Ashley James Figured world- Theories that explain how a certain world works.

Within a figured world, and there are expectations about how things such as appropriate actions, language and behaviors should go. Throughout this semester, I will be analyzing and dissecting the figured world of Criminal Justice. The sole purpose of the criminal justice system is to deliver justice for each and every human being, by convicting and punishing any guilty suspect in order to stop their unlawful offending, while protecting the innocent. Orders of court need to be carried out in a timely manner, such as collecting fines, and supervising community and custodial punishment by an officer. Any department in the Criminal Justice field is a serious business that can more often than none consist of all work, and no play. Frequently, the system tends to encounter people presumed guilty until proven innocent, or victims in need of help. Since this is such a large field, I will narrow down my studies by volunteering my time at the Police Station on the campus of UNC Charlotte. I will compare and contrast how fictional television shows portray the world of law enforcement with the real world of law enforcement. Some tasks that go on a daily basis at any police department consists of answering calls, patrolling the area, and doing your best to keep your surrounding community safe. The police answer hundreds of calls on a daily basis and are summoned to help any person in need. Being that this is such a stern job, prank calls to 911 pretending to be in danger would not be acceptable, and you just might have severe consequences to face. Also, no disrespectful remarks should be made towards any officer. Show full cooperation and follow all orders and you will be fine. Talking to an officer in a calm voice is something that is encouraged. Loud noises trigger a defense mechanism for an officer, and they automatically go into defense mode. The Mentalist Actors- people who play significant roles in a figured world: Patrick Jane Consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation. Joins the CBI after his wife and child are brutally murdered by serial killer, Red John. Uses tricks and mind games to close cases. Less professional than other main characters. Very playful and cocky and a master manipulator. Obsessed with Red John. Teresa Lisbon Head detective of the team. Lets Jane get away with a lot of stuff when it comes to any Red John case. Constantly has her authority undermined by Jane.

Lisbon is very attached to her team but often expresses an aversion towards anything that makes her emotional towards them.

Wayne Rigsby Does most interrogations and stakeouts. Develops a love relationship with agent Van Pelt. Senior agent. Kimball Cho Takes his job very seriously and goes by the book. Rarely smiles or laughs. Very persuasive interrogator. Former gang member. Grace Van Pelt Rookie of the team. Does most office work, being that she is a rookie and Lisbon rarely lets her go into the field. Unknowingly gets engaged to Red Johns mole within the CBI. Consequently ends up killing him when he puts her team in danger and reveals himself. Artifacts- not only physical items, but also emotional feelings that are very significant in many different ways to a specific figured world: Food- Jane uses food in most episodes to take his mind off of things. Food provides a mental satisfaction rather than physical satisfaction. The infamous blood drawn smiley face by Red John- Clockwise smiley face drawn on wall with victims blood once Red John strikes again. It is believed he does this to not only taunt investigators, but Jane as well. Couch- like stated before, Jane is less serious than the others so most of the time takes naps during shifts.

Discourse communities- groups within a figured world with common goals and/ or traits: California Bureau of Investigation (CBI)- the team the show is based on. The CBI typically closes cases more frequently and faster than local police departments. Local police departments- would rather work on cases without the CBI. A member from every department always gets into it with Jane.

Literacy Practices- means of communication in a figured world. Because of the seriousness of their job, jokes do not play a huge role in the department. Even though Jane is not head of the team, whatever he says goes. They trust him enough because he solves many cases so when he has an idea everyone goes with it. Following

Jane allows the team to be very successful because he has never let them down when it came to closing cases. Observation 1 Sunday, February 2nd Season 6 Episode 1: 7:00 At the beginning of the show, a hostage sends in a video giving a list of names of possible people who could be Red John. Lisbon gets a call shortly after about a case. Jane doesnt want to go because he wants to continue to work towards finding Red John. When they arrive, a blond female in her mid-twenties is laying deceased on the floor, with a rope around her neck. Jane examines the house. The closet is messy and misplaced, not like how a woman would keep her closet. Clothes and products were also stuffed into drawers instead of placed. Jane questions the victims husband and within being in the couples home for five minutes, Jane suspects her husband of being the killer. Once Jane confronts him on it, he puts a gun to Janes head and holds him hostage. He forces him to walk outside where about 10-15 troops are. Jane lets the cops know that he replaced the bullets in the guns with peanuts. The suspect pulls another weapon from his belt strap and proceeds to shot at the officers. After he fires about 6 rounds, he receives approximately 4 bullets wounds to the chest and collapses. 7:22 Because of the shot out which leads to an officer getting wounded, Jane and Lisbon must report to the director of the CBI, Gale Bertram, whos name was on the list as a possible Red John. He asks Jane about the case and says he heard Jane is getting closer to solving the case, which is suspicious to Jane because he hasnt told anyone about his progress on the case. As punishment for the shoot out, Jane and Lisbon must choose between suspensions, or to go on an out of state case. They choose to work on a case in Mexico. 7:27 Against Janes wishes, Lisbon confides in Agent Van Pelt about the 7 possible suspects who could be Red John. She orders Van Pelt to put a GPS bug on each of the 7 men phones. Skeptically, she agrees. She begins acting odd and her husband Agent Wayne Rigsby questions her, but she cant say anything because she was also ordered not to say anything because everyone who knows about the list has a high chance of being in danger. 7:39 Jane realizes Lisbon told Van Pelt and pulls them both aside. Jane shuns her for putting a GPS tracker on their phones, because he knows Red John will know and use that against them. Lisbon feels as if Jane questions her authority and gets very upset. She decided to leave Mexico and go back to Sacramento and keep an eye on the 7 suspects.

7:41 Jane then finds out that Van Pelt told Rigsby about the list and Rigsby told Agent Kimball Cho. Now Jane is worried for the safety of his team because all 5 of them are now in danger.

7:49 Jane uses a waitresses psychic abilities to solve the case, which leads to the waitress being one of the suspects. 7:56 Jane continuously tries to reach call Lisbon, but she keeps sending him to voicemail. Lisbon is called to respond to call at a house. When she looks it up, she sees one of the phones is at that location. She calls for back up which is delayed, so she goes in the house by herself. While searching the house, she opens a closet and a body of one of the men that they suspected to be Red John falls out. She turns around and is then bombarded by Red John. Jane finally gets a call back from Lisbons phone, but its Red John. He paints Lisbons face with the infamous counter-clockwise smiley face. Observation 2 Sunday, February 2nd Season 6 Episode 2 8:13 Police finally respond the house Lisbon was at. They find her down and rush her to the hospital. Red John did nothing to harm her, which spooks her and Jane even more. 8:20 The hospital wont release Lisbon, so Cho, Jane, and Rigsby must report back to her via phone calls about a new case they are on. 8:23 With one suspect dead, and 6 people left on the list, all the agents begin to work harder at finding out who Red John is. One man whose name is on the list visits Lisbon in the hospital, which freaks her out and keeps her on edge. She leaves the hospital without being officially released. 8:30 Lisbon tells Van Pelt to reverse the GPS tracking system on all the suspects, because as Jane said in the last observation, Red John knows. Jane goes to visit his former psychiatrist (whom he confided in after id wife and daughter were brutally murdered) suspecting that Red John is learning all his information from her. When he rings her doorbell, she doesnt answer, so Jane breaks in. He sees a note that says Dinner in the oven on her refrigerator with the infamous Red John smiley face, so he decides to open the oven. When he does, his psychiatrists head is in there.

8:33 Three of the men on the list show up to the CBI office at the same time, so Jane pulls them all in the office together because they all tell him to keep them updated on new information he finds out about Red John. Jane speculates Red John killed Sophie Miller (his psychiatrist) because she could identify him. They feel as if he posed as a client for a couple of visits, then decides to kill her. Against orders, Lisbon orders Rigsby to search Millers house for her appointment book. 8:45 While searching through Millers appointment books, Rigsby comes across four names that stand out. In other words, four men that have visited once or twice to never return. The four names are Earnest Mathewson, Mitchell Livingston, Miguel Bamario, and Jay Roth. The name Jay Roth immediately sticks out to Jane because Roth is from the German word rot, which means red. She met with Jay Roth five and a half months ago. When searching for the file of the session, it is nowhere to be found. They also check the university where she worked as well, and still come up empty-handed.

8:51 Lisbon is upset they couldnt find the files, and wonders why Jane isnt as distraught. Jane explains he isnt as worried because he knows something Red John doesnt know. When he broke into her home, Jane pocketed Sophies tape recorder knowing that she had never learned how to type, so she voice-recorded each session. 8:54 While listening to preliminary diagnostics report of Red John, Miller concludes that hes middle aged, with good health. No prior psychiatric issues, and has no living family. However, he relies on his company for emotional support. He is well spoken, has good posture and is self-possessed. While waiting for his appointment, he sat calmly needing no distraction. Miller also states he is an excellent whistler with a pleasant selfpresentation but has hints in his behavior of a damaged, narcissistic personality. During their session, he states he deals with conflict well but Miller isnt convinced. She senses something deceptive and dark in his emotional makeup and determines he has a phobia of some sort, most likely acrophobia. She ends her tape of saying she looks forward to more sessions with him, not knowing that he is truly Red John and her future is going to soon be cut short.

Observation 3 Sunday, February 2nd Season 6 Episode 3 9:00 A John Doe which is an unidentified male body is found dead in Napa Valley, California which Jane and Lisbon are called to investigate. The sheriff of the town, whose name is also on the list, is also on the scene. Jane challenges the sheriff to what he

speculates happened to the John Doe and how is was murdered. He does this to toy with his head and get any reason to believe he could be Red John.

9:09 Jane spots a bloody hammer, which is on a high shelf that requires the sheriff to climb up a ladder to get. The sheriff hesitates and gives all types of excuses as to why he cant go up the ladder. This stands out to Jane and Lisbon, because in the previous episode in Millers recordings she describes Red John as acrophobia, which means afraid of heights. 9:11 The John Doe is found out to be Uncle Larry the uncle of a soon to be bride. The groom and the bride family dont get along at all. While trying to interrogate the family together, the bride calls off the wedding. 9:26 Jane convinces Van Pelt to approach the bride and talk her into going on with the marriage as planned. It works, and Jane agrees to marry the couple being that they cant find a priest. 9:34 Jane finds out that the sheriff is a hunter, which is another trait that Red John had. Jane, Van Pelt, Cho, Rigsby and Lisbon all attend the wedding expecting the killer will sneak out of the reception. 9:40 While trying to serve as a distraction, Rigsby gets on the microphone and proposes to Van Pelt. Even though it was a distraction, the engagement is real. Shortly after Van Pelt says yes, sure enough the suspect, the brides brother rushes out. 9:52 Jane figures out that Uncle Larry caught the suspect stealing so he killed him to cover up his crime. When confronted, he holds Jane hostage. He brings Jane to the roof of the church in order for him to escape. Out of nowhere, the sheriff shows up on a ladder at the top of the roof and shots the suspect. Because he was on top of a building and also saved Jane, they eliminate him from the list of possible Red Johns, leaving five other men. 9:57 The day after Rigsbys proposal, Van Pelt and Rigsby wed at the justice of the peace.

Description of Location: The interrogation room is a small dark room, with one door. A rectangular table with three chairs is placed in the middle of the room. Two chairs on one side where the agents/interrogators sit, and one chair on the opposite side for the suspect. A bright lamp is placed on the edge of the table, facing the side with only one chair. The light is used as a technique to shine in a suspects face. The light can agitate some people and help break them down easier. The light also adds intensity. One wall in the interrogation room is completely glass, which is a two-sided mirror. From in the room, you cant see the other side, however if you are standing on the opposite side of the glass you can view the interrogation without being spotted.

Interview with Officer Carlos Valentin of the UNC Charlotte Police Department: Q: How did you get into the criminal justice field? A: I was lucky enough to have a friend who was a police officer, so I went on a ridealong with him one day. I got to see some interesting things and it was pretty fun. I immediately knew that law enforcement was something I had a passion for. Q: Tell me about a day in the life of a campus police officer. A: We start of with roll call, then we are assigned an area we must patrol on campus. You can either be assigned foot patrol, bike patrol, or vehicle patrol. We encounter numerous amount of students on a daily basis. Most days are calm and we dont encounter many severe problems. Q: Give an example of some encounters you may come across on campus, and not necessarily as a police officer in city limits. A: Patrolling the school area, us officers serve mostly as customer service associates. We can do anything from giving a student a jump to working with CATS on campus which is something you wouldnt do working for a department such as CMPD. Q: How do you feel about the way television shows portray criminal justice? Do you feel it is over exaggerated or pretty accurate? Why? A: The way policing and investigating is shown on TV can sometimes be frustrating. Those fictional shows makes it look like our jobs are easier than it really is. With that being said, it is very over exaggerated. Shows such as the First 48 are very precise. It shows the hardships we really go through.

Q: Whats the best part of your job? What is the worst? A: The best part of being a police officer is knowing that I am making a difference to everyone I come in contact with. I learned from my mother to be a very helpful person, so I love that I can help whoever needs my assistance. The most difficult part of my job is seeing young people ruining their future. I dont like seeing kids out here stealing, fighting and murdering. I want everyone to succeed in life and if you are breaking the law before your life really begins, you will only end up in jail.