Criminal Justice

Arson

Arson is defined as the willful act of setting something on fire, usually a home or another type of structure. People commit arson for a variety of reasons, and the crime is severely punished all over the world because arson puts lives and property at risk. In some parts of the world, if someone dies in an arson fire, it is considered to be murder, rather than manslaughter or negligent homicide, because arson is deemed to be such a reprehensible act. In all instances, an arson conviction carries a prison term.

Motives for arson vary. In many instances, a property owner commits arson in an attempt to collect the value of the property, which is usually insured against fire. Arson is also committed to cover up evidence of another crime, and some individuals even undertake arson for entertainment or thrills. Some vandals also set property on fire, sometimes not with the express purpose of burning a building down, but with the idea of more general property damage in mind.

As for the crime data, arson offenses are tracked separately from other property crimes declined 10.4 percent nationwide. All population groups reported decreases in the volume of arson offenses. In addition, arson fell in all four of the nation’s regions: 11.6 percent in the West, 10.6 percent in the South, 9.2 percent in the Midwest, and 8.6 percent in the Northeast.

I came across a old article about a student setting fire to his university which was East Stroudsburg University. The police arrested 19 year old dormitory resident assistant and charged him with arson Tuesday morning, hours after three more fires forced the evacuation of the 320-student dorm. Ryan Burke, who was first on the scene of the Hawthorn Hall fires Friday and Tuesday, confessed to police that he started the fires with a cigarette lighter, police said. Burke was arraigned on charges of arson, criminal mischief, reckless burning and institutional vandalism. He was committed to Monroe County Prison. Burke allegedly...