Criminal justice is a law enforcement body that aims at ensuring that there is social control and crime prevention within society. The body is tasked with punishing those who defy laws through criminal punishments and the rehabilitation process. The work of police officers and other personnel in criminal justice requires proof and accuracy in determining the cause and effects of a crime (Lippman, 2010). This calls for the incorporation of math skills in criminal justice.
Math knowledge, especially algebra, enables professionals in the criminal justice department to carry out their duties with the required accuracy. Traffic police use math skills in determining specific points of traffic accidents. Agents dealing with illegal drug syndicates use it in deriving the number of unwanted elements in drugs, and officers in the military department use algebraic skills in calculating shooting distances. In this light, this paper discusses the use of mathematics in criminal justice.
Like any other profession, the concepts of mathematics are highly related to criminal justice. Mathematics is considered one of the requirements for acquiring a criminal justice degree. Students in the field are required to have basic algebraic skills and also integrate statistic courses in their studies. Math skills help criminal officers to understand crime statistics, weights and measures, and criminal profiling.
Math and statistics are essential in improving the work of head cops and state officers. The information collected by cops from different areas enables the criminal justice managers to formulate and come up with reports that depict the rate of crime in various states. This is an important step in determining the areas that require much consideration as far as security is concerned. Mathematical and statistical knowledge enable researchers in criminal law to analyze the efficiency of several criminal justice systems, study crime rates, and elicit the tendency of criminal punishments. Organizations such as Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) depend on the information provided by Federal and State institutions to report the nature of crime in different states (Siegel, 2010).
Probability skills help police officers to construct mathematical profiles about criminals. This concept is important in the investigation because it can be used by CID offers to develop a profile of a suspected criminal. It is easy for investigators to determine the possible suspects using the reports from the crime scene. In most cases, chances are that the accused might have left behind some evidence that may help in investigations.
A better understanding of weight and measures is also essential in crime investigation. This is mainly applicable in aspects involving illegal elements. Since the penalty for drug ownership depends on the number of drugs possessed by the accused, drug enforcement agents need to have the necessary skills in measuring drug quantity to provide proof in criminal courts. Without mathematical skills, it would be difficult to charge drug suspects because of a lack of viable evidence.
Math knowledge is normally required in the area of criminal investigations such as traffic accidents and criminal operations. Dealing with traffic accidents depends on the appropriate skills in measuring angles and determining speeds and area covered, together with the exact point of impact. Investigating killings requires the cops to determine the time and the area of crime, considering features such as weather conditions and victim’s temperature.
Crimes where guns are involved call for the ability of investigators to elicit path and distance. This is also another way of determining and presenting evidence. In some cases, police rely on reports from witnesses of a crime. Such evidence cannot be entirely considered as genuine and therefore investigation is the first step in any criminal justice process (Lippman, 2010). This can only be confirmed through the mentioned mathematical skills.
The relationship between math and criminal justice calls for basic knowledge in mathematics. This is normally regarded as good algebraic skills. Algebra assists police officers to study crime operations and relations between suspects and the crimes. Such skills are essential in reconstructing any crime scene. A police officer with proper algebra skills can be able to visualize the crime by calculating distances covered by vehicles involved in the accident, the specific point of impact, and the time of the accident (Hall, 2010).
In addition, investigators dealing with domestic violence use algebra to determine the force used by the criminal to inflict pain on the victim. For instance, if the crime happened in a room and objects around the house seem to be moved, the investigators can calculate distances covered by the objects, and even analyze objects suspected to be used by the offender.
The field of forensic science relies on algebraic skills derived from criminal investigators. Forensic investigations are highly appreciated in criminal justice programs because the process elicits many truths which cannot be determined through other processes of investigations such as eye evidence. Although biology and chemistry knowledge is expected from forensic scientists, there is need for algebraic skills.
Algebra is used by forensic investigators to analyze forensic evidence such as blood spill patterns to determine the direction and intensity of offense. This type of analysis enables criminal justice officers to determine the objects used in the crime scene; particularly those involving blood or homicide. Moreover, the time and intention of the criminal can be determined through forensic investigations (Siegel, 2010). DNA evidence calls for skills in Algebra to analyze genes related to the suspect. Investigators are required to know about analyzing sets of numbers that can lead to the required evidence.
As a foundational skill, algebra is used by criminal justice scholars to carry out research and present answers to basic investigative questions. Algebra and statistics are essential in determining the performance of police officers in their respective lines of duty. Having computer-controlled programs such as Spreadsheet software and Decision Support Systems (DSS) enable the criminal justice system to actively store data related to criminal justice personnel and therefore come up with short and long-term plans for preventing crime. Such tools require analytical skills in order to make reports and analysis of criminal procedures (Lippman, 2010).
In the current world, computers and mathematics are highly related since computers were developed to solve mathematical problems. It is therefore essential for criminal justice personnel who are tasked with data processing to have good skills in mathematics.
In conclusion, mathematics is important in any occupation, including the criminal justice profession. Police officers, investigators, forensic scientists, and criminal lawyers rely on their mathematical skills to solve various difficult crime cases. This paper has discussed the importance of mathematics in the field of criminal justice. The various areas in which mathematics is essential are crime scene reconstruction, crime statistics, criminal profiling, weights and measures, and forensic science. Therefore, criminal justice professionals need to acquire basic mathematical skills to establish a good carrier in crime prevention.
References
Hall, S. (2010). “How Is Algebra used in Criminal Justice?.” eHow. Web.
Lippman, M.R. (2010). Contemporary Criminal Law Interactive E-Book: Concepts, Cases, And Controversies. USA: Sage Publications.
Siegel, L.J. (2010). Introduction to Criminal Justice. (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wordsworth Cengage Learning.