Principles of Law
The three main parts of the American criminal justice system are the police, the courts, and this third component.
What is corrections (or jails/prisons)?
The primary patrol strategy where police drive through neighborhoods to prevent crime before it happens.
What is preventative patrol?
The short window of time right after a crime occurs when investigators collect immediate clues and interview witnesses.
What is the preliminary investigation?
The constitutional amendment that gives a suspect the right to a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury.
What is the Sixth Amendment?
When an officer spots illegal drugs sitting completely visible on a car's passenger seat, they can seize them under this legal exception.
What is the Plain View doctrine?
In the Texas Penal Code, a major crime that can result in time in state prison is called this, while a smaller crime is a misdemeanor.
What is a felony?
When a Texas police officer pulls over a vehicle for a broken taillight, it is officially called this type of stop.
What is a traffic stop?
To protect a crime scene from being altered, investigators establish this physical boundary using bright tape.
What is a perimeter?
This legal standard requires enough facts to convince a reasonable person that a crime was committed, allowing police to make an arrest.
What is probable cause?
True or False: If a suspect willingly gives police consent to search their car, the officers do not need a search warrant.
What is True?
This term describes the set of moral principles and rules of conduct that Texas law enforcement officers must strictly follow.
What are ethics?
This legal standard requires more than a hunch, allowing an officer to briefly stop and frisk a suspect for weapons.
What is reasonable suspicion?
The specific type of physical evidence that includes body fluids, hair, or skin cells used to link a suspect to a scene.
What is biological evidence?
The legal process that ensures the government must respect all of a citizen's legal rights before taking away their freedom.
What is due process?
The formal document written by a police officer detailing everything that happened during an incident or arrest.
What is a police report?
Agencies like Texas DPS, the Game Wardens, and the Texas Rangers operate at this level of government.
What is the state level?
This continuum guides officers on exactly how much physical power they can use to control an uncooperative suspect.
What is the Use of Force scale?
The term for a suspect's formal statement admitting that they committed the crime.
What is a confession?
The specific amendment that prevents citizens from being tried for the exact same crime twice (Double Jeopardy).
What is the Fifth Amendment?
Before asking a suspect in custody any guilt-seeking questions, an officer must formally read them this warning.
What are Miranda Rights?
This form of private law deals with disputes between citizens or businesses, such as lawsuits or contract disagreements, rather than crimes.
What is civil law?
The official law enforcement radio protocol used across Texas to keep communications short, clear, and confidential.
What are Ten-Codes (or 10-codes)?
The step-by-step process of documenting exactly where a piece of evidence was found, who picked it up, and where it was stored.
What is the Chain of Custody?
In California, this specific age is the threshold where a young person is legally prosecuted as an adult in the criminal court system.
What is 17 years old?
This term describes a person's excuse or proof that they were somewhere else when a crime took place.
What is an alibi?