When a police department negotiates an agreement with a community supervision agency each entity benefits from this agreement since both agencies by working together can draw upon unique professional skills, knowledge, training as well as missions. However, for a police department to develop a partnership with another agency is not an essay task. It requires clarity regarding the roles of each partner, understanding very clearly what each agency has to offer, and an understanding and appreciation of the challenges they may face during the partnership.
Law enforcement plays a critical role in the collection and preservation of eyewitness evidence (Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence, 1999). If the criminal justice system
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Finally, they must conduct fair and unbiased identification procedures (Fisher & Schreiber,
2007; Wise, Fishman, & Safer, 2009a). These functions are vital because it has been estimated that in 77,000 criminal trials each year in the U.S., eyewitness testimony is the sole or primary evidence of the defendant’s guilt (Wise, R. A., Safer, M. A., & Maro, C. M. 2011, p. 488). It is important for a police department to have clear and concise policies and procedures within the different areas in the department. For instance, when it comes to duties of patrol officers, there should procedures broken down into the different areas and responsibilities of a patrol officer such as the following:
• Radio contact and notification – patrol officers should patrol only their assigned areas and maintain radio contact at all times.
• Remaining in assigned areas- Patrol officers should never leave their assigned patrol area unless ordered by a superior and when doing so, the patrol officer should notify the communications division of their departure or returned to their assigned patrol
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• Investigations – It is important to obtain information from witnesses and submit this information in a speedy fashion to the Communications Division.
• Responding to calls – It is important for the patrol officer on duty to promptly respond to assigned calls. A patrol officer should always acknowledge assigned calls by radio, and never by telephone.
• Incident report – Every arrest or non-arrest that has taken place during the officer’s shift, must be submitted to a superior officer prior the officer being relieved from duty.
• Prisoner security – The arresting officer on duty is 100% responsible for the safety as well as security of the prisoners while in their custody.
• Transporting prisoners – While transporting prisoners, an officer should never transport female and male prisoners in the same vehicle at the same time.
• Searching – An arresting officer while searching a suspect should always look for weapons or any dangerous items. If the person is unconscious or incapacitated, the officer should look for a medical necklace or
In summation, is can be identified in this paper that eye witnesses do not play a constructive role within the criminal justice system. This can be seen through a thorough discussion of the many issues portrayed through this paper. To conclude Schmechel et al. (2006) reiterates that statements this paper has presented and discussed;
The Strategic Planning Committee also designed a patrol manual that helped operationalize community policing into concrete responsibilities within the patrol division. The Patrol Division is to improve police and community relations through quality and quantity of contacts between the citizens and members of the department.( Cordner,
Eyewitness testimonies are also valued unique factors they can bring to criminal investigations. Nevertheless, an eyewitness testimony can also raise several factors that threaten its credibility, especially for those who haven’t had prior training in assessing witness reliability. It has been suggested, for instance, that jurors only have their common sense as their guides when their witnesses have strenuous claims (Schechel et al., 2006, p.178).
Overall patrol we had was okay, his driving was bit problematic as he failed to come to full stops at intersections and also drove over the traintracks. Overall driving was okay though, just silly things he failed to do. His over all radio communications were amazing. He knew essentially everythign there is to know about radio. He used proper procedures and protocol and didn't use said radio exessivley, but only when it was requiered. I also let him update while we were driving, and his updates are better then most of Police Officer I's, I can understand and respond to said updates.
In recent years, the use of eyewitness testimonies as evidence in court cases has been a subject in which various researchers have been interested in. Research suggests that eyewitness testimonies are actually not reliable enough to use as primary evidence in court cases. There have been many cases in which an innocent person gets sent to prison for a crime they did not commit because an eyewitness testified that they were the ones that they saw at the scene of the crime. Researchers’ goal is to improve the legal system by finding out whether eyewitness testimonies should be used in the court of law or not.
Eyewitness testimony is “the provision of formal evidence on the basis of events experienced by the party” (Towl). History has shown that eyewitness identifications can often be unreliable. Since as far back as biblical times, people have questioned the validity of witnesses. The issue is even addressed in the US Constitution, which states that “two witnesses to the same overt act” are needed for a conviction of treason. Scientists have been disputing the credibility of eyewitness testimony, with experiments dating back to the early 20th century. In 1908, Harvard professor Hugo Münsterberg warned against dangero...
Eyewitness testimony plays an important role in any crime nowadays. It is also one of the most important types of evidence in court cases. However, many researchers have suggested that judges and investigators should know more about how reliable is eyewitness testimony. According to Read (2002) “It is important that we recognize the possibility of several stages or types of processing of event information because the greater the number of stages and cognitive activates involved, the greater the opportunities for error or low reliability”
I enjoyed reading your post and it was very informative. The directed patrol method is basically when the police department decides that it is important to place an emphasis on other tasks besides just answering calls for service, therefore the police department will place priority over these tasks than on non-emergency calls for service. These tasks can range from placing patrol officers in high risk areas as you mentioned on your post; to traffic stops, investigating, etc. (National Institute of Justice, 2011). In 1997, the Indianapolis police department decided to implement a directed patrol program in which the main task that they focused on was traffic stops (National Institute of Justice, 2011). At the end of the directed patrol program
Proactive patrol is still a critical component of police crime control efforts. When it comes to maintaining availability and quality handling of incidents there is a constant strain between the two ( Hoover, 1996). Some of the duties that the police chief may encounter, is the fact of trying to control what all goes on with his police officers. Trying to please the public and taking the responsibility of his officers and making sure that the right man for promotions is selected. A police chief must make sure that they employ men that are able to do the job and if they are incompetent or unqualified officers and removing them. The citizens want to feel comfortable and know that the police are going to respond in a timely manner when an emergency occurs (Hoover, 2014). The ability of quick response times will be based on the areas and the type of communities that they are patrolling. Rapid response is an important component of victim’s evaluation of the police (Cihan, Zhang, & Hoover, 2012). Citizens need that visibility in the residential neighborhoods (Liederbach, Fritsch, Carter, & Bannister, 2007). Responsiveness is a critical component of a well-run police agency. If the citizens want immediate availability, rapid response, and visibility,
“The bedrock of the American judicial process is the honesty of witness in trial,” (Engelhardt, 1999, p. 25). Eyewitnesses have become the most critical piece in uncovering the truth about a crime and are heavily relied on by the criminal justice system. They play a vital role in identifying, charging, and ultimately convicting a suspected criminal. This is why it is extremely important that the eyewitness evidence be accurate and reliable.
There is barely any counter evidence published which might be due to the effects not being published or simply there was no counter evidence found. We can also say that the given research seems reliable although most studies were in experiments and not in real life situations. Furthermore, other biases (e.g. gender bias, prejudice bias, emotional bias) have not been taken into account in this essay. However, despite all possibilities of how eyewitness testimony can be distorted, we can conclude that eyewitness testimony is a crucial part of the legal system and can be viewed as
Police have four responsibilities. They include enforcing laws, providing services, preventing crimes and preserving the peace. As their role as crime fighters they seek those who violate the law. They provide services by helping those in need whether it’s finding lost children or performing emergency medical services and even directing traffic. They patrol the city looking for suspicious activity to prevent crimes from taking
This Article thoroughly investigates in great detail many methods that prosecutors should use in order to accurately analyze eyewitness testimonies. These methods will significantly enhance the ability of the criminal justice system and those within it to assess eyewitness accounts and the accuracy of the accounts that are given. These methods will help to reduce and hopefully eventually eliminate wrongful convictions throughout not only the US but throughout all of the world. One of these many methods goes as follows: First, you must come to a personal understanding about whether the law enforcement officers or officials at the scene conducted the eyewitness interviews
An officer must be able to express their thoughts, ideas, attitudes and feelings verbally and nonverbally in a positive manner to become trusted by the citizens. Communication is a two-way street so the officers who demonstrate that they can effectively communicate with the citizens and build their trust than the communication from the community is just has important.
Routine Incident Response, officers collect all relevant information and file a written report whenever they are called to an incident.