Crime happens to be a very wide field with criminal activities taking an exponentially high number of classes and types. Some criminals are smooth operators who use technology and the power of persuasion to commit crimes (Schmalleger, 2017) . Others are hardened criminals who use force to perform aggravated crimes. There are also those who find themselves facing serious criminal charges, yet there are those who are rationally guilty of a manifestation of very poor judgment (Downes et al, 2016) . A chain of causation after the fact leads to catastrophic outcomes. Finally, there are those who may suffer setbacks in the cause of professional duties and end up facing career and life charging criminal accusations. The society and crime have a cause and effect relationship with the nature of the society informing the type of crime kindred to it, yet crime also has a major adverse effect in society at several levels.
The White Collar Face
According to Schmalleger (2017), not all criminals look thuggish and brandish weapons. White collar criminals consider themselves to be refined members of the society and use the strength of their minds or their expertise to perform crimes. Modern society and even the law has come to treat this form of crime with an increasing harshness due to the damage they visit upon the society. A criminal who tries to blend in with society erodes trust within the society causing much more damage than the pecuniary damage occasioned (Schmalleger, 2017) . 42-year-old Victor Oyewumi Oloyede was such a criminal. According to U.S. Attorney’s Office: Maryland. (2017) Oloyede formed a group that would a manipulate Americans seeking for love online and defraud them of millions of dollars. The gang would use the internet to find individuals desperate for love, begins communications and form strong fake love bonds. They would then use circumspect excuses to get money from their gullible victims. Many Americans fell victim to this trick earning Oloyede the $1,641,959.74 (U.S. Attorney’s Office: Maryland, 2017). Oloyede and his group were apprehended and arrested by the Maryland Identity Theft Working Group in 1015. He was tried for 17 days and convicted on the 18th day of November 2016 alongside three co-conspirators. Oloyede and his team did more than just take money from their hapless victims as they also ruined their trust for society and concept of love.
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Chain of Causation Crime
A seemingly relatively innocent action can metamorphose into a serious crime based on activities that take place after the fact. In legal terms, this is called chain of causation, based on how one act creates a cascade of other acts that lead to a crime (Downes et al, 2016). A person can playfully through a stone, tool or weapon but inadvertently injure or kill someone as a consequence thereof. Under the circumstances, if it is determined that a reasonable person would have known that such as act had even a remote possibility of resulting in the crime, then the perpetrator can be indicted and convicted of the larger crime. 25-year-old Aaron Andrade fancied himself a kind of pharmacist who would supply people with illegally acquired pharmaceutical products. In February 2014 he sold 29-year-old Kristen Coutu the opioid fentanyl for US$40 (Wing, 2017). According to court records, at the point of sale, Coutu thought she was buying a version of Heroin, an illegal narcotic. When, however, she took the drug, she died and was discovered as such within hours of the said sale. Naturally, the action by Andrade was against the law but a far cry for the act of murder which he was later to be charged with. He, however, pleaded no contest to the charges, was convicted on his own plea and sentenced to twenty years at the beginning of April 2017 (Wing, 2017). The case Andrade is evidence of how seeking to commit a seemingly simple crime. Illegally selling pain medication in America is a relatively simple crime that carries a small sentence. However, the seemingly simple act developed a life of its own and resulted in consequences that Andrade may not even have imagined. Yet, any reasonable person would know that taking prescription medications without a prescription is dangerous and can even lead to death. This was the basis of the charge and harsh sentence for Andrade.
Crimes Committed In the Cause of Duty
Seeking to do the right thing may not always result in the right thing getting done. Sometimes, situations ensue that result in a noble endeavor turning into a nightmare that ends with a criminal trial (Schmalleger, 2017). There are two main ingredients of a crime to wit the actus reus and the mens rea. Actus reus or criminal conduct is the action of the perpetrator of a crime that results in a crime being committed. For example, in a shooting incident, actus reus can be indicated as pulling the trigger of a weapon when aiming it at another individual. Mens rea, on the other hand, is defined as criminal intent and factors what was going on in the mind of the perpetrator when the act that resulted in a crime was undertaken (Ragone & Greenwood, 2015). For example, using the shooting example given above, mens rea relates to whether or not the intention was to kill or harm the individual and why. For example, if the intent to shoot was self-defense, then no crime could have taken place. Professionals such as doctors whose patients die under suspicious circumstances, police officers accused of illegal shootings are among examples of crimes that happen in the cause of duty. Such crimes may not be considered as having actually happened unless and until a careful analysis of the two aforementioned ingredients is made (Ragone & Greenwood, 2015).
On the 6th day of July 2016 Jeronimo Yanez, an officer with the St. Anthony Police Department, Minnesota was on routine patrol when he chanced upon a vehicle driven by Philando Castile. Castile was accompanied by his girlfriend and a four-year-old girl who was riding in the back seat (Croft, 2017). An altercation ensued between Yanez and Castile, after the latter informed the former, that he was armed. Several versions have been given about what happened immediately after but the same led to Yanez shooting Castile four times at point blank range, leading to his immediate death. The immediate aftermath of the shooting was streamed live on Facebook, leading to massive protests that resulted in the arrest of Yanez who face murder charges. After a protracted trial, however, Yanez was eventually acquitted in June 2017 (Smith, 2017). There was enough evidence to show that Yanez shot Castile and the shots caused his death. However, the fact that he was acting lawfully while on duty as a police officer changed the entire matrix of the case.
Conclusion
The sophisticated world of the educated and high living who make consistent use of the internet attracts a different level of crime than poor communities where drug dealers lack. This is a reflection of the society itself acting as a bearing factor to the crimes that take place therein. Yet the crimes themselves will affect the society such as erosion of trust or conflict between the community and law enforcement as reflected above. This is an example of crime operating as a bearing factor on the society itself. The crimes outlined above show that one does not have to be manifestly bad to be labeled a criminal. Sometimes bad luck can turn a wannabe pharmacist into a murderer and an unfortunate turn of events can turn a seemingly upright police officer into an enemy of the people. These are just a few of the many faces of crime.
References
Croft, J. (2017, June 21). Philando Castile shooting: Dashcam video shows rapid event. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/20/us/philando-castile-shooting-dashcam/index.html
Downes, D., Rock, P., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking . New York: Oxford University Press
Ragone, T. A., & Greenwood, K. (2015). Knowledge, Recklessness and the Connection Requirement Between Actus Reus and Mens Rea............... Alexander F. Sarch
Schmalleger, F. (2017). Criminology today: An integrative introduction , Student Value Edition, 8th Edition. London: Pearson
Smith, M. (2017, June 16). Minnesota Officer Acquitted in Killing of Philando Castile. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/police-shooting-trial-philando-castile.html
U.S. Attorney’s Office: Maryland. (2017, February 14). Laurel Man Sentenced to Over 19 Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding Victims of Millions of Dollars Through Internet Dating Scam. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/laurel-man-sentenced-over-19-years-federal-prison-defrauding-victims-millions-dollars
Wing, N. (2017, April 13). Drug Dealer Sentenced To 20 Years For Murder After Customer's Fatal Overdose. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fentanyl-dealer-murder-conviction_us_58efafdee4b0b9e9848a33fa
