Criminology In The News | Rap Music Used as Evidence in Trials

Police are turning to rap music videos as evidence of crimes according to a new study. The Compound Injustice report found that there were 68 cases of rap music videos being used as evidence of ‘joint enterprise’ in charging over 250 defendants across a range of crimes.

The report goes on to state that in most of these cases, the defendants were form minority ethnic groups, with 66% of those accused using the evidence identifying as Black, with a further 12% having a mixed ethnicity background.

The influence of media in committing crime is a topic featured in Unit 1 of the WJEC specification, but rarely have music videos been used in this way to try and prosecute individuals. Police argue that by appearing in music videos with others who are accused of crimes, this demonstrates a link between individuals.

In contrast, critics have suggested that inclusion in a video, does not indicate that there is a connection.

Find out more by looking at the article below from the Guardian (30/04/2024) and answer the questions below.

https://www.theguardian.com/la...

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!

1. The use of media in influencing crime is considered in unit 1 of the WJEC Level 3 Applied criminology specification. How does the role of rap videos differ in this article?
2. Police have used 68 rap videos to bring charges against 252 defendants according to the report. What type of evidence do you think the rap videos would constitute?
3. The charges were brought under the concept of joint enterprise. What does this mean?
4. Art Not Evidence is a pressure group mentioned in the article. Briefly outline their views on the case, and suggest one way they could use their status to tackle the issue?
5. All evidence is presented by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service to make a judgement on whether the full code test can be passed. One part of this is the evidence test. Outline one reason why the use of rap videos might not be accepted as evidence by the CPS.