History Main / CrimeAndPunishmentTropes

* TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw

* NecroCam

* DoctorVonTurncoat: A war criminal is given immunity in exchange for working for their former enemies.

* RansomDrop: A discreet "kidnapped victim for ransom" exchange.

* RansomDrop: A kidnapper makes an agreement to discreetly appear somewhere to deliver their hostage to freedom in exchange for the ransom they demanded.

* {{Conscription}}: Many countries have laws which mandate that (usually male) adult citizens must be conscripted/drafted for military service, often for at least a year or more. If they refuse, well...

* DraftDodging: Military draft evasion is usually a crime punishable by prison time or worse (unless the draft dodger, or conscientious objector, can make a good-enough excuse that the state finds acceptable).

* BurnerPhones

* VaryingCompetencyAlibi: A character is proven innocent when they're shown to be too competent or incompetent to do.

+ '''CrimeAndPunishmentSeries''': Television series about law and crime.
+ '''CrimeFiction''': Written literature about law and crime.

++ GangsterFiction: Fiction that revolves around gangsters, mobsters, and organized crime.
+++ HoodFilm: A sub-genre about inner-city {{gangbangers}}.

++ DetectiveDrama: Stories that star some sort of detective (who may or may not be a member of the police) trying to crack a case.
+++ HistoricalDetectiveFiction: A detective tale in some sort of {{historical|Fiction}} [[PeriodPiece setting]].

++ CopShow: Television series about police officers.
+++ BuddyCopShow: TV shows about a pair of cops working together.
++ CrimeTimeSoap: A drama that focuses on the police's personal lives as much as their careers with solving crimes.
++ ForensicDrama: The story focuses on a police forensics unit analyzing physical evidence from a crime scene.

++ CrimeReconstruction: A dramatized reenactment of a specific real-life crime.

++ HelpHelpThisIndexIsBeingRepressed: Tropes about when human rights are violated by oppressive authority figures, who may decide that everyone they don't like are just criminals who deserve to be treated as harshly as they can get away with.

++ ArtisticLicenseLaw: Tropes about [[HollywoodLaw inaccurate depictions of the law and judicial system]].

++ ForensicPhlebotinum: Tropes about various tools that can be used to help solve crimes.

++ OrganizedCrimeTropes: Tropes about gangsters and mobsters, or any career criminals who are members of a larger group or organization, which engage in illegal activities mostly for monetary profit.
++ PirateTropes: Tropes about outlaws who engage in piracy, which are any crimes committed on water instead of land.

++ ChildAbuseTropes: Tropes about abuse against children by their parents or other adults.
++ SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes: Tropes about various forms of sexual abuse and assault.
++ ATorturedIndex: Tropes about painfully harming people as a method of interrogation, punishment, or just plain sadism. The legality of (state-sanctioned) torture committed by authority figures varies by jurisdiction, but torture done by legally-unprotected criminals is obviously always illegal.

++ DisposingOfABody: Tropes about hiding the bodies of murder victims to avoid getting in trouble for their deaths.
++ [[PublicExecution Execution Tropes]]: Tropes about capital punishment or the death penalty, which means killing prisoners convicted of capital crimes. Note that this practice has been legally abolished in many countries, but other jurisdictions may still sentence criminals to death.
++ GenocideTropes: Tropes about the systematic, targeted mass murder of large groups of people, which in modern times is considered to be a very serious war crime / crime against humanity.
++ MurderInTheFamily: Tropes about the act of killing one's own kin, which is the most extreme form of domestic violence.

* AcquittedTooLate: An innocent person has been sentenced to death, but doesn't have their name cleared until after they've already been executed.

** EvilLawyerJoke: The poor reputation of the legal profession is a source of humor.

** WhoMurderedTheAsshole: An unsympathetic person has been killed, but it's hard to identify the murderer because pretty much everyone who knew the bastard hated them enough to want to kill them.

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Certain forms of animal cruelty are illegal depending on the circumstances and jurisdiction. Especially if animals are harmed or killed by methods or for reasons which fall outside of legally-approved euthunization, hunting or slaughter.

** CaperCrew: A gang of thieves who plot these heists.
** CaperRationalization
** DoubleCaper

* ConMenHateGuns: {{Con artist}}s and other fraudsters prefer to "politely" rob people through cunning and trickery instead of using brute force or intimidation.

** DraftDodging: Military draft evasion is usually a crime punishable by prison time or worse (unless the draft dodger, or conscientious objector, can make a good-enough excuse that the state finds acceptable).

** CopKillerManhunt: Someone who kills a cop ends up being chased by all their vengeful colleagues.

** CorruptionByAMinor: [[RussianReversal Children influencing adults to engage in criminal behavior]].

** DiplomaticCoverSpy: Governments frequently exploit diplomatic immunity by using their embassies and consulates as a legitimate front for illegal espionage.

** FrameUp: A criminal tries to pin all the evidence of their crime on another (innocent) person, which may lead to them getting wrongly arrested and prosecuted for it.
** FramingTheGuiltyParty: A criminal gets {{misblamed}} for committing a crime they had no involvement in; however it conveniently gets them in trouble for another unrelated crime that they really were responsible for.

** MistakenForPedophile: Circumstances lead to an innocent person being wrongfully accused of child sexual abuse.

** AllCrimesAreEqual: Every crime gets the same punishment regardless of how severe it truly is.
** DisproportionateRetribution: Someone gets an overly harsh punishment for a minor slight.

** BadCopIncompetentCop

** DestroyTheEvidence: When you're unable to hide the evidence, you may just have to get rid of it in a more permanent way.
*** FieryCoverUp: Burning the evidence to destroy it.

** NoHonorAmongThieves: Criminals are often not loyal to their own accomplices, and are willing to betray them when it's convenient.

** TheRat
** TheStoolPigeon

** SentencedToDownUnder

** ConfessToALesserCrime: This may be done as a tactic to avoid getting a harsher sentence for a more severe conviction.

** PoliceBrutalityGambit: An arrested person tries to get the police in trouble by lying that the police used excessive force on them.

** MirandaRights (US)
** YouDoNotHaveToSayAnything (UK)

* StockPunishment: An old-fashioned way of publically punishing and humiliating someone by restraining them with a wooden block over their head and arms.

** SummationGathering: The detective gathers all the suspects together to explain which one of them is the culprit.

** CopsNeedTheVigilante: Police have to rely on unofficial crime-fighters to do their jobs for them.
** TheJailer: Someone who imprisons people in extrajudicial detention without the permission of the legal system.
** ObstructiveVigilantism: When vigilantes (un)intentionally interfere with police operations.
** VigilanteExecution: Killing someone to punish their (alleged) crimes without the permission of the judicial system.
** VigilanteInjustice: Private citizens trying to take the law into their own hands are more of a menace than a savior to society.
** VigilanteMilitia: A group of like-minded vigilantes form a crime-fighting organization.

** WitlessProtectionProgram: When the Witness Protection Program is incompetent.

** SummationGathering

* DraftDodging: Draft evasion, or the refusal of [[{{Conscription}} mandatory military service]] in countries which still have such laws on the books and enforce them, is usually a crime punishable by prison time or worse (unless the draft dodger, or conscientious objector, can make a good enough excuse that the state finds acceptable).

* CoincidentalDodge

* DiabolicalMastermind

* FightingBackIsWrong: Trope associated to bullying but also applied here.

* NeverTheObviousSuspect: The most obvious suspect is just TheRedHerring, while the one who's BeneathSuspicion is the real culprit.

* NeverTheObviousSuspect

* ThrowingTheFight

* TheCaper: A gang of thieves plot and scheme to conduct an elaborately planned heist/robbery of some place.
** BankRobbery: Also known as a bank heist, a classic crime in which thieves try to steal as much money as they can from a banking firm.

%%* BigSecret

%%* ItsForABook

%%* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration

%%* OminouslyOpenDoor

%%* SayingTooMuch

%%* StalkerShrine

%%* YouMeddlingKids

* SuspiciousSpending: Strange monetary transactions hint to some sort of shady and illicit business going on.