CRIMINAL JUSTICE
POLICING IN AMERICA
DUTIES OF THE POLICE
 4 MAJOR DUTIES
 Keep the peace
 Apprehend violators
 Prevent crime
 Provide Social Services
 POLICE ARE NOT ONLY THE MOST
NUMEROUS, BUT ALSO THE MOST
VISIBLE OF THE CJ SYSTEM
 POLICE ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE
“GATE KEEPERS”
 They have the first contact
 Make decisions on if the citizen will
continue in the CJ Process
DISCRETION
 Decision making according to
professional judgment based on
training and experience
 Looks at:
 Seriousness of the offense
 Criminal hx of the offender
 Relationship between victims and
offenders
 Strength of legal case against suspects
and defendants
SOCIAL CONTRACT
 Members of society are assumed to
have entered an agreement to create
the state and a government to
acquire security and order for all
 Citizens surrender certain rights. In
exchange for that they expect the
government to provide an effective
system for regulating conduct
FORMAL CJ “BY THE BOOK”
 U.S. and State
Constitutions
 Statutes—created
by U.S. Congress,
State Legislatures
and City Councils
 Court decisions
both State and
Federal
 Written policy of CJ
agencies
INFORMAL CJ “CJ IN ACTION”
 Recognizes the
need for flexibility
 Examples
 BOTH FORMAL AND
INFORMAL
NECESSARY
SOCIAL CONTROL
 INFORMAL---one person to another
 No police involvement
 FORMAL—”handcuffs” Police involved
OTHER SOCIAL CONTROL
INSTITUTIONS
 RELIGIOUS GROUPS
 FAMILIES
 SCHOOLS
CJ IS A STRUCTURE AND
PROCESS
 STRUCTURE
 CJ Agencies
 Professionals in
them
 PROCESS
 Decisions made by
those professionals
STRUCTURE
 Three government agencies and three
levels of government
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Law enforcement
Courts
Corrections
Levels of government
 Local
 State
 Federal
STATE AND LOCAL
 Law Enforcement—Police
departments and County Sheriff
 Court—Lower courts, trial courts,
Court of Appeal and Probation
 Corrections—County jails, State
prisons and Community corrections
agencies
FEDERAL
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FBI
DEA
ATF
U.S. MARSHALS
U.S. PROBATION OFFICE
Approx 65 different agencies
PROCESS OF CJ
 Series of decisions
 Begins with Law Enforcement then to
 Prosecutors then to
 Courts then to
 Corrections
 Criminal justice is a structure and a
process
 Parts are interdependent
 Decisions affect each other
 Not always cohesive
HYDRAULIC EFFECT
 Discretion can shift from one agency
to another
DECISIONS PRIOR TO CJ
PROCESS
 Legislatures decide what will be a
crime
 Any human conduct that violates a
criminal law and is subject to
punishment
FOUR TYPES OF LAW
 SUBSTANTIVE LAW
 PROCEDURAL LAW
 CIVIL LAW
 CASE LAW
SUBSTANTIVE LAW
 CRIMINAL STATUTES
POLICE CANNOT ARREST CITIZENS
UNLESS THEY VIOLATE A
SUBSTANTIVE LAW
PROCEDURAL LAW
 Laws that dictate how police will do
their job
 For example:
Use of Force
CIVIL LAW
 Regulate social interactions arising
from private, commercial or
contractual relations
 For example: City Building Codes
CASE LAW
 Written opinions of the courts
 For example: Miranda rights
DEFINING CRIME—SUBSTANTIVE
LAWS
 MALA IN SE—latin term
 Wrong in themselves
 Broad agreement in society that certain
actions are so harmful that they must be
punished
 MALA PROHIBITA
 Laws that are enacted even though
people in society may disagree about the
harmfulness of certain acts
11 STEPS OF THE CJ PROCESS
 Victims report
crimes
 Law Enforcement investigate
 Police apprehend and arrest
 Prosecutor charges
 Suspect---guilty---plea bargain
 Suspect—not guilty---trial
 Judge sentences
 Convicted have appeals
 Convicted goes to corrections
 Convicted awarded privileges or
punishments
 Convicted paroled
 Step 11
MODELS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
 Wedding Cake
 Seriousness of
charge
 Past criminal
record
 Relationship of
victim to offender
 Was victim injured
 Gun used
 Strength of case
 Funnel
 Opposite shape of
Wedding Cake
 Sorting process
 Case attrition
 “Letting criminals
off??”
 Arrest does not
mean guilt
WEDDING CAKE
Celebrated cases
Real crimes
Misdemeanors
FUNNEL
Lots of cases
Few go to trial
CJ MODELS CON’T
 Crime control model
 Focus on need to
protect
people/property
 For the good of society
 Emphasizes police
investigation and
guilty pleas
 Not concerned with
fairness
 Assembly line
 Due process model
 Focus on rights of
individuals
 Obstacle course
 Adversary
process—get to the
truth by fighting in
court
 Formal rules of
criminal procedure
CRIME CONTROL MODEL
Assembly line
DUE PROCESS
 OBSTACLE COURSE
PENDULUM
 Crime control/due process
PENDULUM
 Where are we now????
USA PATRIOT ACT OF 2001
QUALITIES OF A POLICE OFFICER
 CURIOUS
 ABLE TO PERCEIVE DANGER
 PERSPECTIVE
 EMPATHETIC
 COMPASSIONATE
 Decisive
 Have self-control
 Must be able to adapt
 Varied approaches to unique problems
 HOW DO YOU LEARN THESE
QUALITIES???
PROCESS IN A NUTSHELL
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Citizens report crimes
Police investigate
Police apprehend and arrest
Prosecutor charges suspects
Suspect—guilty—plea bargain
Suspect—not guilty—trial
Judge sentences
Convicted have appeals
Convicted goes to corrections
Convicted awarded privileges or punished
Convicted paroled