Lesson 22 Crime
When a person breaks the law (does something illegal), we say they have committed a crime. Especially horrible crimes – like a savage rape or a brutal murder – can be described as barbaric, horrible, or vicious crimes.
If someone tries to commit a crime but does not succeed, we use the word attempted – for example, an attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, or attempted break-in. If someone accuses another person of a crime, but it is not yet proven, then we use the word alleged – for example, an alleged assault, alleged harassment, or alleged rape.
After the victim reports the crime to the police, the police will begin to investigate the crime. They’ll visit the crime scene and gather forensic evidence (collect details like bullets, fingerprints, or blood samples that can show what happened). If witnesses come forward, the police will interview them to hear a first-hand account (a story told by a person who saw the event) of what happened. They also consider possible motives for the crime.
Police can arrest suspects who they believe have committed a crime – but the suspect can prove their innocence by providing a solid alibi – that means giving a confirmed explanation of where they were at the time of the crime. If it is never discovered who committed the crime, then the case remains an unsolved crime. The statistics about number of crimes in a particular area is called the crime rate. And when there is a big increase in the crime rate, we can call this a crime wave.
There are also a number of collocations we can use to describe criminals. A first-time offender is someone who has broken the law for the first time, whereas someone who has broken the law in the past has a criminal record. A criminal who is famous – like a serial killer (a person who has killed multiple people over time) or a person who is heavily involved in organized crime – can be called a notorious criminal.
Collocations for specific crimes / criminals:
- a cold-blooded killer/murderer – a person who doesn’t have feeling or emotion a crazed/psychopathic killer – a killer who is insane or mentally unbalanced
- domestic violence – when there is violence inside a home, for example, a husband beating his wife
- drug trafficking – the purchase, sale, and transport of illegal drugs
- identity theft – when a criminal steals an innocent person’s identifying information and uses it in an illegal way
- sexual harassment – when one person makes undesired sexual advances towards another person
- petty crime – a minor crime
- armed robbery – when criminals steal something, while using weapons
Lesson 22 Crime
Quiz
Complete the notes with the following words.
arrested/ broke /gathered /proved /reported
attempted/ committed /had /provided /unsolved
One of my favorite TV shows is about detectives who investigate……………………. crimes. In the last episode, they were looking into a murder that had happened over ten years ago. The suspect who was ……………….at the time was the victim’s ex-boyfriend and…………………a long criminal record – but he………………. his innocence with a watertight alibi.
The detectives then began to investigate the person who had found the girl’s body and……………………the crime. He had never……………………the law, but a man who matched his description had been accused of an………………….kidnapping of another young woman around the same time.
The police called him in for questioning, and the alibi that he…………………………didn’t match the one on record. They then…………………. DNA evidence from the new suspect, and it proved that he had indeed…………………. the crime. It took more than ten years, but justice was finally served!