Criminology final, 12/19
*ring* *ring*
Hello, Mars Investigations, Keith Mars speaking.
"Hi, Mr. Mars. My name is Angela Chase. I go to school with your daughter, and she said it would be okay if I talked to you for my final project in Criminology? We're supposed to interview someone in law enforcement."
"Oh, Angela. Of course, Veronica told me you'd be calling. What can I answer for you?"
"Thanks. Um, first, can you just, like, tell me what your law enforcement background is? Veronica said you used to be a sheriff."
"Yes, I... used to be the sheriff of Neptune, California - where Veronica's from, I'm sure she's told you that. I currently run my own detective agency."
"She mentioned that, yeah," Angela says, writing this down. "Thanks. I'm supposed to ask you for your viewpoint on three things we discussed in class this term. So I guess I should just ... pick one and start?"
"That sounds good to me, Angela. Shoot."
Okay. First, do you think female criminals are at all different from male criminals, or percieved differently, and why?
"That's an interesting question. Let me think how to put this." *pause* "I don't think women and men are that different as far as being criminals - sometimes their motivations for similar crimes may differ, but I do see quite a difference in how they are perceived by law enforcement and the general public. I think there are still gender constructs that make us want to protect women more than men. Sometimes law enforcement people have a harder time believing women have done some of the things they've done, if that makes any sense. Don't get me wrong, though, women can commit any crime men can."
Angela pauses for a long time. "I think that does make sense. The video we watched talked about, like, Karla Homolka, and .... it was really scary, what some people can do. My next question is, How do you feel about the use of hypnosis of witnesses or suspects in criminal investigations?"
"Well, it's rather useless. And by useless, I mean it's completely unreliable. There's no way to verify information given up in that manner, and it can't be used in a court of law for just that reason. Good, solid physical evidence, now that's what you need."
Angela considers this. "So it can't even help point police in the right direction, as a preliminary step? I understand why it's not enough to convict anyone."
"Some people believe in that sort of thing, but I think it's just as likely that whoever's 'hypnotized' is leading you on a wild goose chase to take you off the right trail. I don't buy it."
"Gotcha," Angela says. "And my last question is, do you believe in the use of criminal profiling? Why or why not? We had fun talking about that in class, because it seems like a really hard subject for people to agree on."
"Ah, yes - always a hot-button issue in law enforcement. I think profiling can be a useful tool, used in conjunction with several other methods of tracking a suspect. I mean, it's good to know a general idea of what you're looking for, and it appears that certain races and people are statistically more apt to commit certain crimes, but profiling isn't everything. Often, it's the person you'd least expect who commits the worst crimes."
"That's about where most of the class ended up, too, I think -- it can be useful but it isn't always right, so you need to use it carefully. And that was my last question. I mean, unless there's something else about law enforcement that you think is important for students to know."
"I can't think of anything off the top of my head, Angela... I hope I was able to answer everything well enough for you."
"You were really helpful. Thanks again, Mr. Mars."
"You're welcome, Angela. If you see Veronica around, tell her I said hi, will you?"
"Absolutely. She's a really good friend, you know. Veronica."
"I'd expect nothing less from my girl. Well, Angela, it's been nice chatting with you."
"Same to you. Bye."
"Bye." *hangs up*
[OOC: RP'd via AIM with _whosyour_daddy]