Interview with Pat Quigley

The goal of this post was to obtain information from a source who had experience in crime and determine if the information provided is credible.

I knew my source prior to the interview. Pat Quigley is my first cousin on my mother's side of the family and I see him once every two or three years. Pat currently works as a Group Supervisor at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

In particular, I was intrigued to hear about the support system they have at the MSOP. Pat informed me that they assist the people in getting jobs once they are released from the prison and they have top notch healthcare for the inmates as well. Pat also mentioned that this prison is much more for reform than punishment. Many people believe that the primary purpose for prisons in the United States is to punish people.

Pat seems like a credible source for this interview since he works at a prison. In addition, he worked as a cop for five years in Newark, Delaware. This experience would enable him to shed light on some crime trends also.

I asked Pat if his relationship with criminals had become more personal after asking how his mindset changed from being a police officer to working in a prison. Furthermore, I asked him if he had developed any sympathy for the prisoners at all. I basically learned the way the prison operated, its structure, and how the prison supports its inmates. Moreover, Pat compared his time as a cop to his job at the prison and explained how each was unique.

Interview%20With%20Pat-TRIMMED_AUDIO_FILE_SUFFIX.amr (Part 1)

Interview%20With%20Pat-TRIMMED_AUDIO_FILE_SUFFIX-4.amr (Part 2)

Crime in the News

• According to a Chicago Tribune article, Javier and Veronica Acevado were found dead early Sunday morning at their home. Police believe Acevado murdered his wife and then committed suicide. Veronica worked as a Chicago police officer prior to her death.

• Newsday reported that a man has been charged arson. David Oisecki was arrested on Saturday for setting fire to a multimillion dollar home in Westhampton Beach, New York. Police did not reveal if anyone was home at the time of the fire or Oisecki's motive for committing the crime. Osiecki will face third degree arson charges.

• Randy Serrano, an 18 year old man from Penndel, was arrested and thrown in jail for possession of marijuana according to the Bucks County Courier Times. Serrano has been sent to prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Crime Rate Survey Analysis

In this post, I wanted to present a survey that produced intriguing results. I feel that general crime statistics do not tell the full story of the effects crime has on people. This survey "Perceptions of Violent Crime in the U.S." was conducted by Gallup Politics in 2013 and it shows how people interpret local and national crime rate trends.

The survey found that most people generally say that violent crime had increased in the past year in the United States during the 16 year period this study focused on. However, when asked about crime in their locality fewer people said violent crime in their areas had gone up.

People who elected to participate in this survey did so by telephone. In all, 1,028 people were surveyed from all 50 states. Each person surveyed was at least 18 years old. The survey occurred from October 3rd to the October 6th 2013 and the survey matched national demographic factors such as gender, age, and race.

This survey likely reflects the opinions of the population it represents. In this case, the answers to the questions answers were simple and direct and the people administering the survey made an effort to people living in different areas that have different backgrounds to eliminate bias.


A couple questions asked in the survey were "Is there more crime in a U.S. than year ago or less" and "Is there more crime in your area than a year ago or less." The subjects could have responded by either saying there was more or less crime in the past year to either of these questions.

The results generated from this survey seem to be pretty useful. The responses to the questions agree with the purpose of the survey. The questions were understandable and painless for participants. Yet, a question that asked what influenced the decisions people made the most could have been helpful.

For the most part, the survey is credible. The surveyors were keen to reach out to different people of different backgrounds to obtain unprejudiced data. Nonetheless, there were not any questions that justified the responses as to why people thought crime rate had increased or decreased.