Joseph Petrocelli
Detective (Ret.)
Police Magazine
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SEARCHMENUSEARCHDetective (Ret.)
Members of street gangs and drug dealers are unlikely to redress their grievances through the criminal justice system. If their territory is invaded or if they are victims of drive-by shootings, they are much more likely to seek retribution with drive-by shootings of their own.
Read More →Panhandling can be found in almost every community and takes on many different forms. The unsympathetic view holds that panhandlers are the beginnings of decay within a community and the foothold for disorder and crime.
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While such acts are rarely reported in the media, one in three schools has reported acts of vandalism each year. In 1990 more than $600 million in damage to school property was caused by vandals. By understanding the nuances of vandalistic acts, patrol officers can develop specialized responses to help minimize future attacks.
Read More →Banks like ATMs because they don't require renting a whole building or paying a teller to provide services to their customers. Citizens love ATMs for the convenience. Robbers also love Automated Teller Machines.
Read More →At first, the term "stalking" was mostly associated only with cases involving deranged, obsessed fans who were harassing beautiful movie stars. But statistics show that one in 12 women and one in 45 men are victims of stalking at least once in their lifetime.
Read More →Driving a taxi is one of the most dangerous professions. Drivers are sent alone to isolated areas, including high-crime neighborhoods to pick up strangers. They work early mornings and late nights, and they carry a lot of cash. So it's not surprising that taxi drivers are often assaulted, robbed, and killed.
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Research shows that approximately five percent of U.S. citizens have a serious mental illness. What this means for law enforcement is that approximately seven percent of police contacts involve a mentally ill person and 10 to 15 percent of incarcerated persons are mentally ill.
Read More →Today, street racing is a problem in almost every American community, as technology such as the Internet and text messaging have made it easy to stage underground races for substantial audiences.
Read More →A budget motel can be an epicenter of crime in a neighborhood. Problems at these "no-tell motels" can range from loud parties and public disorder to drug lab and prostitution operations.
Read More →The fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population is the cohort of people who are more than 85 years old. The aging of America will present many challenges to law enforcement, including how to protect people who may no longer have the physical or mental capacity to protect themselves and how to investigate cases of elder abuse.
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