CLE (Criminology) cheat sheet

Mala in se offenses are inherently wrong (murder, rape, theft); mala prohibita offenses are wrong only because statute forbids them (illegal gambling, traffic violations).

Felonies under the Revised Penal Code are classified by degree: grave (capital or afflictive penalties), less grave (correctional penalties), and light (arresto menor or fine not exceeding the threshold set by law).

Article 4, RPC: criminal liability attaches for a felony committed by dolo (intent) or culpa (negligence), and for an impossible crime when the act would be an offense against persons or property but is inherently impossible to consummate.

Conspiracy exists when two or more persons agree to commit a felony and decide to commit it; proposal exists when a person who has decided to commit a felony proposes its execution to others.

Justifying circumstances (self-defense, defense of stranger, state of necessity, fulfillment of duty, obedience to lawful order) negate criminal liability; exempting circumstances (imbecility, minority, accident, compulsion of irresistible force) negate culpability but not always the act.

Mitigating circumstances reduce penalty without extinguishing liability (sufficient provocation, immediate vindication, voluntary surrender, plea of guilty); aggravating circumstances increase it (treachery, evident premeditation, abuse of superior strength, nighttime when specifically sought).

Rules of court on arrest: a warrantless arrest is lawful when the person commits a crime in the officer's presence, when an offense has just been committed and the officer has probable cause from personal knowledge, or when the person is an escaped prisoner.

Chain of custody under Section 21 of RA 9165 (as amended by RA 10640) requires immediate physical inventory and photographing of seized drugs at the place of seizure, or at the nearest police station, in the presence of the accused, a barangay official, and a media or DOJ representative.

Prescription of crimes: crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or reclusion temporal prescribe in 20 years; other afflictive penalties in 15 years; correctional penalties in 10 years; arresto in 5 years; libel and similar offenses in 1 year.

The Philippine National Police was created by RA 6975 (DILG Act of 1990) and reorganized by RA 8551 (PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998); it is civilian in character and national in scope.

PNP rank structure from lowest: Patrolman/Patrolwoman, Police Corporal, Police Staff Sergeant, Police Master Sergeant, Police Senior Master Sergeant, Police Chief Master Sergeant, Police Executive Master Sergeant, then commissioned ranks from Police Lieutenant to Police General.

The National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) is the policy-making body; the PNP Chief carries the rank of Police General and is appointed by the President from among senior officers.

Police Blotter is the official record of events; the Incident Record Form, Spot Report, and After-Operation Report are standard written communications in police operations.

The three pillars of the criminal justice system are law enforcement, prosecution, and courts; the community and corrections are sometimes counted as the fourth and fifth pillars.

Span of control refers to the number of subordinates a supervisor can effectively direct; unity of command means each subordinate reports to only one supervisor.

Patrol is the backbone of police operations; it deters crime through visibility (preventive) and detects crime through observation (repressive).

The PNP's operational units include the National Capital Region Police Office, regional offices, provincial/district offices, city/municipal stations, and precincts, with specialized units such as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Special Action Force.

The five Ws and one H (who, what, when, where, why, how) form the fundamental information framework of any criminal investigation report.

The three tools of investigation are information (witnesses, records), interrogation/interview (testimonial evidence), and instrumentation (forensic science and laboratory examination).

Custodial investigation rights under Article III, Section 12 of the 1988 Constitution: right to remain silent, right to counsel (preferably of own choice), right to be informed of these rights, and any confession obtained in violation is inadmissible.

The Miranda warning must be given before custodial interrogation begins; it is not required for general on-the-scene questioning or spontaneous statements.

Crime scene procedures: secure and preserve the scene, document (photograph, sketch, notes), search systematically, collect and package evidence, maintain chain of custody, and conduct follow-up investigation.

Modus operandi is the method used by an offender; it can be used to link offenses to a suspect through consistent behavioral patterns.

The investigator's report should be factual, chronological, and free of opinion; the case folder contains the complaint, affidavits, sketches, photographs, and evidence inventory.

Surveillance types include stationary (fixed) and mobile (moving); casing is the pre-surveillance study of a target's habits and environment.

Cesare Lombroso's positivist theory proposed the born criminal identifiable by atavistic stigmata; Enrico Ferri emphasized social factors, and Raffaele Garofalo formulated natural crimes.

Classical school (Beccaria, Bentham) holds that crime results from free will and rational choice; punishment should be certain, swift, and proportionate.

Differential association theory (Sutherland) holds that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with intimate personal groups.

Social control theory (Hirschi) identifies four bonds: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief; weak bonds increase delinquency risk.

Routine activity theory (Cohen and Felson) requires three elements for crime: a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian.

Situational crime prevention reduces opportunity through target hardening, access control, surveillance, and environmental design (CPTED).

The crime triangle (problem analysis triangle) has three sides: offender, victim/target, and place; removing any one element prevents the crime.

Research designs include descriptive, correlational, experimental, and quasi-experimental; validity refers to measuring what is intended, reliability to consistency of measurement.

Crime rate is computed as (number of crimes / population) x 100,000; it allows comparison across jurisdictions of different sizes.

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the Department of Justice administers national prisons, including the New Bilibid Prison; the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) administers city and municipal jails.

The provincial jail is administered by the provincial government and holds offenders sentenced to imprisonment of more than six months up to three years, or those awaiting trial in provincial courts.

The five major correctional goals are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and restitution.

Custodial vs. non-custodial measures: imprisonment and detention are custodial; probation, parole, and community service are non-custodial.

Probation (PD 968) is a privilege granted to first-time offenders sentenced to not more than six years; it is supervised by the Probation and Parole Administration.

Parole is the conditional release of a prisoner after serving the minimum of an indeterminate sentence; the Board of Pardons and Parole recommends it.

The indeterminate sentence law provides a minimum and maximum term; the minimum is based on the penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law.

Good conduct time allowance (GCTA) credits inmates for good behavior, but RA 10592 excludes those convicted of heinous crimes from certain credits.

Total institution concept (Goffman): prisons control all aspects of inmates' lives, producing institutionalization or prisonization.

Fingerprint principles: individuality (no two fingerprints are alike), permanence (ridges form in utero and remain unchanged), and infallibility (ridges can be classified and identified).

Fingerprint patterns fall into three main types: arches (plain, tented), loops (radial, ulnar), and whorls (plain, central pocket, double loop, accidental); loops are most common.

The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) matches latent prints against a database using minutiae points such as ridge endings and bifurcations.

DNA profiling uses short tandem repeats (STRs); the probability of a match between unrelated individuals is extremely low, making it highly probative.

Ballistics: class characteristics (rifling grooves, caliber) narrow the firearm type; individual characteristics (striations, firing pin marks) identify the specific weapon.

Questioned document examination compares handwriting through letter forms, line quality, slant, spacing, and pen pressure; no two writers have identical handwriting.

Forensic chemistry includes presumptive tests (e.g., color tests for drugs and blood) followed by confirmatory tests (e.g., gas chromatography-mass spectrometry).

Forensic pathology determines cause (disease or injury producing death), manner (natural, accidental, homicidal, suicidal, undetermined), and mechanism of death.

Chain of custody documentation must show every transfer of evidence, including date, time, person, and purpose, to be admissible in court.

RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) mandates commitment to public interest, professionalism, justness, political neutrality, responsiveness, nationalism, and simplicity.

The eight norms of conduct under RA 6713: commitment to public interest, professionalism, justness and sincerity, political neutrality, responsiveness to the public, nationalism and patriotism, commitment to democracy, and simple living.

Prohibited acts under RA 6713 include soliciting or accepting gifts, conflict of interest, nepotism, and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) penalizes corrupt practices such as accepting gifts in connection with official duties and causing undue injury through manifest partiality.

The PNP Code of Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards (PNP Memorandum Circular 2007-008) covers commitment to democracy, public interest, and the rule of law, and includes the police officer's creed and pledge.

The four cardinal virtues of a police officer are honor, integrity, justice, and service; the PNP core values include service, honor, and justice.

Republic Act 9485 (Anti-Red Tape Act) requires prompt action on applications and prohibits fixing; RA 11032 (Ease of Doing Business Act) amended it with stricter timelines.

Ethical standards distinguish corruption (abuse of public office for private gain) from misconduct (violation of rules) and from inefficiency (failure to perform duties).

The doctrine of command responsibility holds supervisors accountable for acts of subordinates when they knew or should have known and failed to act.