Crime Logs Offer Great Terminology

by Irene Radillo, FCCI

Do you freak out when you read your local police log? Might as well see the bright side, and use it to get familiar with terms you may run into in court!So open you local paper (OK, online is fine too) and preview lots of useful vocabulary. Here are some examples from my local paper just today:

incident ♦ responded to ♦ dispatched to the address ♦ setting of booby-traps ♦ initiate investigation ♦ 1400 block of Cinder Road ♦ arrested pursuant to CA-PC 647f (public intoxication) ♦ disorderly conduct ♦ vandalism ♦ illegal camping ♦ missing person investigation ♦ suspicious activity ♦ responding to a disturbance ♦ suspicious person ♦ theft investigation ♦ fraud investigation ♦ arrested following high-speed pursuit ♦ starting a brushfire ♦ arson ♦ resisting an officer ♦ reports of threats ♦ report of unwanted subject ♦ loitering ♦ harassment ♦ false imprisonment ♦ illegal dumping ♦ kidnapping ♦ burglary ♦ conspiracy to commit a crime ♦ spousal battery ♦ shoplifting ♦ relieving himself in public.

Were you able to give a correct equivalent for each of these in your language? Start a list! Research! Challenge your friends! As you do these things, you’ll even start absorbing the Code Violation numbers without realizing it (Penal Code, Health and Safety Code, Vehicle Code, Family Code, etc). And as always, have fun… And feel free to share some with other readers, because we all love linguisitic challenges, right?