Abstract
The leader of the drug peddling gang in Mexico has been arrested, read the headlines worldwide. People marvel at such stories and happenings yet these are everyday occurrences in our society. Every particular day carries its own story of burglary, robberies and many other forms of violence to the society. Crimes in the society always take different shape and forms. With the advance in technology, many scenes of well organized gangs are awash in the media each particular day. Given that the society that we live in contains people of diverse characters and personalities, there is bound to be diverse perceptions and behavior. Many are the times that others would rub their colleagues or just friends the wrong way. Sometimes in the face of abject poverty and the need to make ends meet, others go to the great extent of taking what does not belong to them. Others are driven by the materials that they consume; acting under the influence of drugs. On the other hand, there is the natural urge to be at peace with one another. In the face of this diverse behavior, there need to be some general guidelines and principles of general public conduct for everybody in the society.
Introduction
The leader of the drug peddling group in Mexico has been arrested, read the headlines worldwide. The ring leaders of the massacre have been put behind bars. People marvel at such stories and happenings yet these are everyday occurrences in our society. Violence in the society has been pervasive ever since the old days in England and Europe as a whole. To deal with this problem, well organized regimes moved crime and punishment into the hands of members of the community who imposed fines as strategies of controlling these types of misconduct. Crimes in the society always take different shape and forms (Cavadino & Gibson, 2008). With the advance in technology, many scenes of well organized gangs are awash in the media each particular day. Given that the society that we live in contains people of diverse characters and personalities, there is bound to be diverse perceptions and behavior.
Sometimes in the face of abject poverty and the need to make ends meet, others go to the great extent of taking what does not belong to them. Others are driven by the materials that they consume; acting under the influence of drugs. Statistics show that crime to society resulting from drugs forms the highest percentage of all recorded cases in United States. On the other hand, there is the natural urge to be at peace with one another. In the face of this diverse behavior, there need to be some general guidelines and principles of general public conduct for everybody in the society. This guideline should be accompanied by penalties for those in society who would in any time violate the said principles. This is referred to as the rules of peaceful co existence. In circumstances where penalties are given out, there must be people who are involved in ensuring that everyone gets justice.
The guidelines became the set of rules and attracted penalties for non compliance. The punishment could take the form of execution, loss of liberty, government supervision or generally fines. These laws generally prohibited undesirable behavior in the society, thus for one to prove that an act of undesirable behavior has been committed, there needed to be proof of some act of crime. This is where investigation comes in; the act of investigation involves the police, judges and the correctional facilities, prisons, generally the criminal justice system (Cavadino & Gibson, 2008).
Criminal justice system involves practices and institutions of government that are set up and charged with the responsibilities and duties of upholding social order, preventing and mitigating crimes in the society. The criminal justice system is also charged with the moral responsibility of issuing out sanctions to violators of the law, giving out penalties and correctional services to the offenders.
Each of the criminal justice system has its own culture and an independent decision making organ, both in relation to the government and between the various departments. They charge their duties and responsibilities in the mix of personal judgment, job training, the so called carrier upbringing and the working culture of the system itself (Cavadino & Gibson, 2008). This is usually against the backdrop of the laid down work ethics, the codes of conduct, instructions and the standing orders of the profession.
The general structure and function of the Criminal justice system
Correction of undesirable behavior in the society, otherwise known as crime involves the following personnel or institutions; the law enforcement/police, the victim advocate, the prosecutor, the defense lawyer/attorney and the probation officer.
These are institutions/organizations that work like any other business organizations with structures. Some bureaucracies are involved; there must be chains of command in operation. The correctional facilities for example or just the police force must have a hierarchy of leadership, from the chief, captain, lieutenant, sergeant to the lowest rank within the administrative structure. These hierarchies of operations come with both authority and responsibilities. Just like the business organizations, there is always the input, the processes, the output and finally the feedback involved in the routine operations. The input is the setting and incorporation of a crime prevention unit; this is the actual process where the citizens contact the unit for advice on crime related incidents while the output involves providing spot checks and public lectures on the importance of crime prevention and involvement of the community in crime prevention. Feedback should involve targeting the hardcore criminals to reduce rates of crimes. The court system should initiate an arresting program followed by the screening of the pre-trial and post-trial of certain cases to offer other options, and then initiate a decrease in the number of people in jail by speeding up the court process.
The highest office bearer must show leadership and be able to influence the activities of those under him/her towards achieving the set goals and objectives. Leadership should be a relationship of influence to the subordinates (Cohen, p.289), not of control. He/she must be ready to influence people to strive willingly for group objectives and goals. He/she should seek to build and improve the superior-subordinate relations.
These organizations must device proper means of communication within the institution. The most used model of communication within the criminal justice system involves, downward communication that is all about job instruction, rationale, procedures and practices and giving the necessary feedback. For proper functioning of the organizations, the following approaches should be considered and possibly adopted;
Planning- should involve working out a broad plan on what is supposed to be done within the organization and how to do it, the methodologies to be used, how to accomplish the purpose and goals set for the organization.
Organizing-it must be organized properly through the formation of formal structures of authority; through which division of labor is realized, and defined for the set goals and objectives.
Staffing- this involves the whole process of recruiting and training of staff and the objective of maintaining a good working condition. Criminal justice system should be properly staffed to avoid backlog in cases and also overcrowding in the correctional facilities. Proper staffing is equally vital for thorough and detailed investigation of crime. When the criminal justice system is properly staffed, crime prevention becomes easier.
Directing- this involves the tasks of decision making, putting the directions/policies in general instructions and orders, and the general offering of leadership for the whole organization/institution. The senior officers within the system should give proper directions in terms of policy formulation within the organization, implementation of the same, and making follow ups to check the rate and level of compliance.
Coordinating-coordination involves the act of inter relating an organization so that it should work as a unit. The various departments should work as unit. In this way they will be in a position to meet the targets and goals that are set.
Reporting-this is informing the executive part of the organization as to what is going on, the areas that need improvement and where the officers need commendation. This can be achieved through research on such areas, through records of officers who are performing and need to be promoted and through continuous inspection and supervision to know the areas that need improvement.
Budgeting-availability of monetary resources is the single most secret and weaponry to the performance of any organization. Budgeting involves the act of fiscal planning, accounting and control of the available resources within an organization or an institution (Cronkhite, 2008)
Any officer charged with duty in the department of criminal justice must be of good character. Must be adaptable to situations, so much cooperative otherwise the goals may not be achieved. He/she should be able to influence others, be willing to assume responsibility and must be in possession of conceptualization skills. Investigative duties require a lot of this skill. The enforcement officers should be organized and socially skilled.
Any organization with structures normally has levels of management of human resources. In criminal justice, human resource management is vital to its performance. Proper human resource management brings about worker satisfaction in the organization (Peaks, 2009). The senior officers in the organization can motivate junior officers in the justice and correctional facilities by listening to them and addressing their needs. They must realize the importance of training and supervising the junior employees. This will provide them with the professional development opportunities that will improve the workplace atmosphere, providing the possible assistance for these officers to accomplish their jobs. The officers should feel appreciated so that they may have a sense of belonging. To achieve this, some form of reward system should be introduced.
Unfortunately, in some of these institutions, some senior officers believe that workers/officers are naturally lazy and must be pushed to work; must be threatened, given orders, coerced, or just constantly supervised (Cronkhite,2008). However, most senior officers should realize that certain factors affect each person’s behavior and development. Every person has a unique personality and has passed through certain environmental factors that have shaped his/her perception about life. This normally contributes to ones personality. The officers must be allowed to form unions that are supposed to champion for their rights.
These unions are meant to enhance collective bargaining for contract administration, negotiation and recognition (Harr & Hess, 2008). The criminal justice institutions should provide a trained lawyer who is well conversant with the legal need of the employees. He/she should be assigned to the department of human resource management. They should be allowed to freely join these trade unions without any prejudice. Freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right, should be upheld all the time.
Any misconduct from the employees of criminal justice or any form of mishandling of allegation of their misconduct normally leads to mistrust and lack of respect from the society. People tend to lose faith in the system and many are the times that offenders go unpunished since nobody is willing to share information with the system. When there is no public cooperation in this vital process, not much can be achieved. The seniors need to pay closer attention to signs of misconduct, give quick response and finally enact policies to the various supervisors on the necessary disciplinary measures to take. In the event of any investigative proceedings being initiated against any employee, necessary sanctions and disciplinary actions at all levels must be decided. Care must be taken when issuing such sanctions because of the potential impact on the morale of the employees in the criminal justice system. Some of the recommended policies and practices within the criminal justice system involve counseling the accused.
This is generally the conversation about the specific aspect of the employee’s performance or behavior. It can be oral or documented/ in form of questionnaires. But the documented counseling is meant to address minor behavioral issues. When an employee’s conduct becomes gross, for example serious violation of work ethics, a letter of reprimand may be issued to the employee. Sometimes the employee may be suspended, transferred or even be demoted (Harr & Hess, 2008). In very serious cases, the employee involved may be sacked/relieved of his/her duties. Generally all these measures are meant to instill positive behavior in the criminal justice system and to promote voluntary compliance with the laid down ethics. The procedures should not be used to settle personal scores as this may kill the morale of team work within the system. Criminal justice system is a vital state organ that should be careful and cautious in its handling of employees’ misconduct since any slight misbehavior and how it’s handled can result in public mistrust.
Goals of criminal justice
Many questions of the goals and the fundamental targets that a criminal justice system is to achieve cannot miss the debate. Criminal justice is the means that the society uses to enforce standards of behavior necessary to protect the society. The means may involve crime prevention, lectures to the public about the same, arrest of the offenders, investigation and other forms of correction (Reid, 2007). This cannot be achieved if the society takes back seat. The society must help the police force, the courts and the rehabilitation facilities.
The law enforcement officers/police
Law enforcement involves the police/sheriff. Their major duty is to protect the society by maintaining order. They are the first officers in the criminal justice system to report to a crime scene and the very first to have contacts with the victims. They offer the first help to victims of crime since the investigation that they will carry out will be of great importance during the criminal justice proceedings.
Over the years the institution has evolved tremendously. They started by primarily providing social order. This was a method of control to enforce laws, which emerged as the government’s response to the need to stabilize the society. Adam Smith wrote that as the importance of civil government grew up gradually with the accumulation of valuable property, the very causes which introduced subordination grew at the same rate that the property values grew. Naturally, where there is great property value, there is an equal measure of inequality. There are so many poor people compared to the rich and the dominance of these few rich people over the poor leads to some form of revenge and crime. These poor people, who are often driven by such things as want, sometimes envy and eventually invade their wealth. This is crime. He goes ahead to say that as long as there is no property to be protected; there cannot be any form of government, the very end of governance is to make the wealth of the rich secure.
Generally people have taken the police to be those who maintain the rule of law, have been trained and provided with special legal powers to maintain public order and to solve and prevent crimes. These special legal powers include the power to arrest, search, and seizure and do interrogation. These also include the right to exercise authority when necessary, including the use of lethal force whether on duty or not. The rule of law here is a measure of equality in the society in terms of being obedient. It states that its execution should be according to the guidelines and the very procedures of its adoption should be adhered to; its primary objective should be to safeguard the society and individuals’ privacy against intrusion either by the government or any other person. Whether one is an employee in the criminal justice system or not, the rule of law should be upheld at all the time. Every member of the society has the moral obligation of maintaining and observing the rule of law.
Like any other business organization, the police has well coordinated departments and sectors with spelt out boundaries in terms of roles, and generally functions as a complete unit. Their performance is always guided by procedural guidelines, norms, ethics and situational and contextual factors.
Urban uprisings and the breakdown of the existing law enforcement system have prompted a reconsideration of the traditional means and ways of justice delivery in the police sector. The traditional role of law enforcement has since been just some parts of their roles (Samaha, 2006). Policing has since been expanded to provide other services in different circumstances, but the most outstanding one has been preservation of law and order. Police forces are usually funded by the various governments that they serve. The officers’ conducts are controlled by the work ethics and the civil obligation to protect every citizen. (Cronkhite, 2008)
The victims advocate
After falling victim of crime, people are normally stressed, traumatized. They need some help in this condition. They need counseling and training. They need to make follow ups on the matter. In cases of injury, they need emergency services and probably court related services. This is where an advocate comes in; he becomes the victims’ mouth piece in the criminal justice system. Their goal is to help the victims cope with the trauma involved (Reid, 2007; Mathews, et al., 2008). Generally they serve as the link between the victims and law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and prison facilities. These programs to assist victims by offering an advocate/lawyer can be sponsored by organizations, governments or the community itself (Peaks, 2009). These programs are mostly centered on reducing crime by bringing more offenses to justice, and raising public confidence that the justice system is fair and will deliver to the law abiding members of the society. In cases where the victim is critically injured, he/she should get referrals and crisis and follow-up counseling. Services such as support and intervention should also be offered.
The prosecutor
This is an appointed or elected official charged with the duty of representing the government’s response to crime and his/her duties are paid by the government. He is the one in charge of the operations of the state in terms of response to crime and the subsequent procedures to be followed. He/she is also charged with the responsibilities of counter checking the validity of the evidence through verification of the investigative process; whether to charge the offender or not, keeping the offenders informed either by issuing notices on what the charge is all about, dates of the criminal proceedings(Cavadino & Gibson, 2008; Peaks, 2009). They are the ones in charge of criminal justice management as far as victims are concerned since they are the victims’ mouth piece. They are the only hope for the victims in the face of criminal justice proceedings.
The defense lawyer/attorney
Just as the name suggests, the main role includes representing the defendant in all the criminal proceedings. He/she advices the accused on the criminal justice proceedings and proposes the way forward for the accused. The accused has the right to accept the ruling or not, issue objections in areas that he/she feel unsatisfied and the right to appeal, it’s the duty of the defense lawyer to represent these interests.
During criminal proceedings, the accused must be accorded public hearing, should be present when evidence against him/her is tabled and be able to cross-examine the same. They should also be permitted to present their witnesses in relation to their side of the story. They must be represented by a lawyer provided to them by the government. The hearing during any criminal proceedings should be impartial and the decision made should be based on concrete evidence. If the accused is not in a position to hire the services of a lawyer, the state should provide him/her with a qualified lawyer to represent his/her interests.
The judge
These are the people responsible for justice in criminal proceedings. They confirm the causes for the offenders and give a ruling on the appropriate conditions of release if any (Harr & Hess, 2008). For any criminal proceedings to take place, the dates for court proceedings must be set by the judges since they are responsible for all the proceedings. He stands out like a referee in a soccer game and conducts the proceedings with lots of impartiality and in an open system. He listens to all the parties involved in any proceeding, assesses the credibility of the parties and then issues a ruling concerning the case following his/her interpretation of the law and his/her judgment. The institution of judges can be traced back to the biblical times, the book of Judges. It is assumed that judges should not have any form of interest in any criminal proceeding, whether the case is of national importance. They should remain impartial or play the role of a third party.
The probation officer
These are the people responsible for those who are guilty of a criminal charge. They conduct investigations into the history of the offender. This will assist in determining the appropriate sentence to be given to the offender (Samaha, 2006). After the sentences have been issued, the offenders may be locked in prison, which generally serve as detention centers after trial.
For better performance of this sector, they must issue guidelines that are meant to shorten the length of the sentences to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities. In the prisons, qualified inmates should be given different duties within the same facilities; giving the inmates community service duties as a form of punishment. This will result in less time devoted to the cases of the same offenders.
Recommendations
Generally, over the years, criminal justice system has always been based on the notion of natural justice, which is based on the fact that no one can be a judge in his/her capacity and the fact that to make a sound judgment, one should hear from both sides. The first part emphasizes the urge to be impartial and to avoid being biased. When criminal justice officer remains impartial in a proceeding, the public confidence is restored. Someone should not sit in a case that he/she has a personal interest or a close relative is involved. The judges must at all times adhere to the codes of conduct and the work ethics. Each party must be given full and proper chance to put his/her case forward with explanations in way that suits him/her best.
In cases of misconduct of any officer in the criminal justice and correction system, certain procedures must be followed. There must be a system of collecting these complaints. The nature of the complaints must be determined and referred if need be to the superior officers. He/she completes the investigation, recommends where necessary the kind of disciplinary to take.
The criminal justice system should consider making advancement in the information technology sector. This will reduce the rate of overcrowding in the jails. The incorporation of IT advances into the police departments, the court system, and the correctional operations would improve and revolutionize the system of criminal justice. In the emergence of technological advances, the system should employ the DNA database technology (Pattavina, 2005). This will help forensic scientist in their investigative duties. Technology will also support the court system, making defense more efficient end cost effective. This improves client access to lawyers and consequently improves the channel of communication between the departments.
The correction officials will find it necessary to take advantage of the technological advancement to reduce the cost of supervising criminal offenders by using techno-correction facilities. They can also use electronic monitoring device to locate persons under probation.
To have an integrated criminal justice system, there must be valuable application of networking technology. This will improve the quality of data that will be available to all users, thus saving time and money through the elimination of redundant data entry. This further facilitates timely access to information and also allow for timely sharing of information across the departments.
Advances in information technology if combined with the criminal justice system will increase the emphasis of crime prevention, problem solving and community credibility. The community policing can be enhanced for better performance through advance in information technology within the system. This will lead to the development of incident based reporting systems and further increase the techniques of communication. This will lead to an increase in the volume and complexity of the data collected. Proper and well researched data usually leads to better criminal justice proceedings.
The question of hiring private security officers remain a big topic for debate. Is it worth relying on the state paid officers or should policing be privatized? This should be a major concern to the policy makers in this field. Considering community policing, it should not be like an extension of social dominance into the lives of the population like it has been. More research should be carried out in this sector to help in the formulation of policies for day-to-day operations.
Reference List
Cavadino, P., & Gibson, B. (2008). The Criminal Justice System: An Introduction.3rd Ed. Chicago. Waterside Press.
Cronkhite, L.C. (2008). Criminal Justice Administration: Strategies for the 21st Century. Ontario, Canada. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Harr, S.J., & Hess, M. K. (2008). Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System, 4th Ed. Canada, Ottawa. Thomson Wadsworth,
Mathews, B.A., May, C.D., Minor, I. K., & Ruddell, R. (2008). Corrections and the Criminal Justice System. New York. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Pattavina, A.(2005). Information technology and the criminal justice system. London. Sage Publications Ltd.
Peaks, J.K. (2009). Justice Administration: Police, Courts and Corrections Management, 6th Ed. New York. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Reid, T.S. (2007). Criminal Justice, 8th Ed. Stanford, Connecticut. Chicago. Cengage Learning.
Samaha, J. (2006). Criminal Justice, 7th Ed. Ontario Canada. Thomson Wadsworth.