Major Crimes

Major Crimes is an American television police procedural series starring Mary McDonnell. It is a successor spin-off of The Closer and premiered on TNT August 13, 2012, following that show's finale.

On July 18, 2014, TNT renewed Major Crimes for an 18-episode fourth season, which premiered on June 8, 2015. On August 20, 2015, TNT ordered five additional episodes of season four, bringing the total to 23. On December 15, 2015, TNT renewed the series for a 13-episode fifth season.

Premise

Following the departure of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson from the Los Angeles Police Department, Captain Sharon Raydor (McDonnell) is selected as the new head of its Major Crimes Division. Throughout Season 1, she faces the challenge of earning the trust and loyalty of her officers, who are still in shock over Johnson's exit, while trying to close the department's highest-profile cases. Ambitious young detective Amy Sykes (Giovanni) also joins the Major Crimes Division.

Raydor decides to house Rusty Beck (Graham Patrick Martin), the key witness for the Stroh (Billy Burke) case, in her own home, paying for him to attend the Catholic high school her children attended. In Season 2, Deputy District Attorney Emma Rios (Velasquez) is introduced as part of the prosecution team on the Stroh case.

Major

Major is a military rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces. When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicators, the rank is just senior to that of an army captain and right below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks.

Majors are typically assigned as specialized executive or operations officers for battalion-sized units of 300 to 1,200 soldiers. In some militaries, notably France and Ireland, the rank of major is referred to as commandant, while in others it is known as captain-major. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures, such as the New York State Police, New Jersey State Police and several others. As a police rank, Major roughly corresponds to the UK rank of Superintendent.

When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including general-major or major general, denoting a mid-level general officer, and sergeant major, denoting the most senior NCO of a military unit. The term Major can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in pipe-major or drum-major.

Crime

In ordinary language, the term crime denotes an unlawful act punishable by a state. The term "crime" does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. One proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual or individuals but also to a community, society or the state ("a public wrong"). Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law.

The notion that acts such as murder, rape and theft are to be prohibited exists worldwide. What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by criminal law of each country. While many have a catalogue of crimes called the criminal code, in some common law countries no such comprehensive statute exists.

The state (government) has the power to severely restrict one's liberty for committing a crime. In modern societies, there are procedures to which investigations and trials must adhere. If found guilty, an offender may be sentenced to a form of reparation such as a community sentence, or, depending on the nature of their offence, to undergo imprisonment, life imprisonment or, in some jurisdictions, execution.

Trinitrotoluene

Trinitrotoluene (/ˌtraɪˌnaɪtroʊˈtɒljuːˌiːn, -ljəˌwiːn/;TNT), or more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, is a chemical compound with the formula C₆H₂(NO₂)₃CH₃. This yellow-colored solid is sometimes used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as a useful explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard measure of strength of bombs and other explosives. In chemistry, TNT is used to generate charge transfer salts.

While the two words are sometimes used interchangeably in common conversation, TNT is not the same as dynamite, a special formatting of nitroglycerin for use as an industrial explosive.

History

TNT was first prepared in 1863 by German chemist Julius Wilbrand and originally used as a yellow dye. Its potential as an explosive was not appreciated for several years mainly because it was so difficult to detonate and because it was less powerful than alternatives. TNT can be safely poured when liquid into shell cases, and is so insensitive that in 1910, it was exempted from the UK's Explosives Act 1875 and was not considered an explosive for the purposes of manufacture and storage.

Police

A police force is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from military or other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing.

Law enforcement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity. Policing has included an array of activities in different situations, but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order. In some societies, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these developed within the context of maintaining the class system and the protection of private property. Many police forces suffer from police corruption to a greater or lesser degree. The police force is usually a public sector service, meaning they are paid through taxes.