It promotes not only a healthy criminal justice system but also a healthy society, where political leaders cannot abuse criminal justice system to silence their opponents. However the use of juries in the criminal justice system may have many problems. Firstly most jurors have little or no training in matters of law. The only legal requirement for a juror is that he knows the facts involved in case being tried. The judge guides the juries in determining the facts they can admit into evidence and the ones they must exclude.
People who enjoy violence should not work in law enforcement. In that regard, many departments conduct psychological screening tests to weed out potentially dangerous personalities. Self-restraint an officer must be firm but fair. Even when a suspect insults or abuses you, losing your cool or holding a grudge interferes with your ability to enforce the law. A few
Running Head: Police Discretion Position Paper Police Discretion Position Paper John Doe CJA 333 June 11, 2011 Instructor’s Name Here An important aspect of policing is the use of discretion. Discretion is decision making when dealing with situations that has no clear rule of action. Criminal laws do not specify every circumstance. However, law enforcement train to use the right discretion for situations they may encounter. Problems could come up when officers are on the work scene, and encounter specific situations where they lack proper training.
One can see the importance of civil service to the American policing system because the need for a check and balances system, which does not give one person or group complete control to make decisions. In comparison, the police are not left totally in the dark with no say in the hiring or promoting of officers. The police are usually the ones advising the civil service of the need for the position, relaying information on the job description, job requirement, and the required testing for the position (U.S. Department of State, 2012). The police help with the hiring or promoting process by dispensing some of the testing and handling some of the recruiting as well. Often, throughout the hiring or promoting process the civil service will keep in close
Police officers differ from civilians and neighborhood watch members in many ways, though notably in the areas of equipment carried and training. This additional equipment and training give police officers more authority and responsibilities than civilians. Since the police handle community safety as a part of their jobs, civilians should defer to them in all areas of community policing. Civilians and members of the neighborhood watch or volunteer policing agencies may not have the equipment or training that police officers have, but they can still assist law enforcement officials in many ways. The most powerful thing an individual can do to help prevent crime is to be aware of their surroundings and to know what to do in certain situations.
Police Brutality: The Use of Excessive Force Angelice Dollson CRJ–422 Criminal Justice Capstone Robert Jackson March 7, 2011 The police officers are to protect and serve the public and communities’ with their best interest at heart. Members of law enforcement are government officials that impose the laws and preserve order. There are occasions, when the police officers are engaged in a dangerous and stressful call of duty that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. We as citizens value law and order, we do not want to see our streets run by criminals who terrorize people who abide the law and we as citizens created police departments to prevent law and order not to join in with the criminals. We all decide d that police officers should have the ability to use force, but not in all situations.
One of the biggest problems in policing functions is lack of communication between agencies at the state, local, and federal area. It is important that the local police officer that is working on a case be able to get information from the federal level such as the FBI on the suspect. Sharing information that is important to a case is important no matter what level of law enforcement you are working in. If the information is not shared it can put an officer of the laws life in danger. Another change that affects the future of Policing functions is technology.
Integrity in Criminal Justice Abstract The role of integrity plays a major part in the criminal justice field. The integrity of a police officer more specifically has to be almost immaculate in order for him or her to perform their jobs to the best of their ability. As a police officer there will be many things and many opportunities for them to go against the integrity of a police officer, however once an officer takes the oath he or she must uphold it as best as possible. Their jobs are not always easy, however, if a police officer chooses to not act with great integrity or good sound judgment then the officer has disgraced the uniform and the city, state, or county that he or she was hired to protect. If this happens then all
There is a strong and growing body of rigorous scientific evidence that the police can control crime hot spots without simply displacing crime problems to other places. Indeed, putting police officers in high crime locations is an old and well-established idea. However, the age and popularity of this idea does not necessarily mean that it is being done properly. Police officers should strive to use problem-oriented policing and situational crime prevention techniques to address the place dynamics, situations, and characteristics that cause a spot to be hot. Braga and Weisburd further suggest that the strategies used to police problem places can have more or less desirable effects on police-community relations.
Community policing is predicated upon discussions between citizens and the police.” This type offers police officers to know the community they work for and any problems within that community. They attend many meetings having to do with crime and the hope of being able to resolve certain criminal activity or the atmosphere for criminal acts to occur. This style is the more proactive approach and focuses more on correcting environmental matters that help facilitate a crime and programs such as rehabilitation to help substance abusers and teen pregnancy in getting their act cleaned up, not causing it to be repeated (University of Phoenix, 2004). The direction in which the problem-solving style of communication flows would be unidirectional. Everyone here is trying to help someone, so we can have a better society.