Gun” Kelley who kidnapped and murdered numerous people according to the FBI’s file history (www.fbi.gov). The second layer consists of serious offenses by dangerous criminals, usually resulting in a high amount of casualties. Murder, rape, arson, and other high crimes fit into this category. For example in a small community named Frog Pond in Macon County, Tennessee, three people were shot to death in their own homes (Upchurch 2009). The third layer of the wedding cake is lesser offenses, usually done by first time offenders and don’t result in any serious punishment and violators are usually just put on probation. Not usually publicized, an example of this can be found in Springfield inmates who are pressing charges against the health care and food at their jail cell. Whether or not that they deserve such treatment, it is still a crime to deprive human beings with adequate and standard resources (Tennessean 2009). The last layer with the most crimes is misdemeanors such as traffic tickets and will usually only result in a fine. In Knoxville, 17 University students were arrested for playing a game of tag, which was misinterpreted by one police officer as dangerous wrestling. (Nelson 2009)

According to federal statistics, (Perry, 2006), the total justice expenditures for 2006 in the state of Tennessee were $2,626,692. The largest portion of justice funds were spent at the law enforcement level, with $1,210,316 (46.1%) at this level. The second highest level was for correctional spending, which totaled $895,959 (34.1%). Judicial spending only amounted to $520,417 (19.8%). (The dollar amounts are reported in thousands). There are many reasons why law enforcement spent the most, two of these being population and crime rate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, (Population Division, 2008), Tennessee’s population as of July 2008 was 6,214,888, ranking the state 17th in terms of population. Tennessee’s total Crime Index is 4,890.2 reported incidents per 100,000 people, ranking the state as having the 10th highest total Crime Index (The Disaster Center, 2008). As a state’s population increases, so does the crime rate; more people, more crime. A few ways that the law enforcement expenditures could be reduced are through community outreach, programs for first time offenders, and revision of total expenditures. Through community outreach efforts, local law enforcement could make their presence in certain high crime areas better known, perhaps curbing some of the crime. If programs for first time offenders were put in place instead of carting them straight to jail, the likelihood of them becoming repeat offenders could be substantially reduced, thus thwarting some of the crime on the streets of Tennessee. Another way to effectively cut some of the spending on law enforcement would be to review their total expenditures and examine what certain things they are spending the most money and why, cutting costs in areas which they feel they can still maintain with less spending. Another way is to increase the duties of each policeman. In this way, less police officers would be needed, and the state would have less people to pay. In a more eco-friendly attempt it is plausible for a switch on all police cars to hybrid vehicles. The state could then save on gas expenditures for law enforcement vehicles. On a more constructive scale it would be beneficial to reduce the number of law enforcement buildings. If there are fewer stations, then the state would not have to pay as much money. By reviewing their expenditures, Tennessee could develop a new plan tailored to their specific needs and budget.

TDOC Mission, Vision, and Values. Retrieved September 7, 2009. Web site: http://www.tennessee.gov/correction/mission.html.

Mission Statement. Retrieved September 7, 2009. Web site: http://tennessee.gov/safety/

www.tsc.state.tn.us

Federal Bureau of Investigationhttp://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/kelly/kelly.htm

Upchurch, J. Three Slain in Macon County. The Tennessean. Retrieved September 7,

2009 http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090907/NEWS03/90907013/Three+slain+in+Macon+Count

Associated Press. Springfield inmate testifies about bad jail food. The Tennessean. Retrieved September 6, 2009 http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090906/NEWS03/909060343/2066/Springfield+inmate+testifies+about+bad+jail+food

Nelson, K. 17 UT Students Arrested for ‘game of tag’. The Tennessean. Retrieved September 7, 2009 http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090905/NEWS03/909050322/2066/17+UT+students+arrested+for++game+of+tag+

The Disaster Center (2008).

Perry, S. W. (2006).

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division (2008).

Image from http://www.kevinsnider.com/images/TNSupremeCt.jpg

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog, created for our Criminal Justice 104 class. Here you will find updates on the crimes and judicial system going on in Tennessee. The one thing the group has in common is that none of us really knows what goes on in Tennessee, and you probably don't either. So we're more than happy to spread some light on that situation. Stay tuned.