Descriptionary

beat the territory or neighborhood in which a police officer makes his or her patrol.

billy club see baton.

black powder method a method of revealing latent fingerprints. Glassware cleaner and black powder are used to enhance prints on adhesive tape.

blank lineup a police lineup in which an actual suspect in a crime is not included, a test used to deter­mine the veracity or credibility of a witness.

bloodstain pattern analysis the study of the shapes, locations, and patterns of bloodstains to determine a victim's location; whether he or she was lying, seated, or standing when attacked; how much the victim struggled, and so on.

blotter at a police station, the computer register or database (formerly a book) in which arrests are recorded.

blowfly also known as a bluebottle or greenbottle, a metallic-colored fly characterized by its ability to quickly zero in on a decaying corpse, on which it lays eggs. Because the eggs develop into larvae in a predictable time span, their presence can be used to help determine time of death, often to within a day or two, or less.

bobby British colloquialism for a police officer.

book to record an arrest and register the person arrested.

book, the the rules and regulations of police proce­dure and law.

boost to shoplift.

bounty a reward offered for the successful capture of a criminal.

bounty hunter one who hunts and captures wanted criminals for posted rewards.

bucket the city jail.

bulletproof vest a vest made from Kevlar, a bullet­proof mesh, often worn under a police uniform.

bunco-forgery a division in a police department that handles consumer fraud, bribery cases, computer database crimes, fraudulently printed checks, coun­terfeit money, forged airline tickets, theft of bank checks and check writing equipment, credit card fraud, forged prescriptions, pickpocketing, and simi­lar crimes. The responsibilities of such a division may vary somewhat from department to department.

bust slang, to arrest.

bystander effect a psychological phenomenon in which the more bystanders there are to witness a crime the less likely anyone will step in to help the victim.

canary slang for an informer. C of D chief of detectives. C of O chief of operations.

chop shop a facility yard or garage where stolen cars are stripped of their parts by thieves.

citizen's arrest an arrest made by one who is not a police officer, a legal act by any U.S. citizen.

cognitive dissonance a form of psychological denial in which a criminal's attitudes and moral beliefs are inconsistent with his actions.

collar slang for an arrest. Also, to arrest.

commissioner the city official who oversees a police chief and police department.

composite drawing a drawing made by a police artist from details given by more than one witness.

computer forensics the analysis of a suspect's com­puter and its stored data to uncover a wide range of criminal behavior, from child pornography to com­puter hacking to terrorism.

coroner an elected public officer who is a patholo­gist and who determines the cause of death in cases in which foul play is suspected.

corpus delecti all of the evidence and facts sur­rounding a homicide.

corrosive fingerprint technique a new forensic technique used to reveal fingerprints on bomb frag­ments, bullet casings, or guns, even after the prints have been thoroughly washed or wiped off. The sus­pect fragment or item is coated in a special conductive powder, similar to photocopier powder, and electri­cally charged. The powder, attracted to the natural corrosion caused by the oils in fingerprints, forms around the corrosion, revealing print details.

crack to solve a case.

crackdown a tightening of police enforcement against a particular crime.

crime lab a laboratory that may work either within or independently of a police department to investi­gate and process toxics, explosives, narcotics, inflam­mables, unknown specimens, fingerprints, blood samples, urine, semen, saliva, hairs and fibers, DNA typing, tire impressions, footprints, firearms identifi­cation, document analysis, and so forth.

crime scene staging the altering of a crime scene by a criminal, in order to mislead investigators. A pre­meditated murder, for example, may be staged to look like a simple robbery gone wrong.

criminalist a crime lab specialist or technician.

criminology the study of all facets of crime.

S.U. crime scene unit.

dactylography the study of fingerprints as a means of criminal identification.

B. dead body.

defensive wounds wounds that appear on the hands, fingers, and arms of assault or murder victims who tried to fight off their assailants.