Violent crime or a violent felony is referred to a crime that harms the other person intentionally or unintentionally. Violence is the basis of the rising crime rate in the United States, the crime rate is at a 47.70 in the crime rate index, ranking 50th in the world. The percentage is 5.30%.
Violent Crime
Incidents where a victim is threatened or harassed or harmed by violence or violent means, it is definitely a violent crime. Common examples of violent crimes include homicide, murder, assault, manslaughter, sexual assault, rape, robbery, negligence, endangerment, kidnapping (abduction), extortion, and harassment.
The two types of aggravated assault are first degree aggravated assault, when an intentional attempt is done to cause bodily injury to a person, or the person has actually been harmed. And second degree aggravated assault where there is not a deliberate attempt to harm someone, however a mental recklessness caused the action. This thin line causes the aggravated assault to come a degree lower.
An aggravated first degree assault which included the use of a deadly weapon has the perpetrator imprisoned for at least 25 years and up to $5,000 in fines.
The penalties for battery range from misdemeanor charges with less than 30 days in jail to substantial lifetime imprisonment. States usually describe the possible range of sentences in their laws.
Is Arson a Violent Crime?
Many at times when we hear there has been a fire episode, we often pray for the safety of citizens and wish for the fire to be put out as soon as possible. But when the designated authority goes in, it is revealed the fire was put intentionally, so now the whole episode becomes a crime scene.
This is what arson is; the act of setting fire to a property intentionally. Which becomes a criminal activity. The most common motive of committing arson is to conceal evidence in a property by setting everything on fire.
Types of Arson
The different types of arson depend on the person’s motive to commit arson, for instance, a lot of people set fire to a property to commit insurance fraud. This means that to claim their insurance money, they deliberately set fire to their house or their property
Another type of arson is to take revenge from someone by damaging their resources and their homes.
Setting fire to an occupied building is an even more intense charge, because it could harm people and innocent victims.
Forensic investigation is the medical and scientific evaluation of an arson; the evidence is sent to labs and scrutinized to figure out more about the crime. Science is used with evidence to establish facts about a certain criminal activity, and in an arson case it could also lead to the criminal itself.
A complete forensic evaluation may take 15 to 35 hours to complete, depending upon the number of evidence and media files.
Non Violent Crime
A non violent crime is typically referred to as a crime which directly doesn’t harm someone physically and doesn’t cause injuries of any sort. These are public or drug offenses that do not directly threaten any innocent person.
Typically, the most frequently identified nonviolent crimes involve drug trafficking, drug possession, burglary, and larceny. Crimes against property are common and usually happen against private properties. They are obtained or snatched from someone through force or other violent measures. Common property crimes include burglary, vandalism, robbery, shoplifting, arson and carjacking.
True Statement about Violent Crime
‘Violence is more common on college campuses than in the general population.’
College campus violent crimes include examples of harassment, simple assault and often substance abuse which is correlated to how a person is treated. Often students are so intoxicated that they pick up fights on petty issues and end up harming and injuring other students.
Moreover, the prevalent culture of bullying is very common on college campuses where minorities and students of different races are targeted and made victims of violent crimes. They are subject to hard core bullying, assault, abuse and often hurt with a weapon (sharp cutter, pointed pencil).
Sexual assault is also common where girls and LGBTQ are harassed and often threatened, where they feel unsafe. And there have often been various cases where girls were finally able to speak up and voice their stories of male students, colleagues and professors who harassed them or sexually assaulted them.
Conclusion
The world is a criminal place, so many people have actually lost their lives as a result of violent crimes, especially people of color. Only 2020 is full of examples of police offenders who assaulted and killed black men and women, for being black.
There is no check and balance in the world anymore, even if the punishment for such crimes is severe, how often do you see perpetrators being caught or influential people in prison? It rarely happens. Laws need to be strengthened and a strict check on houses and people especially when it comes to owning weapons illegally.
Not just the United States, but there are several other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia that have been identified as the most dangerous countries in the world, with cities that have the highest crime rate.
There has always been debate about how to control such rising crimes that occur often due to poverty, unemployment or hatred towards another in cases of aggravated assault. The justice system needs to be strengthened to the point where punishment for such crimes is severe and where every criminal is caught and punished. This is the only way the crime rate of cities and countries can be controlled to make it safe for people to live in.