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The criminal justice system was created to protect an individual’s rights and protect the society from people that are dangerous. In the last decade alone, the federal, state and local governments in the United States spent close to $200 billion to create a safe and strong Justice System.(AmericanCJSystem) The money was distributed to the parts that make up the Justice System: the police, the courts and the corrections. These components were to work together and address situations fairly. However, we hear more on the news about police officers abusing their power and making decisions that end up putting them in jail. How are we suppose to feel safe if the people supposedly “protecting us” are behind bars for committing crimes themselves? A …show more content…
law enforcement. There have been too many incidents where cops took advantage of their power. Police brutality is creating a distrust between the people and the system that is suppose to protect them. The practice of racial profiling has also become so common that police assume that just because someone is a certain race means they are committing a crime. There is mass racism and discrimination of African American males in the justice system. According to Shelden (2008, pg.128), An African American child has one in three chance of ending up in prison. After watching Prison State, I learned about how different people are treated. Living in Edgemont there I have never witnessed how corrupt the system really is. One of the girls in from the documentary was put in jail because she skipped school. I also learned that almost everyone from that town was put at jail more than once, and sometimes for no reason at all. Many argue that racial profiling is “self-fulfilling prophecy” and they have statistics that display a concentration of people of a certain race committing crimes. I believe that there are some people that do something bad and then end up getting so much attention for it that they ruin the reputation of others. There are police officers that are killing people and ruining the reputation of cops that actually do the right thing. There are terrorist that do terrible things and give people the impression …show more content…
There are two types of facilities: detention facilities and correctional facilities. Detention facilities are used as temporary holding facilities for those that are either waiting to be transferred or for their trial. Correction facilities are composed of jails and state/federal prisons. Jail is where people who commit misdemeanors and in jail for less than a year will attend. On the other hand, prison is where people who commit felonies go and usually for at least a year. There is currently over two million people in prison/jails. The United States has more people in jail than anywhere else in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics,2004: “By 2004 the U.S. had 1,410,000 prisoners incarcerated in over 1,500 state and federal prisons. In addition, over 714,000 were in local jails, over 100,000 children were in custody, and an estimated 5 million were on probation or parole.”Many people are blind to the colossal amount of people being put away. This large amount of people in prisons has led to overcrowding. There are three large contributors to the increasing population in prisons: stricter drug laws, DUI laws, and the closing of mental institutions. According to AmericanCJStystem, “Construction costs are growing to $50,000 and more per cell and the cost of confinement reaching $20,000-$30,000 per year per inmate, there were finite
This purpose of this paper is to interview a former Sergeant (Sgt) in the New Jersey police department, James Garber, to determine his thoughts on the current state of the criminal justice system. During this interview, Sgt Garber was asked several questions regard the current state of the criminal justice system; specifically, in what ways is the system working, in what ways is the system failing, and what direction he sees the justice system going. As part of this, he explains why he feels this way about the justice system, to include specific examples to support his belief. In addition to Sgt Garber’s opinion on these matters, this analysis includes real world examples that support the problems he identifies. Lastly, this paper
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
The following are various styles of policing: the watchman style, the legalistic style, and the service style policing. I don’t think any one of the three styles are more popular than the other. I think that all three styles are enforced and effective in their own way. For example in
In the fifth chapter of Walker’s book, he discusses the idea that we can reduce crime rates if we “unleash” cops and give them more capabilities, deter future crimes through more severe punishments, and that we should lock up more criminals and for longer terms. The author of 14 books on issues of crime, policing, and policies surrounding those issues, Walker holds the title of Emeritus Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he taught for many years, even though he has not taught there since 2005. Before this, in 1973, he acquired a Ph.D. in American History at Ohio State University which is his highest degree to date. Walker has written and done research on numerous subjects involving the criminal justice system and because of this has keen insight into the world of law and policing.
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
Schmalleger, F. (2013). Policing: History and Structure. Criminal Justice Today An Introduction Text For the 21st Century (12th ed., ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Both of these articles were focused on the Strategy of Policing, but the author’s approaches to the ‘hot topics,’ couldn’t be more difficult. Williams and Murphy focused on the different eras of policing, and how the racial conflicts have overlapped policing efforts. Whereas, Kelling and Moore focused on how police have evolved with the eras. The articles were dramatically different, however, the policing eras: Political, Reform, and Community Orientated eras were influenced largely as the main focuses for each academic article.
Mass incarceration has caused the prison’s populations to increase dramatically. The reason for this increase in population is because of the sentencing policies that put a lot of men and women in prison for an unjust amount of time. The prison population has be caused by periods of high crime rates, by the medias assembly line approach to the production of news stories that bend the truth of the crimes, and by political figures preying on citizens fear. For example, this fear can be seen in “Richard Nixon’s famous campaign call for “law and order” spoke to those fears, hostilities, and racist underpinnings” (Mauer pg. 52). This causes law enforcement to focus on crimes that involve violent crimes/offenders. Such as, gang members, drive by shootings, drug dealers, and serial killers. Instead of our law agencies focusing their attention on the fundamental causes of crime. Such as, why these crimes are committed, the family, and preventive services. These agencies choose to fight crime by establishing a “War On Drugs” and with “Get Tough” sentencing policies. These policies include “three strikes laws, mandatory minimum sentences, and juvenile waives laws which allows kids to be trialed as adults.
Crime is a part of society encompases the news and the public. A variety of studies of media content have estimated that as much as 25 percent of the daily news is devoted to crime (Surette 1992) and that crime is the largest major category of stories in the print and electronic media (Chermak 1994, 103). (Lawrence 18). With crime at an all time high, police are constantly having to deal with more and more issues. This can lead to stressed out and fed up officers, which can lead to poor decisions by an officer. The use of force by police is a highly controversial topic as it raises questions about a government’s ability to use force against its citizens (Lawrence 19). Today’s society is caught up on the ideals of civility and equality before the law, making police use of force a touchy
The Political Era of policing occurred in the early 1800’s and lasted until the 1930’s, and was under the direct influence of the local government and politicians. There were benefits of political influence; police departments began to develop intimate relationships within their communities offering a wide array of services to citizens. For example, the police worked soup kitchens and provided temporary housing for immigrants searching for work (Peak, 2015). In addition to providing an array of services to the community, officers were integrated into neighborhoods, which helped to prevent and contain riots. Typically, officers were assigned to neighborhoods where they lived or had the same ethnic background. Police departments
The criminal justice system is always criticized for a range of issues concerning the injustices that has taken place throughout history and even today. Many political leaders and social activists have sought to reform the criminal justice system; however, some have realized that there are systematic barriers that inhibit reformation. Political ...
The United States has been known world-wide for entertainment surrounding the police, judiciary, and incarceration systems. These shows and movies are filled with violence - and at the end, the “bad guys” (criminals) always lose to the “good guys” (law enforcement). But this poses the question: should criminals be treated badly due to their offenses? It is common sense that when one breaks the law, they should be punished for it. However, do the crimes committed take away the humanity of the convict? Prisoners are still citizens of the United States and therefore have rights. America’s Incarceration System continues to fail to meet the needs and rights of prisoners due to issues such as overcrowding, lack of health care, discrimination, and sexual assault.
Time may pass and personal morals may change, but one of the strengths of the United States of America is its unwavering dedication to justice. Throughout time, this country’s methods and laws have grown and adapted, but the basis of the law enforcement’s work has remained the same: the safety and interest of the people.
Reiss, A, Jr. (1984). Consequences of Compliance and Deterrence Models of Law Enforcement for the Exercise of Police Discretion. Law and Contemporary Problems, 47(4), 83-122.
Law enforcement agencies serve the community in the form of enforcing the laws written by the legislature. They protect the people, prevent crime, and protect civil rights and liberties. The laws written by the legislature are ever changing and adapting to the world we live in. The law enforcement agencies carry out these laws with enforcement and judicial side handles those individuals that have broken these laws. Law enforcement agencies have multiple functions and sizes depending on geographical size and the population of the city/ county. The roles in a county agency may differ from a city or municipal agency. Counties have to cover larger geographical areas as compared to the municipal or city agency that is only responsible for the incorporated areas. The agency with greater availability to financial support is the agency that has the means to devise a team to focus on certain crime areas. All departments regardless of size must have someone at the top of the rank structure. A police department operates much like the military in which structure and chain of command is implemented. Quasi-military is a term used to describe the rank structure of today’s police departments (Grant and Terry 2012). From the bottom to the top of the r...