culprit= someone who is responsible for doing smth illegal: The police have so far failed to find the culprits.
2. to offend = formal to commit a crime or crimes: Many of the young men here are likely to offend again.
3. offender = someone who is guilty of a crime: At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes).
4. robbery / robber / to rob a bank/a person/a tourist col
to hold smb at gun-point
5. theft / thief plural thieves / to steal somebody’s wallet/purse BrE/mobile phone/cell phone AmE/ car
6. burglary / burglar / to break into/burgle a house/a home/an apartment col/PHR
7. mugging / mugger / to mug = the crime of attacking somebody violently, or threatening to do so, in order to steal their money, especially in a public place
8. shoplifting / shoplifter / to shoplift
9. smuggling / smuggler / to smuggle
10. kidnapping / kidnapper / to kidnap = to take somebody away illegally and keep them as a prisoner, especially in order to get money or something else for returning them
11. fraud / fraudster / -
12. bribery / - / to bribe = the giving or taking of bribes = a sum of money or something valuable that you give or offer to somebody to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest
13. murder / murderer / to murder
14. homicide = AmE the crime of murder
15. arson / arsonist / -
16. vandalism / vandal / to vandalize / (to commit) an act of mindless vandalism
To smash windows
To spray graffiti
To deface public property
To vandalise the (school) property
17. looting / looter / to loot
18. terrorism / terrorist / (to commit) an act of terrorism
19. a political prisoner col/term = someone who is sent to prison by their own government because it does not approve of their beliefs or actions
20. a common prisoner col = ordinary, with no special status or rank; negative term
21. a hardened criminal col/wf = showing no regret for their crimes
22. a persistent offender col/wf from ‘to persist’ | ‘to offend’ = = a person who continues to commit crimes after they have been caught and punishe
26. young offender col/wf = a criminal who, according to the law, is not yet an adult but no longer a child: a young offender institution
27. antisocial behavior wf social → antisocial = harmful or annoying to other people, or to society in general
28. to be in trouble with the law
29. to blame smb’s background
30. to be caught red-handed = to be caught doing smth wrong
31. underage drinking col/wf ager → underage
32. to breed crime COL
33.
Breaking the law
34. to break the law col = to fail to obey a rule or law
35. to bend the rules idiom= to change the rules to suit a particular person or situation
36. to commit a crime/an offence col
offence = an illegal act
37. petty/serious crime
to move on from petty to serious crime
38. street crime
39. vehicle crime / vehicle theft = the crime of stealing something from a person or place
40. to be involved in repeated crime
41. (to have) a criminal record term = an official list of crimes that someone has committed: We have to check whether applicants have a criminal record.
Protesting against
42. to take to the streets IDIOM
43. to take/resort to industrial action TERM (when workers act in a way that is intended to force an employer to agree to something, especially by stopping work)
to resort to sthPHR= to make use of something, especially something bad, as a means of achieving something, often because there is no other possible solution
44. to protest against/about e.g. (rigid) class distinctions TERM (differences between social groups in terms of their access to power and opportunity in the society)
45. to protest against/about e.g.police harassment TERM (annoying or unpleasant behavior towards someone)
46. to demonstrate against smth / in support of smth e.g. students demonstrating against the war
47. to encounter resistance to sth COL/PREP/WF
48. (the public) to be a force to be reckoned with idiom to be reckoned with = a thing or person that is not to be ignored or underestimated (ñèëà, ñ êîòîðîé ïðèõîäèòñÿ ñ÷èòàòüñÿ)
49. to boil over into sth phr SYN to explode = is a situation or feelings boil over, people cannot control their anger and start to fight or argue: Racial tension finally boiled over in the inner city riots.
50. inner-city unrest TERM (a political situation in which people protest or behave violently / an area near the centre of a large city where a lot of poverty and other social problems exist)
51. riot = a violent protest by a crowd of people
a riot erupts/breaks out col
52. public disorder = violent behaviour of large groups of people
an outbreak of rioting and public disorder
53. to incite crime/racial hatred/violence col = to encourage somebody to do something violent, illegal or unpleasant, especially by making them angry or excited: They were accused of inciting the crowd to violence.
The legal process / Sentencing and punishment
54. to witness a crime col
55. to report sth (a crime) to the police COL/PREP = to tell the police or someone in authority that an accident or crime has happened
56. to carry out an investigation into smth col/prep = to conduct an investigation
57. to collect/gather evidence col
58. to question a suspect/witness col
59. to solve the case col
60. to arrest sb FOR a crime PREP
61. to charge sb WITH a crime COL/PREP = when the police charge sb with a crime, they formally accuse them of committing that crime: Three men were charged with shoplifting.
62. to take sb TO court COL/PREP = take legal action against sb: My landlord is taking me to court for not paying my rent.
63. to give evidence COL= tell a court of law what you know about a crime: Three witnesses of the mugging gave evidence in court today.
64.
65. to appear in court col/prep = to be present in court in order to give evidence or answer a charge
66. to stand/go on trial for smth col/prep =
67. to reach a verdict col
68. to receive a fair trial col
69. to suffer the consequences col
70. to be severely punished col
71. to deserve harsh punishment col
72. to deal with smb firmly PHR/col (e.g. with offenders)
73. to find sb (not) guilty col = responsible for committing a crime: The jury had to decide if he was innocent or guilty.
74. to convict smb OF smth = to decide and state officially in court that somebody is guilty of a crime: They were acquitted of all charges.
75. OPP to acquit smb OF smth = to decide and state officially in court that somebody is not guilty of a crime
76. conviction FOR smth wf/prep = the act of finding somebody guilty of a crime in court; the fact of having been found guilty: She has six previous convictions for theft.
77. to fine sb (£500) = make sb pay money as punishment for a crime they have committed: He was fined £1,000.
78. to pay/face a heavy (=one that costs a lot of money) fine col = a sum of money that must be paid as punishment for breaking a law or rule
79. to send sb TO prison (FOR 10 years) COL/PREP
80. to sentence sb TO (10 years) in prison COL/PREP = when a judge decides what a person’s punishment should be after they have been convicted of a crime: The two men were sentenced to six months in prison.
81. to condemn smb to smth e.g. death/public whipping
82. to serve a sentence of 15 years in prison col
83. to face the death penalty col = the punishment of being killed that is used in some countries for very serious crimes
Controlling crime
84. crime rate col/term = a number of crimes committed in a particular area
to rise/to come down
85. to control the crime rateTERM/COL
86. crime figures col have dropped dramatically/have risen
87. crime wave col/term = a situation in which there is a sudden increase in the number of crimes that are committed
88. (to have) a spate of burglaries/killings/thefts = a large number of things, which are usually unpleasant, that happen suddenly within a short period of time
89. to combat/fight/reduce/tackle crime COL=to stop sth unpleasant/harmful from happening
90. fight against smth (e.g. crime) prep
fight FOR smth e.g. survival
91. to take tough measures against crime / to do smth col The government is introducing tougher measures to combat crime.
92. to crack down on crime = to start dealing with smb much more strickly
93. to introduce new/harsher/stricter laws col
94. to give more power to the courts
95. to pass a law col = to accept a law by voting
96. to uphold the law col = to support smth that you think is right and make sure that it continues to exist
97. to enforce the law col = to make sure that a law or rule is obeyed by the people
98. effective law enforcement → to enforce the law COL = to make sure that people obey a particular law or rule
99. to take (draconian) measures col = extremely cruel and severe
100. to focus on juvenile crime prep
101. to put police officers on the streets speaking
102. to act as a deterrent col/prep = a thing that makes somebody less likely to do something (= that deters them)
103. to get somewhere (e.g. to school) safely / safe → safely → safety WF
Individuals can help by …
104. to be vigilant (about crime) = to be careful to notice any signs of danger or trouble
105. to introduce neighbourhood watch schemes term = an arrangement by which a group of people in an area watch each other's houses regularly as a way of preventing crime
106. to spot smb doing smth e.g. The police spotted him driving a stolen car.
Law and order
107. law forbids/prohibits col = to state that smth is not allowed, according to a rule, law
108. rule permits/allows col =
109. rules/regulations apply to smb/smth col/prep = to affect or be relevant to a particular person or thing
110. regulations require/stipulate col = to say what is allowed or what is necessary
111. law and order term = safe and peaceful conditions in society that result when people obey the law
the breakdown of law and order
112. to respect the law col
113. to obey/observe the law col = to do what a law say that you must do
114. to follow directions/instructions/orders/rules col
115. to act within the law prep
116. to comply with the order/regulation/requirement/rule col
Economic dimension of well-being/ill-being
Employment/unemployment
117. to close down phr =if a company, shop/store, etc. closes down, or if you close it down, it stops operating as a business
118. to be out of work col/prep
119. lack of sth e.g. employment/money/shelter etcprep
120. your bread-and-butter idiom = smth that provides your main income
Income
121. a means/source of independent livelihood col =something such as your work that provides the money that you need to live
122. to earn/to lose livelihoodterm/col
123. unemployed/low-income household term = all the people living together in a house or flat/apartment
124. the head of the household col
125. (people) on a low/high income
low-income family
126. (to have) a steady source of income COL/TERM
127. (to live on) inadequate income WF/SP
128. a tight budget: holidays for people on a tight budget
money is tight/things are tight = to have only just enough
129. to live on (or below) the breadline = the lowest level of income on which it is possible to live
130. to live from hand to mouth idiom = to spend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food without being able to save any money
131. to live below the poverty lineterm= the official level of income that is necessary to be able to buy the basic things you need such as food and clothes and to pay for somewhere to live
132. to live/die in penury fml = the state of being extremely poor
133. to be in a poverty trap TERM (a situation in which someone would be even poorer or not much richer if they had a job because they would no longer receive financial help from the government)
134. to inherit sth (way of life) from sb | an inherited way of life