300 words/ 2 references 

As you all probably know, an Army Reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Maine in October 2023, and fingers were pointing all over the place. The Army's report was released recently. 

This week, we will discuss: are Maine's laws strict enough to have prevented what happened? Does Maine have a "red flag law", and would having one have helped this situation? How can legislators prevent a repeat of this situation – what *should* have happened, and what are the limits of that under what the US Supreme Court has said about the 2nd amendment?

What kind of law would YOU recommend to prevent a recurrence of this specific kind of incident, and do you think your law would hold up to Supreme Court scrutiny?

Your interpretation of the 2nd amendment is relevant only to the extent that it helps you put the rest of this into context. If you think the government shouldn't impose ANY restrictions on gun ownership, that's fine, but it's not helpful for this assignment.

https://apnews.com/article/maine-mass-shooting-army-report-lewiston-e50ef7c7bb1ad0e9fa93ab7797950957

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/army-finds-multiple-failures-handling-maine-reservist-robert-card-rcna163258

https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2024-07-23/army-reserve-mass-shooting-maine-mental-health-14569803.html

The Stars and Stripes article has a link to the redacted report, which you should read as well.

300 words and 2 references

Read the following scenario and and answer its questions: 

Michelle has been angry with Charles for a very long time. She had threatened to kill Charles on a couple of occasions. One day, Michelle sees Charles standing on a street corner waiting to cross the street. There are several people standing around Charles, also waiting to cross. Michelle pulls out a gun and fires at Charles. The bullet grazes Charles' arm, injuring him. However, the same bullet strikes and kills Rachel, who was unknown to Michelle. 

1) Considering the ideas and concepts covered this week, what crime or crimes has Michelle committed? Explain your reasoning, especially with regard to actus rea, mens rea and corpus delicti.

2) Assume you are Michelle's defense attorney, what might be some valid defenses that would assert on her behalf? Justify your reasons why. 

1. Describe the different types of search patterns and what would make you choose one over another.

2. What aspects need to be included in performing a good search?

3. Look at the PowerPoint labeled Search Patterns and Principles and include what search patterns you would use for the scenes shown and include that in your main post.

As a probation officer, you will work with communities and other officers to identify risks and integrate research with theories to explain and prevent criminal behavior. You will need to use conflict-resolution skills, such as active listening, when you encounter different opinions on strategies for handling offenders. Probation officers must be able to identify the policy implications associated with criminality in society to be ready to justify their decisions for crime prevention based on policy and evidence-based theories.

Assignment Deliverable

Sociologists and psychologists have proposed many theories over the years to try to explain criminal behavior. Among the psychosocial theories proposed are strain theory, Sutherland’s differential association theory, cultural transmission theory, and social control theory. 

For this assessment, community residents have been notified that the violent or sex offender from the case you’ll be selecting is planning to re-enter the neighborhood. Residents have asked for a probation officer to attend an upcoming meeting where the community will hold a briefing, listen to concerns, and answer questions to manage potential conflict and resistance.

Select and use an example of violent criminal behavior from a current event in your state and 1 psychosocial theory to interpret the criminal behavior. Use them to prepare a 525- to 700-word list of talking points as if you were a probation officer speaking to community residents during a briefing to justify decisions made in the case. Prepare for the briefing by listing the talking points that you will include in your notes while addressing the community. Provide evidence and explain rationale for the decisions made in the original case to support your open communication with residents.

Include the following information in your list of talking points for the briefing, with supportive examples from your research on the selected psychosocial theory and current event:

• Criminal behavior: Summarize an example of violent criminal behavior from a current event in your state.
• Psychosocial theory: Identify a psychosocial theory and summarize its basic principles. Explain why the selected theory or school of thought is a psychological or sociological approach. Describe how the theory furthers our understanding of crimes of violence. 
• Theory-policy connection: Describe how the theory can explain the behavior which is being targeted for prevention or prosecution. Identify a current policy that the theory may align to or support. Current policy examples include:
• The U.S. Marshals Service’s "Operation Not Forgotten" policy program
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF's) policy of cooperating with local law enforcement to keep illegal firearms off the streets
• United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA's) policy for collaborating with local police to combat the use of fentanyl
• Relate the policy to the criminal behavior. Explain what the theory implies for handling prosecution and prevention. 
• Policy implementation: Provide a valid reason or circumstance under which the individual could be ready to re-enter the community according to the theory in this case.

Format your talking points as complete sentences ready to be included into notes for the briefing. Organize your list into paragraphs, bullets, or another clear outline of ideas that could easily be read aloud while giving a briefing to an audience. 

Cite at least 2 scholarly sources that support your claims to show credibility for your justification.

Format citations and references according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assessment.

Assignment Support

• Review the rubric for guidance on deliverable expectations. 
• Locate recent news on violent crime in your state by researching the News release page on the Offices of the United States Attorneys section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) website. Filter for date, topic, and district to narrow your results and select a case study to use as an example for this assignment.
• Access and read Framing a Law Enforcement Response: Addressing Community Concerns About Sex Offenders on the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) website for examples of talking points for law enforcement officers when answering questions from a community about managing sex offenders.

Review of a case for which poor lab management / quality had a negative impact. What areas of the materials are relevant to this incident? What was interesting about the case? How could the situation have been handled better?