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Everest University Senior Capstone Experience Beverly Turner Instructor: Mark McMillan Team B week 1 1 Introduction In Criminal Justice System there are few components. Every component plays an important role in our system functions. The Law Enforcement responds to crime which is reported and takes necessary measures to investigate and make an arrest if the suspect is found. When the suspect is booked, the court will get involved, a prosecutor will review facts of the case and charge the suspect, the defendant will go in front of a Judge, it will either be settle for a plea bargain or taken for a chance of a trail.
After that defendant will either enter into a Jail or prison to serve their time or be placed on probation or alternative to incarcerating. Once being sentenced defendants can share issues, some can be ethical concern regarding how our Judicial system is functioning. Ethical concerns come within the judicial system which can be range from discretion, use of force, corruption and police misconduct. These concerns are definitely affecting our Judicial system and how it can impact the system as the whole from convicted to the outsider who can lose respect and faith on our government.
Some of the areas have increasing women and crime. Through the years the number has been rising when it comes to women being incarcerated as the length of Criminal Justice System: An Overview By overeagerly which are giving lengthy prison terms, even life imprisonment. Young ladies are going front of the Judge as a minor offenses for drugs and theft. A. Overview of the Criminal Justice System Name, define and discuss the roles of the three main components of the criminal justice system. Choose the component you think is the most effective and discuss why.
Then, choose the component you feel is the least effective and needs to be changed. Discuss the specific changes you would make to the chosen component and why these changes would make it more effective if implemented. The criminal justice system component law enforcement I will be discussing on is the law enforcement which the officers take reports for crimes that happen in their area. Also officers investigate crimes and gather and protect evidence. They also officer may arrest offenders, give testimony during the court, and conduct follow-up investigation if needed.
The second components I will be speaking about are correction which officers supervise convicted offenders when they are in Jail, in prison, or in immunity on probation or parole. Few communities, corrections officers prepare pre-sentencing reports with extensive background information about the offender to help Judges on making sentences. Job of corrections officers is to make sure the facilities that hold offenders are secure and safe. They oversee the day-to day custody of inmates. Oversee the release process for inmates and sometimes notify victims of changes in the offender’s status.
Preventing and controlling conduct and behavior which can be threatening to life and property, helping those in danger of hysterical harm and creating and maintaining a feeling of security in communities. Under the United States Supreme Court Weeks v. United States the Fourth Amendment, Federal courts and officers are limitations and restraints in the exercise of their power and authority to secure the individual, their persons, houses, papers and effects against all unreasonable searches and seizures under the guise of law.
Police effectiveness, is the fear of crime and punitive attitudes are important aspect of public attitudes toward crime and Justice in the United States. Police strategies fleet departmental values that reflect community values. Police may influence decisions to report crime. Fear of crime and punitive attitudes can influence policy making and law making by government agencies, as public support or opposition may determine policy. The police effectiveness is confidence in police for the ability to protect, solve and prevent crime.
Correction system is the most tightly organized component of the state’s criminal Justice system. Most criminal offenses involving substantial incarceration are classified as state crimes that are punishable by serving mime in state Jails and prisons. Preventing first contact with the Justice system requires us to focus on developmental issues and risk and protective factors, and orient approaches toward positive youth development. Prevent recidivism, develop and enhance strategies that provide education and vocational training to inmates and former inmates.
Improve strategies address the underlying illnesses that plague effective because sometime witness forget what happen or people get scared to speak on crimes. I think they should always put witness in custody and also watch them and make sure they are okay at all times. I think testimony should sometime be exclusive from everyone. I think the most effectives component is corrections because they are watching over them 2417. B. Nature and Purpose of Criminal Law The nature of criminal law crime is conduct that, to have taken place, will result in a format and solemn pronouncement of moral condemnation by the community.
The purpose criminal law prohibits conduct that causes or threatens the public interest; defines and warns people of the acts that are subject to criminal punishment; distinguishes between serious and minor offenses and imposes punishment to rotten society and to satisfy the demands for retribution, rehabilitation, and deterrence. The nature and purpose for promulgating criminal laws is for the keeping and maintenance of peace and order. Professor Henry M. Hart Jar. Defines crime as “conduct which, if shown to have taken place” will result in the formal and sole man pronouncement of the moral condemnation of the community. Basically crime is formal condemnation which Judge and Jury representing the individual in a court of law. Different crime from acts numerous people would find objectionable that typically are not subject to state prosecution and official punishment. The main purpose criminal law is to help maintain social order and stability. Texas criminal code proclaims the purpose of criminal law to “establish a system of prohibitions, penalties, and correctional measures to deal with conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably causes or threatens harm to people or public interest for state protection is appropriate. The Supreme Court explained that “commonality requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that the class members have suffered the same injury’ not “merely that they have all suffered a violation of the same provision of law. C. Managing and Reducing Risk of Community Corrections Community correction is an alternative to incarceration. By moving the function of corrections back into the community, how can we, both as members of society and members of the criminal Justice system, manage and reduce the risk to the community?
Community corrections are alternative option to incarceration, the person is still serving their punishment, gives them an option to do so but not behind bars in a prison or Jail. Community correction alleviates prison overcrowding, give individuals the opportunity to rehabilitate. There are more resources programs available than Managing community correction from a criminal Justice is requires the staff supervise the offenders, investigate possible rule infractions, and take actions to address serious or repeated rule violation (Boom Haley 2007).
Community should get involve to help guide them down the right path, more proactive in helping rehabilitate, rather than being Judgmental and assuming a criminal always a criminal. Employers will not hire criminals which are against their policy, they still have someone working form them have never had a case on them in comparison to one who has. In the State of Florida, within five years the prison rate rose 19. 8, from 81,974 to 98,192, if this keeps up by 2012 we will be looking at around 125,000 inmates.
This will require them to house them all in at least 19 facilities which will cost approximately $2. 12 billion dollars to build and $613 million to operate them annually, all because of the recidivism rates. That is extremely way too much money when we are under a recession (wry. Dc. State. FL. Us). Community correction programs not successful, the offenders are being released and become repeat offenders and finding their way back in prison. Not everyone who is given this opportunity to be in a community correction program takes advantage of the privilege.
Some do the opposite and get themselves back into trouble and try to work the system, for that they have people watching over them and they might not catch them in the act right away, but eventually they will be caught and sent back to prison, this time for longer, because violating your program is another charge as well. As for those who appreciate the opportunity they can start off new, make something positive out of their experience and situation, become more active in your community and spread wariness to troubled teens, so that they won’t commit the same mistakes you did.
As a team, assess the impact of incarceration on victims, society, and the criminal justice system. Please include a thorough analysis of both the positive and negative impacts. Impact on incarceration for victims has both positive and negative impacts. The positive impacts for victims in relation to incarceration is victims may have a sense of hope and feel that some type of Justice have been served in response to the crime they have experienced. Also, they may feel a sense of relief and less of fear hat the criminal perpetrator is behind bars where they cannot hurt anyone else, the victim, or the victim’s family.
There is also the negative side which is victims may feel the criminal did not get enough time served, the fear they will get out and what they will do when they get out. Also, there has been a slow response to get victims more involved in the criminal Justice process. “Despite the victim movement’s monumental strides, in many state and local Jurisdictions, victims still retain no rights to be present, informed and heard, to have a voice in the sentencing process, or be informed, present and heard during the paroling process”(Office for Victims of Crime).
The impact of incarceration on society and the criminal Justice system is extensive. The cost of incarceration in the U. S. Is expensive. Also, when criminals go back into communities they may commit crimes again because they do not know how to cope with having freedom again. Children and families of individuals who are incarcerated face poverty from lack of support, emotional and psychological issues of having a loved one in prison and face ridicule and prejudices from others.
Children suffer cause they lack one parent, may never know that parent, are being raised by the state and face several other issues such as following in the path of a parent in Jail. One positive would be society feeling safe and secure knowing there are places people can be put away for doing bad things. Another negative impact would be that victims have to live with all which happened to them for the rest of their lives even when they receive treatment to help them get over the trauma that have endured.
Society feels the impact because we get lots of tax money taken from us for these causes. Positive impact that victims can get help them move forward from there trauma, the society is able to pay to help fund all these programs and criminal Justice system can help house all these people that are not making our community safe. Incarceration affects directly inmates’ families, therefore society is affected. When a mother or a father is incarnated not only him or her are punished, children are also affected.
The lack of support, guidance, protection and love in some cases make that these children decide to have the same kind of life than their parents, or they have to e put in foster homes. (Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children, 2002). There are people who think that prisons are not as good as it is believed. Under a social point of view, they think incarceration Just make criminals more professionals and provokes on them to re-offend when they are released. There are other people who think that prisons are inhumane (Prisons are good for society, 2004). Represents a system of institutionalized vengeance.
For victims it may sound a way of retribution, and vengeance; they often seek the most severe possible punishment for heir offenders, this will bring them Justice, but at the end it may leave them a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. For society prisons are useful to keep criminals who are dangerous and violent out of the streets, unfortunately inmates often return to the community even more antisocial than before they were incarcerated (Personalizing Crime). Based on my research there about 1. 4 Million adult offenders that are locked away in Jails and prisons.
Of those 1. 4 million adults there are 93% that are males and 89% being held within a state or federal prison whom is parents of minor children. Over half of the males are said to have minor children. The women who are incarcerated in prison 65% have reported to have minor children. The negative impact that this can have on a child is that they can go and follow their parent’s footsteps. Another negative impact can be that the child might feel abandoned by their incarcerated parent which can also cause a lash out that can land them in the same pathway as their parent.
Depending upon the crime, incarceration will not be enough to give the victims the Justice that they will want. A positive impact would be that the offender would be able to get the help that hey need. For example, they can get a High School diploma or continue their education. They can also have the opportunity to pay their dues to society. There is also probation and community control programs in order to rehabilitate an inmate along with reintroducing them back into society. E.
Role Dilemma of Police in Police-community Relations Describe the “role dilemma” of the police in police-community relations. As you explain what is meant by the police role dilemma, give a specific example of how it affects police-community relations. According to INCURS “the police role and reforestations, and police discretion. That’s when psychological aspects of police community relations do include officer’s self-image, the publics image of the police, perception, behavior, attitude, beliefs and values.
Sociological is the impact police community relations do include social processes, population trends, and the urban environment. The effect of the police minority relations are complaints against the police, police dealing with Juveniles, women, domestic violence, victims and etc. There have been some issues concerning excessive overtime, sick leave and shift swapping. Feb.. 2011, commander of a drug task force and private investigator were arrested by federal agents on allegations that they conspired to sell drugs (Slogan &Fraley, 2011).
Officer in Seattle Police Department resigned after learning his department intended to terminate his employment after a controversial police shooting which was partially captured on the officer’s dash cam (McIntyre & Plinking, 2011). Dallas police officer was fired after a video surfaced which showed him kicking a handcuffed prisoner in the face (Mitchell, 2011). The state of Baltimore, 10 officers teetering motorists to a tow yard which was not licensed to business with the city (Fenton & Calvert,2011). These situation produce an ethical dilemma which all ranks of the respective department.
Ethical dilemma is a situation which the officer did not know what the right course of action was, or a course of action the officer considered right was difficult to do or the wrong course of action was very tempting. F. Responding to Victimizing Discuss the nature of victim participation in the criminal Justice process. Provide your assessment on the adequacy of this participation. The transition from citizen and victim participation to public responsibility for criminal Justice has been a gradual one.
Began with the search for a substitute for the medieval blood feud. Restitution and fines payable to the victim were replaced by remedies administered by the state. Even the change in the nature of fines, incarceration has become the dominant form of criminal sanction. Act of violence or theft is mainly an offense against the government and public order, than a private wrong. Charged professional officers are better at controlling crime and seeing that justice is done, private citizens should leave the operation of the system to professionals.
Victim is useful to the system mainly an information source and witness, his interests are not important to the operation of the system. The important belief that crime victims have the right to be made whole for their losses has suffered greatly from the operation of our modern criminal Justice system. Victims choose not to cooperate with the criminal Justice system, in failing to report a crime, assist police in their investigation, or assist in the prosecution as a witness, the success rate of the overspent in apprehending, convicting, punishing persons committing crimes becomes negligible.
Victim involvement in the criminal Justice system and enhancement of the victim’s rights has been largely a matter of legislative popular political interest. Existing victim remedies of restitution, civil recovery, crime victim compensating must be made legally and administratively practical for the typical crime victim, not for the exceptional or egregious situation. In Crime and Punishment (1996) the British Government expressed the view that the Scottish criminal Justice yester should take account of the effects of crimes on victims.
The Scottish Office therefore commissioned this literature review in order to shed light on the ways in which information and views from victims are taken into account in other jurisdictions and to examine the underlying purposes of such developments. United States, the ways for victim to participate in the criminal Justice process is through a victim impact statement. Impact statement is written or oral information about the impact of the crime on the victim and the victim’s family, according to The National Center for Victims of Crime.
Victim impact statements which allow the court to defer attention away from the process side of the proceedings to human side of the crime by focusing the harm done to the victim well as their families. In every state union allows the use of these written documents, most states allow the victim to be heard orally as well, according to The National Center for Victims of Crime. Federal level, victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes shave had the ability to address the Act of 1994. G.
Women and Crime Building upon all that you have learned throughout your studies in criminal Justice, ND keeping in mind the theories you have studied concerning female involvement in crime, predict critical issues facing one of the following areas of the criminal Justice system: law enforcement, the courts, corrections, or social services Well the critical issues which are facing women in crime of correction are more women are committing crimes because of physical abuse as well as substance abuse this due lead to increase problems in corrections when you are trying to treat and deal with women which have a mental issues that due to related abuse they have suffered from it. Since we have a lot of women going to Jail that’s when we need female officers to prevent problems of male officers and women prisoner which are sexual assault and sexual harassment and relationships. H. Legal Ethics Are lawyers in the criminal Justice system considered “pure legal advocates” or “moral agents” -or both? Why? Why would lawyers in the criminal Justice system, specifically prosecutors, “misbehave”?
People sometime ask can good lawyer in adversary system can be a good person. Being good will appears being truthful. Lawyer is that role of a lawyer is restricted to the client’s legal advocate, which a good rawer is conceived as simply an effective legal advocate. Personal moral convictions of a lawyer are irrelevant his function and should not serve as reasons for zealous representation of clients time, money, reputation, he may make on their behalf. Pure legal advocate concept support liberality, for the pure legal advocate, her unconcern with the moral character of her clients and purpose which they hire, gets into the habit of taking money from dishonorable individuals.
Person may be said to treat other Justly when, distributing some good or service among them, observes the Renville of treating relevantly likely case in similar fashion and she may be said to appear require being truthful. I personally think lawyer in criminal Justice system is a moral agent. Moral agent is capable of making ethical decisions and exactly putting them into play. I think prosecutors misbehave because they treat to get the right verdict. Also the lawyers have to stay professional. L. Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice System Prepare a section of your Capstone Portfolio by identifying common ethical issues in two of the following areas within the criminal Justice system: law enforcement, the routs, corrections, and social services.
Once you have identified one or two issues for two of the areas, provide some suggestions on how they may be overcome. February of 2011, commander of a drug task force and private investigator were arrested by federal agents on allegations they conspired to sell drugs (Slogan& Farley, 2011). An officer in the Seattle Police Department resigned after learning that his department intended to terminate his employment after a controversial police shooting that was partially captured on the officer’s dash-cam (Enhancement&Pulkkinen, 2011). A Dallas police officer was fired after a video surfaced hat showed him kicking a handcuffed prisoner in the face (Mitchell, 2011).
In Baltimore, 10 officers were arrested on corruption charges when they were found to have taken kickbacks for steering motorists to a tow yard that was not licensed to do business with the city (Fenton& Calvert, 2011). In Quebec, Canada two patrol officers were caught sleeping on the Job by a citizen armed with a cell phone camera (Arsenal, 2011). Promotional exams are based upon race than upon merit the United States Supreme Court determined the cases of the New Haven, Connecticut Fire Department’s 2003 promotional exam. Ethical problem in correction is sexual misconduct committed by male correctional officers on female prisoners. The problem had reached epidemic proportions throughout the nation.
First report conduct by the General Accounting Office or (GAO) in 1999 investigated four largest correctional Jurisdictions which is Federal Bureau of Prisons, Texas, California and the District of Columbia. Report investigated an Ohio Reformatory for Women with wide- spread allegations of sexual abuse on female inmates by correctional officers and other employees. Allegations were made by a former employee who worked as a prison therapist. Investigation did result in thirty-three staff members in the state prison system being terminated for engaging in inappropriate sexual activity with prisoners. Several of the courses within your degree program have provided you with information on criminal investigations.
These courses have ranged from a basic overview of the purpose of criminal investigations to detailed instructions regarding how a criminal investigation is conducted. Think back to the time before you began this program. Most likely, much of your perspective on criminal investigations was obtained from TV shows, news reports, or contact with various law enforcement entities. Recent criminal Justice knew what I seen on TV and what experienced personally with the Judicial system. I think investigators had many cases at one time, did not care too much for victim’s family. I know I feel like this because every time we tried to contact our lead investigator on my fiance??e he was too busy. The case is still going on.
We don’t receive any calls telling me the follow up case, it feels like a cold case and no effort is being made on new leads. Taking many classes in criminal justice field Vive learned the details of how investigation starts and the process until en is convicted. Pursuing my degree in Criminal Justice I learned why things don’t go as fast as we expect it to go mainly because everything must be obtained legally and under certain procedures if not it can Jeopardize the case if and when it goes into a court room and on trial. Once he dies we couldn’t believe anyone would do this to him. His brother gave the police details on when he was getting phone calls from one of the guys he left with. We can’t understand why they don’t have a person of interest and not a suspect.
There is so much that goes on behind the scenes than they show n television and in the news. We as the outsider we can only see the things they are not doing, how long it takes yet we don’t understand the reasoning behind it all because we are not in the field nor we have the knowledge. Criminal Investigations is a tough field to be in, not only do you deal with having to investigate murders; you also deal with having to be the ones to make death notifications. It’s a field that can take a toll on you emotionally if you don’t know how to separate those emotions, because every case and scene will be different, some may be more horrifying than others.