Criminal justice system is a set of social laws that are regulated by the government in order to establish law and order within the administrative limits. It is the combination of all the administrative, operational, and technical divisions that are part of the law enforcement agencies (Gaines & Miller, 2010). The study of criminal justice is a broad topic, and is also concerned with the rehabilitation of criminals. This essay will describe the key elements of law enforcement agencies, the key elements of its correctional system, and it also defines the key players and processes of the judicial system. Lastly, the essay shows how these factors work together to provide security to the people.
Law enforcement agencies could be divided into three levels 1) the local or county level, 2) state level, and 3) the federal level of law enforcement agency. The local level agencies are at the center of the whole system. They have all major responsibilities of maintaining the peace, by resolving everyday conflicts between the citizens and maintaining peace. State police is responsible for highway patrol and for the protection of the environment. The federal level is responsible for homeland security. Federal agencies usually consist of state intelligence, and they are responsible for issues like violent crimes, drugs, human trafficking and so on (Gaines & Miller, 2010).
The correction is referred to that criminal justice system which is related to the correctional institutions. The essential elements of the correctional system are
- probation,
- Jail,
- Prison, and
- Parole.
Probation is the testing period of the offenders in which they are released but they have to obey certain rules which are set according to law. Jail is a local correctional facility that holds those prisoners that are under trail. Prison is correctional facility that holds the convicted criminals for the period of confinement ordered by the court, usually more than one year. Parole is community supervision after incarceration (Gaines & Miller, 2010).
There are four key players in judicial system. The defendant, the person accused of committing the crime, the Prosecutor who conducts the criminal prosecution on behalf of the state, the defense attorney who defends the defendant in the court, and the judge who presides over the case. The criminal justice processes consist of all the steps that are involved from the filling of the complaint through the final decision against the offender. These key processes are arrest, bail, trail, sentencing, appeal, and the punishment (Gaines & Miller, 2010).
All of the above mentioned processes are supervised by law. The state’s constitutional assemblies make laws in the best interests of the people of the state. The law enforcement agencies have the responsibility to maintain these laws, so that peace is not violated. If the peace is violated, the criminal justice system has the responsibility to safeguard the security of the citizens. The responsibility of the law enforcement agencies is to bring the suspect before the court and provide the evidence supporting charge against the accused. Now judicial system has to decide whether the accusations against the defendants are fair and just or they are false. The judicial system has the power to give the final decision about the defendants. They could decide the punishments according to the crimes committed. In this way the security of the citizens are ensured.
References
Gaines, L. K., & Miller, R. L. (2010). Criminal Justice in Action. New York: Cengage Learning.