Community College of Philadelphia

Justice Curriculum

Criminal Investigation

(Justice 221)/On-line version

Course Syllabus

Instructor: David Freeman

Office: W3-28 Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday 2-4

Telephone: 215-751-8744

E-mail: dfreeman@ccp.edu

Website:

https://dfreemanpa.tripod.com/criminalinvestigationtr111220/

Classroom: N/A

Meeting Dates: No live meetings presently planned. This may change in the sole discretion of the instructor.

Prerequisites: Justice 101

Course Objectives: The objectives of this course are as follows:

1) To provide students an understanding of the fundamental features of criminal investigations; and

2) To provide students with a grasp structure, rules and operating techniques of a criminal investigation; and

3) To provide students with an understanding of the significance of the Rules of Evidence and the management of evidence; and

4) To gain a familiarity with the techniques of crime scene management.

Textbook:

Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, Criminal Investigation, Ninth Edition (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003)
ISBN # 0-07-248592-2

Attendance: Failure to turn in two weeks’ assignments or a failure to log into the course for more than two weeks’ and you will be subject to being dropped from the course.

Lateness: Late items will not be accepted. This course is interactive and unless you are submitting your work in a timely fashion you are not going to be able to proceed in this course.

Disability Policy: If you require assistance with any condition or disability you should consult the College catalog for direction. The Center on Disability is located at M1-22B and may be reached by telephone at 215-751-8307. I urge you to consult with that office immediately. Unless you are working with the Center, we may not be able to provide the assistance you need.

Counseling Department: The Counseling Department is located in office W2-2. It is a great resource for students that may be struggling with problems of a personal nature. The staff is highly trained and very helpful and is available on a walk-in basis.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense which has been made easier by the World Wide Web. Very simply, it is a form of theft; that is, stealing someone’s work and passing it off as your own. This theft does not require you to physically steal someone’s paper, but most commonly, the offense is done using the World Wide Web. While searching, students find an article that covers their topic and then copy it and use it as their own.

If you are discovered having plagiarized, you will: (1) fail the assignment; and (2) fail the course; and (3) I will turn the matter over to the Dean of Student Affairs for disciplinary action. The College and our program take this offense very seriously and so should you.

Evaluation: Assignments 40% There are five assignments. Three in the first eight weeks and two in the last eight weeks. The earliest assignment will be worth the fewest points, so you can see what I value and expect. The assignments will increasingly become more valuable in terms of points. Assignments will be graded based upon responsiveness, content, clarity and style. Responsiveness means that if you are asked a question concerning pancakes, your answer actually addresses the topic of pancakes. Content means what level of knowledge your answer reflects. Does it show a grasp of the important major and minor concepts? Does the answer reflect a grasp of the topic and connections to the other issues of the course? Mentioning one or two of the terms and throwing in your own opinion does NOT reflect a sufficient knowledge of the subject. Clarity involves whether the answer is able to be understood. Are the points able to be grasped from simply reading the response? Many times this is not the case. Remember, especially in dealing with law, it is not a question of what you meant, it is a question of what you have written. When we write something, we often are not there when our audience reads our work product, so we cannot coach our reader by explaining answers more clearly. Style involves the completeness of your sentences, the organization of your paragraphs, the correctness of your grammar and the appropriateness of your spelling and syntax. With spell-check features, there is very little excuse for misspellings. Do your work in a Word document and spell-check it to avoid these mishaps. Take time to make your work product perfect. Forums 30% Each forum will be worth one point. Forums are very time-sensitive; that is, our discussions about a topic will take place during that week. If you don’t post during the time, it will not be given credit, since we will have obviously moved on. The forums will be valued on the basis of content, clarity and style. A common mistake about forums is that it is like instant messaging and grammar and spelling are not important. This is an academic environment and it is expected that these postings reflect the value of responsiveness, content, style and clarity. Answers like “I agree with you” or “That’s certainly true” are not answers and will not be given credit. You will not be given credit for an answer that is substantially similar to another classmate’s answer. Tests 30% There will be seven tests in a multiple choice format. The first test will be worth only one point, since it is a practice test.