Law and Order

Useful Vocabulary

blame, deny, apologise, police station, precinct, guns, dangerous, to commit a crime, to report a crime, to arrest, to stand accused of, to beat up someone, defendant, victim, judge, jury, lawyer, solicitor, witness, courtroom, alibi, rob, murder, steal, shoot, to be framed, to prove beyond a doubt, charged with, convicted of, prison sentence, lack of evidence, set free, on parole, a fine, thief, steal, rob, bribe, hijack, kidnap, murder, assassinate, to swindle someone, a rip off scheme, a fraud, a scam, a con artist, to be conned, to misappropriate funds, to defraud a company, to lie and cheat

Beware of Stalkers and Killers

With more and more people going online, cyberstalking is becoming a problem on the Internet. Because of all the personal information available, someone can find out the name, address, telephone number and personal interests of an intended victim with just a few clicks. With Google maps you can see their home on streetview and plan everything without even going there. In the US, there have been cases of people trying to hire killers over the Internet. One man posted a wedding photo of a couple along with their names, address, telephone number and an offer of $25,000 to kill them.

The Facts
In 1996, handguns were used to murder: 2 people in New Zealand, 15 in Japan 30 in Great Britain, 106 in Canada, 213 in Germany, 9,390 in the United States.

Discuss:
1. A policemans job is very exciting and he catches criminals every day. 2. The purpose of the law is to control peoples natural instincts. 3. Dont blame the criminal, blame his background. 4. Long prison sentences control the criminal impulses in most of us, and deter criminals who are punished from repeating their offences. 5. Capital Punishment (the death penalty) is a good deterrent and is more efficient than sentencing a murderer to life in prison.

Questions:
1. What sort of crimes do the police investigate? Mention some.

2. Mention some dangerous situations a policeman has to face. 3. Do you think the police in Spain torture people suspected of a crime? 4. Do you think there would be much less crime if there were more policemen on the streets? 5. Can you suggest any reasons for why crime is increasing?

6. What would you do if you found a thief in your home? 7. How can we protect our property and ourselves against crime? 8. Compare the current crime problems in Spain with the United States. 9. How do you think crime will evolve in the future? Do you think nonviolent crime will disappear, as we become a cashless society?

10. Do you watch forensic science TV programmes such as CSI and Bones? 11. Do you think all criminals are mentally ill? 12. Why do people commit crimes? (give examples for revenge, greed, fear, power) 13. A few years ago, The National Rifle Association announced its intention to open a chain of theme restaurants in the United States (this wasnt a joke!). Describe how you think they should be decorated and run and what meals should be served there.

14. Rate the severity of these crimes and what punishment you would give for them: Accepting and offering bribes Armed robbery Driving without a licence Drunken driving Helping criminals escape Hijacking an aeroplane Kidnapping Driving through a red light Receiving stolen property Shoplifting Smuggling Tax evasion Stealing stationery from your office Murder Parking on a wheelchair ramp Manslaughter

Suggested role plays:

1. In pairs act out a conversation between a traffic warden and a driver who has just come back to find a parking fine on his car, which he had double parked outside the hospital for 10 minutes. 2. In groups, act out a scene with a policeman interviewing the witnesses to a robbery. What did they see and what did the robbers look like? The witnesses dont agree with each other about what they saw. 3. Act out a scene in a prison with a group of prisoners arguing who should be the leader. 4. Act out a scene in a prison. You are a group of gangsters who have been arrested after trying to rob a bank. Argue about what went wrong and whose fault it was.