A crime is an offense that is punishable by law. Some crimes can shock a whole country while others can go unpunished. Different kinds of crimes include theft, burglaries, drug trafficking, murders, hold ups, manslaughters (killing someone with no intention of doing so like in car accidents), genocide (mass murder of a particular group of people because of race or religion), ethnic cleansing (deporting a group of people from their land or country), spying on ones country, torture, enslaving people, human trafficking, bribery and many more.
People who commit crimes are called criminals. When someone commits a crime, there is always a motive. This motive can be to steal money or to cause harm to someone or to a property.
Sometimes a new law is passed by the government to make people feel safe and deter criminals and stop them from even thinking about committing a crime. Some of the laws are considered very harsh by people who don't live in the same society and they voice their opinions against them. These laws are controversial. This means that people will argue about them for a long time but they will not change their opinions easily.
When a crime is committed, the police try to find clues to catch the offender or offenders. Detictives try to find any finger prints, foot prints, DNA evidence or falling hair at the scene of the crime.
When a criminal is caught, police press charges against the person accused. He or she has to appear in court to defend himself/herself. He or she has the right to use the services of a lawyer. If the person can't afford to hire a lawyer, the legal service in Australia can provide one for them free of charge. Lawyers normally charge thousands of dollars per day. A QC is a high profile lawyer in Australia. In Australia cameras are not allowed to be used inside a court room but artists can draw pictures of what is going on.
The person who is accused of committing a crime is called a defendant in court. There is also a prosecutor who tries to convince the judge to send the defendant to gail for a long time or get a severe punishment for what he or she has done.
When a person is sent to prison for committing a crime, he or she has to spend a prison term before they are allowed to be free again. A prisoner inside prison is often called an inmate in Australia. the chief of the prison is called a prison warden. It is nearly impossible to escape from prison because there are many prison guards, razor wires, high walls and security cameras in and outside the building.
In some third-world countries and in countries ruled under military dictatorship police forces sometimes resort to using torture against people arrested to get confessions. Different means of torture may include rape, water boarding or electrocution. Some people who get arrested can confess to committing crimes but in fact they are innocents because they can't bare the torture inflected on them. This normally happens against political activists.
Examples of torture sometimes are leaked to the media by human right activists. One famous example of torture in prison is the Abu Ghraib Prison pictures of Iraqi prisoners that were tortured by American soldiers who invaded their country. Today America still have secret prisons in more than 13 different countries around the world because under American laws, evidence gathered through torture can't be used in court.
Sometimes police officers act as if they are above the law. This happens quite often in third-world countries or in countries that lack democracy.
