Crime & Crime Prevention

Today, some police forces are using virtual reality technology to capture and recreate crime scenes digitally. They've discovered that, if used properly, virtual environments help the investigation process from its earliest stages all the way to a verdict.

By Jonathan Strickland

In their own vision of themselves, Yakuza descend from Robin-Hood-like characters who defended villages from bandits. Today, they operate as a collection of criminal gangs.

By Ed Grabianowski

The United States is renowned for having one of the most sophisticated judicial systems in the world. Every day thousands of people take part in this system, hoping to settle disputes and work for justice. Learn how the U.S. judicial system works.

By Jacob Silverman

As an abstract term, prison is quite simple, but for anyone who has ever done time, it's incredibly complex. Learn what life is like inside prisons in the United States.

By Ed Grabianowski

Police fired 50 shots at three apparently unarmed men in a car leaving a bachelor party in New York this weekend, and investigators still aren't sure why.

By Julia Layton

According to a 2005 report by the Department of Justice, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members in the United States. Learn how and why street gangs form.

By Ed Grabianowski

The TV show "Prison Break" is the story of a structural engineer named Michael Scofield who gets himself locked up so that he can help his brother escape death row. Learn about some amazing real-life escapes.

By Caroline Wilbert

Aye, matey! Hold on to your peg leg as we look at how pirates work, whether they're robbing and plundering in the 17th century or the 21st. We'll look at past and present definitions of piracy and the laws that deal with modern pirates.

By Tracy V. Wilson

The Federal Witness Security Program protects crucial witnesses. How do you erase one identity and create a whole new one? Find out how the Witness Security Program "relocates" witnesses and their families.

By Kevin Bonsor & Talon Homer

The Mafia has controlled everything from the street-corner drug trade to labor-union leadership to high-level politicians. How did it start and what's its status now?

By Ed Grabianowski & John Donovan

With each new crime that pops up, another method of detection is developed; and with each new crime that pops up, another means of protecting yourself comes to light. Learn about various crimes and the available means of detection, protection, and punishment.

Long before Sept. 11, governments, guerrillas, freedom fighters and insurgents were hijacking planes, plotting to blow up the British parliament and generally sowing fear to achieve an objective. So why is defining terrorism so hard?

By Robert Lamb

Since 1982, more than 1,000 U.S. prisoners have been executed by lethal injection, according to Amnesty International. What happens during those last hours?

By Kevin Bonsor

In our legal system, a person can be found not guilty if they are declared legally insane. How does this system work? Learn about the insanity plea in this article.