What Society Expects of Its Criminal Justice System

The expectation's society has for law enforcement officers are to protect and serve every individual, family, and home-business owner within a community equally. In addition society expects law enforcement officers to be non bias, non-prejudice, and nondiscriminatory when dealing with the many individual ethnic groups and religious-cultural beliefs that exist in contemporary United States. Moreover, the expectations society has for law enforcement would be to avoid internal and external corruption, police brutality due to ones sexual orientation, race, and history with the criminal just system; communicating while off duty with criminals, and any behavior-mannerisms society would consider unethical while the individual officer is off duty. Moreover, society imagines a police officers as individual's whose characteristics display a degree of professionalism that can be respected by a vast majority of individuals (University of Phoenix, 2007).

Another major expectation society has for police officers are: the ability to evaluate a given situation and apply critical thinking in a seconds notice. Tax money pays for expensive and intense training that is designed to educate and prepare individual officers to deal with the numerous issues that occur on a daily basis. Such issues are: dealing with family disputes, providing immediate medical attention, investigating crime scenes, gang violence and activity and juvenile delinquency. With this being said, I believe the high expectations a vast majority of society has for police officers cannot be disputed (University of Phoenix, 2007).

In regard to our court system, the procedure to assess effectively and determine the facts of criminal and even civil cases seems to be the primary expectation. The court system is further expected to have the best interest of the defendant by protecting his or her Constitutional Rights while protecting society and victims from further wrongdoers and victimization. The court system and its employees should refrain from being bias, prejudice, and discriminatory especially when dealing with minority and ethnic groups. One's cultural and religious beliefs should never be an issue when determining the facts of a case and when handing out sentences even though statistics display more African Americans are incarcerated per 100,000 than that of Whites. I believe a major expectation society has for the court system is the interpretation of cases and the creation of new laws. Additionally, all members within the courtroom workgroup should carry themselves in a professional manner (U.S. News and World Report, 1999).

Society's expectations for our correctional facilities vary greatly. One portion of society imagines the correctional facility to maintain a safe and secure environment for inmates and the individual employees who work for the system. A facilities capability to contain and prevent inmates from escaping can cause a negative impact and a great deal of tax money is usually spent to prevent this type of problem. Society also expects the correctional system to train its correctional officers to protect inmates from any form of prison violence, such as physical, psychological, and sexual abuse that can on occur on the less serious offenders by the more serious offenders. In addition, portions of society expect inmates will be treated in a humane way (University of Phoenix, 2007).

Other members of society, on the other hand, believe a correctional facility should offer a wide-range of rehabilitative programs and focus less on expensive technologies designed for security-safety. Rehabilitation programs can allow an inmate to function normally and productively amongst other society members and many of these rehabilitation programs have been implemented into the correctional system over the last few decades. Such programs consist of GED and college level courses that allow an inmate to earn a degree. Moreover, skills trades, such as carpentry, electrical, and plumbing are offered to better help individuals find employment once released back in society. Other rehabilitation programs are: counseling that is designed to treat individuals in a face-to-face or group environment who have psychological, physical and substance abuse issues (University of Phoenix, 2007).

I believe the expectations society has for the police, the correctional facilities, and the courts are realized when the system is operating without issue. Furthermore, when individuals within the system gain the attention of the media in a positive manner, such as the effective removal of a family in a hostage situation by law enforcement or when correctional officers are able to immobilize quickly and resolve a prison riot without the injury of inmates and officers. In addition, contemporary time is becoming demanding for individuals to obtain a college degree which allows one to be more professional and make educated decisions while alleviating error.

I believe these expectations are unfulfilled as a result of the many negative incidences that occur from time-to-time that gain the attention of the media for public display. Examples are: police brutality on minorities like with the Rodney King incident, prison riots that take place due to the neglect of inmates which lead to injury and sometimes death of an inmate or prison employee, or corruption that has been going on by trusted political figures for long periods of time.

Numerous goals exist that are expected by the police, corrections, and court employees. Foremost, individuals choose careers in law enforcement for the purpose of making a difference in society and in someone's life. Protecting and serving community members from individuals whose intentions are evil is just a small but yet important self-expectation an officer strives for. Each officer has his or her own reasoning for becoming an officer of the law. Some individuals enjoy the idea of meeting new people and community policing would be the way to go for that particular individual. Other officers may find enjoyment in investigating serious crimes, while others want to work in DARE programs educating children on the dangers of drugs (University of Phoenix, 2007).

A majority of the courts employees strive to maintain a smooth flow in overall operation of the system. This in return, alleviates court congestion, allows more cases to move through the system without violating one's Sixth Amendment Right, and allows Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorney's reasonable time to work a case without the probability of being forced to rush. Providing a safe environment within the courtroom for everyone is another high expectation that needs to be focused on.

Employees of the correctional system have many expectations. A leading concern is the safety of the employees and the safety of each individual inmate. Moreover, preventing prison violence, idleness, physical and sexual abuse, and the sales of illicit substances are just a few areas of concern. Some correctional departments propose incentives to officers who participate in additional training-education. Moreover, healthcare for inmates, rehabilitation programs, and the prevention of internal corruption are just a few more areas that are expected to be discussed within the system (University of Phoenix, 2007).

I believe police officers are faced with the temptations of corruption internally and externally more so than any other career in the world. Police officers do not make a great deal of money unless details are provided on a regular basis. With this being said, temptations to accept bribes from major drug dealers and even small bribes from fast food restaurants can be extremely difficult to avoid. Furthermore, police officers deal with individuals who mostly have no respect for authority and over time officers develop a defense attitude that all society members cannot be trust. Once an officer establishes this bad characteristic, the officer may lean toward police brutality especially when dealing the repeated offender.

Correction officers are faced with many temptations due to the fact, correction officers are incarcerated for at least eight to nine hours per day with criminals. I believe correction officers can become institutionalized just the same as the individual inmate. As a result, negative characteristics, depression, and anxiety can cause prison officials to hold grudges against disliked inmates; therefore, internal corruption with other officers and inmates can lead to inmate brutality and favoritism and the sales of illicit substances for favors.

The Federal Constitution has a set of laws that are put into effect and cannot be changed without much debate. Each state thereafter establishes laws that coincide with the Federal constitution. Employees of the police, corrections, and court system are trained to understand how the system functions whereas most members of the community rely on legal assistance to educate during a time of need. So, society's goals are much broader than that of the systems employees. Though safety and humane-non bias treatment may be a leading concern for both parties, the goals of society and employees are inclusive and are almost never agreed upon.

The legitimate needs of an individual during police contact are: to be protected by the United States Constitution and the due process of law. If the individual is going to be arrested or a custodial interrogation is going to take place, the Miranda warning needs to be read. The non-legitimate needs of an individual while in police custody are: police officers do not have to educate individuals about laws and procedures.

I believe our criminal justice system does a terrific job with fulfilling the legitimate needs of all individuals. The system offers constitutional safeguards to both legal and illegal individuals and in the event law enforcement does not follow the due process of law or violates an individual's Constitutional Rights, the courts can dismiss a case or remove incriminating evidence from the case. Additionally, many underlying issues within the system need to be dealt with, but in my opinion the court system does a terrific job with preventing the illegitimate needs of the people. Individuals caught in the act of committing a crime and found guilty are sentenced according to state laws. Though certain members of a community and the victims of a crime may disagree that justice was served, the system will always encounter those who agree and disagree with the outcome of a criminal case.

The court system must protect each individual with the protections of the constitution while doing its best to examine the facts of a giving case. Unfortunately, society and victims are seeking justifiable punishments and that hardly ever occurs. Most of the time the punishments received are not considered justifiable as a result of plea bargaining or lack of evidence. In addition, the individual only has the defense attorney on his or her side and society and the victim have the remaining courtroom workgroup on theirs. The needs of the individual and society go hand-in-hand but yet one wants precedence over the other when it comes to protection.

References

University of Phoenix. (2007). Week four overview. Retrieved August 6, 2009, from University of Phoenix, Week Four, rEsource. CJA303-interdisciplinary Capstone Course Website.

University of Phoenix. (2007). Week two overview. Retrieved August 6, 2009, from University of Phoenix, Week Two, rEsource. CJA303-interdisciplinary Capstone Course Website.

U.S. News and World Report. (1999, March 1). A court challenge to bias testers. Fortune, 10(1). Retrieved August 6, 2009, from Gale PowerSearch database.