IV. Fill the gaps in these questions with a suitable word.

1.Do you think the police should … guns?

2.Do you think the police should be … to stop and question people without a special reason?

3.Do you agree with capital … for certain crimes such as murder?

4.Do you think it should be legal for people to carry a mace …?

5.Do you think people should be allowed to use a gun or knife in self-…?

6.Do you think tougher punishments will help to … crime?

What is your opinion on these questions?

III. CRIME (II)

Make sure you know the difference between the verbs: steal and rob. The object of the “steal” is the thing which is taken away, e.g. they stole my bike, whereas the object of the verb “rob” is the person or place from which things are stolen, e.g. I was robbed last night. A masked man robbed the bank. “Steal” is irregular: steal, stole, stolen.

The table below gives the names of some other types of crimes together with their associated verbs and the name of the person who commits the crimes.

All the verbs in the table above on the right are regular apart from set (set, set, set).

Here are some more useful verbs connected with crime and law. Note that many of them have particular prepositions associated with them.

to commit a crime or an offence: to do something illegal;

to accuse someone of a crime: to say someone is guilty;

to charge someone with (murder): to bring someone to court;

to plead guilty or not guilty: to swear in court that one is guilty or otherwise;

to defend/prosecute someone in court: to argue for or against someone in a trial;

to pass verdict on an accused person: to decide whether they are guilty or not;

to sentence someone to a punishment: what the judge does after a verdict of guilty;

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to acquit an accused person of a charge: to decide in court that someone is not guilty (the opposite of to convict someone);

to fine someone a sum of money: to punish someone by making them pay;

to send someone to prison: to punish someone by putting them in prison;

to release someone from prison/jail: to set someone free after a prison sentence;

to be tried: to have a case judged in court.

Here are some useful nouns.

trial: the legal process in court whereby an accused person is investigated, or tried, and found guilty or not guilty;

case: a crime that is being investigated;

evidence: information used in a court of law to decide whether the accused is guilty or not;

proof: evidence that shows conclusively whether something is a fact or not; verdict: the decision guilty or not guilty;

judge: the person who leads a trial and decides on the sentence;

jury: group of twelve citizens who decide whether the accused is guilty or not.

Exercises

I. Put the right form of either rob or steal in the sentences below.

1.Last night an armed gang …… the post office. They ..…. ₤ 2,000.

2.My handbag …… at the theatre yesterday.

3.Every year large numbers of banks …… .

4.Jane …… of the opportunity to stand for president.

II. Here are some more crimes. Complete a table like the one above.

III. Fill the blanks in the paragraph below with one of the verbs above.

One of the two accused men …... (1) at yesterday’s trial. Although his lawyer

…... (2) him very well, he was still found guilty by the jury. The judge .…..

(3) him to two years in prison. He’ll probably …... (4) after eighteen months. The other accused man was luckier. He .….. (5) and left the courtroom smiling broadly.

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IV. Here are some words connected with law and crime. If necessary, use a dictionary to help you check that you understand what they all mean. Then divide them into three groups, in what seems to you to be the most logical way.

V. Write a paragraph to fit this newspaper headline. Give some details about the crime and the court case, using as many words given above as is appropriate.

Local girl’s evidence gets mugger two years prison

VIII. Here are some words for things that may happen to criminals at the end of or after a trial. Put the letters in the right order to make the answers.

IX. Use the words in the box to complete the paragraph. You must change the form of the verbs when necessary.

Jake (1) … a crime when he (2) ... a post office. He (3) … £5,000. A (4) … managed to take a photograph of him. The police (5) … him and (6) … him with robbery. The case came to court two months later. At his (7) … Jake not guilty. However, the photograph was used in (9) … against him and, as a result, the ju- ry passed a (10) ... of guilty. The judge (11) … him to ten years in (12) … . He (13) … eight years but then he (14) … having got (15) … off for good behav-

iour.

IV. AUTHORITIES AND POLICE

Entering and leaving: customs

On arrival in most countries as a foreigner you have to show your passport, a landing card (1) and often a customs declaration form (2). You may need a visa and a vaccination certificate (3), depending on the entry restrictions (4). Customs carry out spot checks/random checks (5) on people’s luggage. They use sniffer dogs (6) to search for drugs and explosives. In most cases, you have to clear customs (7) at the port of entry (8). Genuine refugees may try to seek political asylum (9). Customs officers also look out for illegal immigrants, some of whom may be economic migrants (10).

1)form with your personal details and date of arrival;

2)form showing how much money and what goods you are carrying;

3)paper proving you have had the necessary health injections;

4)rules about who can enter a country and for how long;

5)checks done without warning;

6)specially trained dogs who can smell drugs and bombs;

7)take your bags through customs;

8)the port or airport where you first enter a country;

9)permission to stay in another country to avoid political persecution back home;

10)people who try to enter from poorer countries just to get work.

Police, traffic wardens, etc.

Look at this extract from an information leaflet for students coming to study and live in an English-speaking country. Note the collocations.

For some traffic offences (1) you have to pay a fixed penalty (2), and this may be an on-the-spot fine (3). Parking tickets (4) for illegal parking are issued by police and/or traffic wardens.

If there has been an accident, the police may ask drivers to take a breathalyzer

(5) test and to make a statement (6) at a police station.

Police have limited stop-and-search (7) powers. Surveillance cameras (8) operate in many public areas.

A police officer cannot normally enter your home against your wishes without a search warrant (9).

1)offence is a formal word for an illegal action;

2)fixed sum payable for a particular offence;

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3)fine payable at the time and place that you commit the offence;

4)papers placed on driver’s windscreens fining them for illegal parking;

5)an instrument which you blow into that shows if you have consumed alcohol recently;

6)say what happened and sign a copy of it;

7)power to stop people and search them in the street;

8)cameras that record everything that happens;

9)official permission from a judge or magistrate to search your house.

Other types of policing

Exercises

I. Rewrite these sentences using phrases and collocations given above instead of the underlined words.

1.You’ll have to show a paper proving that you have had injections for tropical diseases when you enter the country.

2.People entering from war-torn countries often ask for permission to stay to avoid political oppression in their own country.

3.You have to take your baggage through customs if you arrive on an international flight at San Francisco airport, even if you are flying on within the USA.

4.You have to fill in a paper saying how much money you’re bringing into the country before going through customs control.

5.Some of the people were people who were poor and travelling hoping to find jobs, rather than genuine political refugees.

6.Passenger to airline cabin attendant: Could you give me one of those papers for filling in my passport number and personal details before we arrive, please?

7.At the airport the security guards had those special dogs that can smell drugs.

8.You’ll need a visa; the rules about who can enter the country are very strict.

9.You have to fill in the city where you first entered the country in this box here.

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