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Question

Discussion board -
answer their questions please ! Either one or both for each section.
When looking at the federal bureau of investigation crime rates you don’t really see Asians as a main race of crime, but that does not mean that there are not any crimes being committed. This article was about the first time that a series of bank robberies were committed by an Asian gang group in a southern city. Wang states that since the 1980s, Asian gang crimes have been a major concern to law enforcement; these crimes have increased due to the change of immigration laws, allowing more immigrants into the United States, the arrival of refugees from the Vietnam War, a breakdown of families in Asian communities due to addition of immigrants/ refugees and the lack of social support to the new arrivals.

Asian gang groups are rare, there have been many cases of bank robberies in the southern city of the United States. According to Wang, “Of the eight bank robberies, six cases involving 13 suspects were cleared by arrest… They were responsible for four successful bank robberies and two attempted robberies. Of the six cases, three were unarmed and three were armed bank robberies.” This demonstrates how Asian gangs started to become known. Law enforcement did not have much knowledge due to it being rare but as time went on they observed closely at the types of Asian males they would arrest. Wang said, “One third of bank robbers were observed to be heroin addicts, opiate addicts and individuals who use the money for drugs and alcohol.” This goes back to one of the changes in why there are Asian gang crimes, lack of social support to the new arrivals. Many of these Asian males could have had a hard time integrating into a new environment, not only that but being accepted.

Robberies are mostly done in places offenders are familiar with. Motivated offenders tend to think twice before committing the crime. They have to think about the reward and punishment in case of capture. They also commit crime due to economic reasons. According to Wang, “Asian gang members, ranging in age from 18 to 25. Young males in this age group are more likely to commit crimes for money than those outside this specific demographic.” Many of these offenders are under the influence. “A pockmarked face” are addicts sometimes with pimples or burns from heavy drugs which fall under motivated offenders. Studying the degree of these robbers is important because it can help understand the criminal and know how to arrest them without hurting any victims. One of the cases talked about in the article demonstrated the knowledge between unarmed robbery and armed robbery. Case 4 showed creativity, Wang described in the article how the gang spay painted the security camera lens and using walkie talkies and getaway cars shows how committed they were and knowledge about the crime.

Six banks were suitably targeted to be robbed for three main reasons. The author says: first, they are all major banks, with a lot of customers; second, they were located on a highway or major street; third, all banks where non-Asian owned with a few Asian employees. This is another example of hardship in integration. In addition, based on the pattern of criminal activity, these Asian gangs show a great level of sophistication and organization. They know exactly which banks to rob, which locations to go, and how to evade law enforcement. “Five of the six bank robberies (83%) occurred on either the first/last day or the middle of the month. These days are referred to in the banking industry as “heavy pay days.” (Wang. 2002, pg. 560). Many of the crimes are picked selected and organized to those specific times. As time passed Vardalis and Cox noticed when the robberies would have the highest frequencies.

Many of these robberies happen due to insufficient security measures around the neighborhood says Wang. “Most of the banks had normal business hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with extended hours on Friday… During a shift change, at least 15 minutes are spent debriefing, which produces a 15-minute period during which there are no patrol units in that particular area” (Wang 2002, pg. 563). The banks schedule is well known by the gangs. There was one case Wang mentioned which was Case 6, the Asian gang tried to rob the bank after closing which had one security that was unarmed. He states how a lot of the security guards are not armed which could help prevent these bank robberies. The six banks that were chosen due to lack of guardianship in the neighborhood and security measures within the bank.

The author concluded many of these Asian crimes created controversy within race. Many believed that if the crimes are just the same as any other race such as, White, Black, and Hispanics, law enforcement should not try to look for another explanation. Knoxs argued that Asian gangs are minor compared to any other gang problems. Wang continued “These differences include Triad influences, a unique culture and belief system, and a strong tradition and identity crisis” Thus, many stated that these people do not specify with crime robberies, therefore their comments are not accurate.


References:

Wang, J. Z. (2002). Bank robberies by an Asian gang: An assessment of the routine activities

theory. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 46 (5), pg. 555-568. DOI: 10.1177/030662402236740. Sage Publications.





After reading this paper I have 3 questions for you,


What was the profile of Asian crime groups in the southern city of the United States?



Why have Asian crimes increased in the 1980’s?



The author states that the banks were chosen because they are all major banks with a lot of customers, they were located on a highway or major street, all banks where non-Asian owned with a few Asian employees. What does this information tell us about these Asian groups operating in the region?





The article Victims of Violence: An Asian Scenario by K. Nadesan is about the importance of laws and the medical examiners/doctors in determining what violent crimes are, who are the victims of those violent crimes and some of the problems encountered in Asia and developing countries. Nadesan starts the article by giving the legal definitions of hurt, injury, and wound. Nadesan uses Section 319 of the Malaysian penal code and Section 300 of the Sri Lankan penal code to define hurt. The penal codes state, “According to these sections whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt” (Nadesan, 192). Nadesan then uses Section 44 of the Malaysian penal code and Section 45 of the Sri Lankan penal code to define injury. The penal codes states, “According to these sections, the word injury denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person, in body, mind, reputation or property” (Nadesan, 192). Wound doesn’t have a definition under law however, Nadesan states that wound comes within the definition of injury under the penal code, “That is any harm whatever illegally caused to the body and mind and hence a wound is an injury” (Nadesan, 192). All three (hurt, injury and wound) doesn’t need to correspond with each other to happen normally. This is when the law and medical examiners meet to explain the severity of the hurt, injury and/or wound. On the courtside, they are looking for the intention of the offender to why they cause hurt, injury and/or wound, while the medical examiners look at the seriousness of the hurt, wound and/or injury. Nadesan raises a major problem in the article stating, victims of violence when the offender is politically connected, with a terrorist group, or is part of law enforcement personnel are prevented to be seen by medical examiners for several months after the violent act happen. For fatal victims of violence, the bodies are disposed of in many different ways “without any inquiries being held” and by the time the bodies are found they are already “decomposed or even skeletonized”. People are arrested at night, not documented, tortured and if they die “the bodies may be secretly disposed of without any inquiry”. Lastly, the most popular form of disposing of bodies in Asia is burning.


Next Nadesan looks at the objectives of medicolegal examinations. Nadesan states when the doctor correctly finds and explains the wounds, that is the only time their report could be beneficial to the victim, the court, and the community. Also, to become an expert, a doctor must have “knowledge, skill, and experience in handling the victims of various types of violence”. Nadesan lists 10 things the doctor should look for when documenting the wound. “1. Accurately identify and describe the wounds. 2. Establish if possible the causative agent or agents that caused the wounds. 3. The mechanism of causation and reconstruction of the event. The latter will help to accept or refute the account given by the injured or an eyewitness. 4. Determine as to whether the wounds were self-inflicted or fabricated? 5. Try to establish the approximate age the wounds, and this issue may become important in cases of battered children, battered wives, and victims of torture. 6. Look for specific wound patterns, which may help in identifying battered children, battered wives, victims of torture, etc. In Asians countries, through fear or for social and cultural reasons, battered wives and victims of torture may not voluntarily admit to abuse and sometimes may even deny it. 7. Look for any underlying conditions and diseases that may have aggravated the original wound. 8. Try to ascertain whether any disease process has developed subsequent to a trauma. Reference should be made to Ewing’s postulate regarding trauma and disease. 9. Classify and categorize the wounds in a medicolegal context. 10. Write a legally valid report to court. Comment on what was actually found and try to interpret the findings in an acceptable, objective and factual manner- there is no room for speculation” (Nadesan, 194).


After that, Nadesan mentions sexual offences and to Nadesan it is one of the most important forms of violence in Asia and developing countries. Section 375 of the Malaysian penal code states a man who commits rape, “has sexual intercourse with a woman under the circumstances falling under any of the following descriptions: 1. Against her will. 2. Without her consent. 3. With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death, or hurt to conception of fact and the man knows or has reasons to believe that the consent was given in consequence of such misconception. 4. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and her consent is given because she believes herself to be lawfully married or to whom she would consent. 5. With her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent. 6. With or without her consent, when she is under the age of 16” (Nadesan, 195). Nadesan explains the doctor should have an area of expertise in examining, collecting, and interpreting the data collected in a suspected rape victim. Nadesan raised two major concerns, first, in Asian countries there are not specifically trained, full-time forensic physicians to handle rape cases and second, there are no Scene of Crime Officers in the police force to assist the doctors.


Nadesan next writes about victims of torture and to Nadesan victims of torture are another important aspect of violence in Asia and developing countries. Nadesan states that normally members of the police and members of the military are responsible for torture crimes. Nadesan uses The Congress of the World Medical Association definition of torture and they define torture as, “the deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting alone or on the orders of any authority, to force another person to yield information, to make a confession, or for any other reason” (Nadesan, 197). Nadesan mentions that World War 2 is one of the examples of doctors who tortured prisoners and that it went against the Hippocratic oath. Doctors who are examining victims of torture should interview them without law enforcement officials present. Examinations need to be thorough and the doctor needs to be familiar with special techniques when examining different forms of torture. Doctors' reports need to be unbiased, impartial and try to resist the pressure of a favorable report when under threats.


Lastly, Nadesan writes about the training of undergraduates and doctors. Nadesan states that Clinical forensic medicine is not included in the undergraduate medical curriculum in Malaysia and general pathologist who performs autopsies in large hospitals have no special training in forensic pathology. Nadesan continues to question the schooling of doctors by stating that forensic medicine is a subunit in the pathology department and it is given little emphasis.

In conclusion, I agree with many of the concerns Nadesan raised in particular in many Asian countries not having a specifically trained, full-time forensic physicians and not having a Scene of Crime Officers in the police force to help doctors.

Questions:

1. The author list 10 things a doctor must look for when examining a victim of violence, out of those 10 which one do you believe is the most important and why?

2. In your opinion why is it important for there to be a full-time forensic physician or having a Scene of Crime Officer to help doctors at crime scenes?