Crime Vocabulary
petty crime – not a serious crime
Sentence- Reynolds became involved in petty crime at a very young age.
violent crime – crime which includes assault.
Sentence- The rise in violent crime must not go unchecked.
organized crime – organized group of people commits crimes or engages in criminal enterprises for profit.
Sentence- Organized crime continued to flourish alongside the mainstream economy.
white-collar crime – a term mostly referring to business world crimes. Usually crimes committed by businessmen or office workers for financial gain.
Sentence- White-collar crime appeared to be a normal and accepted part of business practice, being both very costly and highly organised.
victimless crime – a crime with no apparent victim.
Sentence- Piracy of copyrighted materials is not a victimless crime and its global repercussions must be addressed.
to carry out a crime – to commit a crime.
Sentence- He carried out a crime
to investigate a crime – to detect / solve a crime.
Sentence- The police are still investigating the murder.
to fight crime – to tackle crime.
Sentence- Despite receiving little support, the women are persevering with their crusade to fight crime.
to prevent crime – to preclude crime.
Sentence- Your community officer can give you advice on how to prevent crime in your area.
a crackdown on crime – a serious attempt to punish people for committing crimes.
Sentence- His crackdown on crime is one of his most eye-catching initiatives so far.
life of crime – criminal way of living
Sentence- At the age of twelve, he entered into a life of crime.
a crime wave – a sudden increase in the amount of crime in an area.
Sentence- Many country parishes were still living in blissful ignorance of the post-war crime wave.
circumstances of the crime – conditions under which a crime was committed.
Sentence- Depending on the circumstances of the crime the law or customs detention center or prison.
the incidence of crime – the number of times crime happens or develops
Sentence- They can examine plans and recommend changes to reduce the incidence of crime.
assault – a violent physical attack.
Sentence- He was acquitted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
burglary – illegal entrance into premises with criminal intent.
Sentence- The youth was charged with three counts of burglary.
child abuse – physical or emotional mistreatment of a child.
Sentence- The social workers experienced the child abuse system in a variety of ways.
drug trafficking – production, distribution, and sale of illegal drugs.
Sentence- In 1982 he was arrested and subsequently convicted on drug trafficking charges.
fraud – If you are promised a million dollars on the Internet, it’s fraud. Fraud is trickery intended to gain an advantage.
Sentence- He is fighting extradition to Hong Kong to face trial on fraud charges.
hacking – special type of Internet crime. When somebody’s website or server is hacked, it means that the server or website is broken.
Sentence- This examines hacking and computer crime cases simply to gain experience and hopefully prevent future violations.
hijacking – stopping and stealing a vehicle.
Sentence- There have been a series of hijackings recently in the area.
murder – the crime of deliberately killing a person.
Sentence- The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.
manslaughter – also killing a person, BUT accidentally – without the intent to do so.
Sentence- She was found guilty of manslaughter and put on probation for two years.
terrorism – violence or threat of violence as a way of trying to achieve a political goal.
Sentence- The government is determined to crack down on terrorism.
blackmailing – using secret information to get something in return (usually money)
Sentence- The crime syndicate has the goods on the governor and is blackmailing him.
