What Society Expects of Its Criminal Justice System

This paper speaks to what society expects of the police, courts, corrections, and how they are realized and unfulfilled, as well as the employees of the system in terms of their goals and expectations, the temptations and the differences in their goals from society’s goals. Finally, the paper will speak to the individuals that are charged by the system regarding their legitimate and non-legitimate needs.

Society expects its police to look into reported crimes, collecting and protecting evidence, arresting suspects, and aiding the prosecution in getting a conviction. Next, is to preserve peace, by having to intervene in a nonviolent conduct by an individual in a public place. Then to prevent crime, which is to prevent crime before it occurs such as, educational campaigns, preventing patrols, and community policing. Next, is to provide services, such as, counseling, referring social services, and to keep traffic moving. Finally, to uphold rights that includes respecting rights regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender and respecting individual Constitutional protections.

Society expects the courts to decide if a person is innocent or guilty. If guilty, determine the sentence, interpret the laws made by legislative, set legal precedents and to uphold Constitutional protections.

Society expects corrections to carry out the sentencing of the courts by giving punishment, providing care and protection for the convicted, and to uphold Constitutional protections. Law enforcement, courts, and corrections are divided differently across local, state, and federal governments.

Making this a realization in the criminal justice system are the police and they are responsible for enforcing the law. The presence of the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct stipulates the behavior of officers, the practice of law enforcement in the United States is to prevent biases against the poor and race. These biases have come to be due to police discretion, the focus of the types of crimes, locations and police profiling, and policing of the war on drugs. Subsequently these biases result in injustice and is not a predictor for reduction in crime. Police behavior is intentional and inconsistent with the goals of the criminal justice system (Robinson, M.B., 2005).

These expectations are unfulfilled because we must follow the same laws under the law of the United States Constitution. However, through mistreatment of political power and authority, the suppression felt by people by the politicians have placed their own interests, self-serving or otherwise, above the law of the land.

The correctional system policies are for the public, officer, and inmate’s safety rather than the prison’s equipment or housing. The prison life is another society in and of itself. Prison life is about separate dorms that house all types of inmates ranging in different ages, race, color, and religion. There are inmates that can hearing and inmates that are deaf, as well as many inmates with disabilities ranging anywhere from arthritis to advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease. Prisoners are still human and have a desire for safety and security while inside the prison to not be harmed or killed, which is very much a reality for prisoners. Prisoners need hope to keep themselves sane. Prisoners given a life sentence need hope for the chance of getting out of prison one day or having their sentence overturned. Life prisoners, in a lot of cases, mature while in the system and they do realize the terrible mistakes they have made. The realize they cannot go back and change the events that let them to where they are today (Carceral, K.C., 2004).

The goals and expectations differ from society because these people are there to preserve and care for the convicted. Society forgets about the criminal after they are convicted.

The temptations of these positions come with the badge because police are government officers who enforce the law and preserve order. The police are often called to settle quarrels, find lost people, and aid accident victims. The police form part of a nation’s criminal justice system, which also includes courts and prisons. Police officers enforce the law which covers murder, robbery, burglary, and other crimes that threaten society.

The goals differ between the police officer out on the streets in that their job is to arrest the offender, however the correctional officer is an employee of the state at a prison or correctional facility, and their role is to enforce the peace, security and policies. Police officers having to be out on the streets on a daily basis protecting citizens have more goals to meet than the correctional officer in that can only move up in the ranks at the prison.

The different prisons are run according to their policies and procedures. A correctional officer will not just move an inmate because the inmate