A sales clerk at sparkle jewelry store

Assignment 1: Criminal Justice Report

Due Week 3 and worth 75 points

As a criminal justice professional, report writing is an important aspect of your responsibilities. For this assignment, you will review a scenario and complete a report commonly found within a particular criminal justice profession.

Review the four (4) options below and choose one option to complete this assignment. For your chosen option, review the associated scenario and complete the provided report template:

Option 1: Law Enforcement Officer
Scenario: Watch and take notes on the video scenario: CJ in Practice Video: Traffic Stop
Report Template: Assume that an arrest is made in the scenario and complete the Arrest Report.
Option 2: Adult Parole and Probation Officer
Scenario: Read the Lindsey Nahol Scenario below:
The defendant, Lindsey Nahol, entered Sparkle Jewelry and asked the sales clerk to show her several pieces of expensive jewelry. When the clerk turned his back, the defendant slipped a diamond necklace into her purse and walked towards the exit. When the security guard attempted to stop the defendant, she kicked and scratched the security guard. With help from the store clerk, the security guard restrained the defendant and held her in a room until the local police arrived. The local police officer placed her under arrest for robbery. Ms. Nahol has been in jail for 60 days, and has plead guilty to robbery and assault and battery. Before imposing sentencing, Judge Fairmont ask for a pre-sentence investigation or report.

The pre-sentence investigation reveals that Ms. Nahol, now 30, has been involved in the criminal justice system since she was 14, when she was adjudicated for car theft, for which she was placed on juvenile probation. However, she violated her probation, however, upon reinstatement of the probation, she successfully completed a 36-month probational term. As an adult, Ms. Nahol has been sentenced three previous times, as an adult, for various crimes including shoplifting, burglary and possession of a controlled substance. She successfully completed her probation for these offenses one year ago. Ms. Nahol states that she stole the car when she was 14 because she wanted her friends to think that she was cool and not a nerd. She states that this is also the reason why she started using drugs. As for the security officer, during the interview, Ms. Nahol stated that she was defending herself and standing her ground, because the security guard grabbed her first, when he was trying to prevent her from leaving the store.

Ms. Nahol has her high school diploma; she has not spoken to any of her family members in more than a year. But states that she is very close friends who let her crash at their house anytime she wants. She spends her time thinking about her future and is interested in earning her degree in criminal justice from Strayer University and after obtaining her degree she wants to be a juvenile probation officer.

The prosecutor has asked for five (5) years in prison, followed by five (5) years of probation. The defense attorney has asked for time served and two years of probation.

Report Template: Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (Adult)
Option 3: Juvenile Parole and Probation Officer
Scenario: Watch and take notes on the video scenario: CJ in Practice: Juvenile Detention
Report Template: Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (Juvenile)
Option 4: Criminal Investigator
Scenario: Read “A Mutilation Murder” Case on page 670 of your textbook.
Report Template: Crime Scene Investigation Report
Once you have chosen one of the options above and reviewed the scenario and required report template, complete the report template in which you:

Fill out the report with the specific information provided in the scenario.
Fill out the report in its entirety by making the necessary assumptions and/or creating the facts that are not included in the scenario.
Articulate the circumstances of the scenario in the narrative portion of the report, as appropriate.
Use concise and clear language and an appropriate tone of voice to communicate the factual information effectively.
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

Prepare reports commonly found in the Criminal Justice workplace that communicate effectively with a range of audiences and make use of appropriate information technology.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.