USE 2014-15 Wiki
- Introduction to Criminal Justice
- Crime and Policy
- Issues of Law
- Law Enforcement
- Court System
- Community Corrections
- Institutional Corrections
- Juvenile Justice System
- Digital Stories
Welcome to Introduction to Criminal Justice.
This course is designed around four key themes.
1. The field of criminal justice is interdisciplinary and shares elements from criminology, sociology, law, history, psychology, and poitical science.
2. Criminal justice involves public policies that are developed within the framework of the democratic process.
3. The concept of a social system is an essential tool for analyzing the way criminal justice is practiced.
4. American values, the foundation on which criminal justice in a democracy is based.
In this course students are provided a strong foundation of information about the criminal justice system and it's primary components. It is my aim to provide both the essential content and the critical tools involved in understanding the criminal justice system. I maintain this course site and continually up-to-date the material and work to make the content appealing. I make a vast course resource available to you the students in the lecture bibliographies. You are directed to original sources and databases that augment information being presented. This course also includes a comparative perspective which describes a component of the criminal justice system in another country. I hope you will find this course a valuable learning experience.
Dr. Michael Thompson
Gang violence isn't just an American grown issue, you can look all over the world and find a group or society of people that label themselves as a gang. For now my center focus will be in america, with that being said there are some 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 1.4 million members are criminally active in the U.S. today. Most of those involved in or in charge of gang have to be of a higher sophisticated mind, put that to someone who has the mind set of ill willed violent intentions and we have an issue right in front of us.
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The affects of gang influence in America has not only impacted society but our culture as a whole. The way we speak, act, dress, and more importantly the factors it brings in. Violence and the import of drugs not only endanger others but raise the crime rates. According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report, gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions, and up to 90 percent in others. majority of agencies reported that intergang (between-gang) conflict and drug-related factors directly affected local levels of gang violence. Somewhat frequently reported (more than one-third of the agencies) in 2012 were the following three factors: the return of gang members from secure confinement, intragang (within-gang) conflict, and the emergence of new gangs. Two factors, gang members returning from confinement and intragang conflict, increased in importance by more than 10 percentage points from 2006 to 2012. In contrast, gang-member migration and the emergence of new gangs noticeably declined in importance over survey years
Vincent Hernandez
Drug Trafficking
Cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws is a global illicit trade call drug trafficking. The commission on narcotic drugs is the central policy-making body with the monitoring of the global trends of illicit drug trafficking and abuse. It decides whether new substances should be included in one of the schedules of the conventions and if changes in the schedules are required. This commission of the economic and social council adopts resolutions on new measures to better address the drug scenario. The International Narcotics control board is a permanent and independent body. The board monitors the implementation of the conventions. It gathers information on illicit trafficking, and submits an annual report on developments in the world situation to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and to the Economic and Social Council.
Afghanistan has dominated the worldwide opium market for more than a decade. In 2009, the total quantity of opium produced in that country was 6,900 metric tons, accounting for 90 per cent of global supply. Afghan heroin feeds a global market worth some $55 billion annually, and most of the profits of the trade are made outside Afghanistan. Afghanistan and its neighbors are affected by trafficking as the drugs are moved to their destination markets of Western Europe and the Russian Federation.
About a third of the heroin produced in Afghanistan is transported to Europe, while a quarter is trafficked north to Central Asia and the Russian Federation along the northern route. Afghan heroin is also increasingly meeting a rapidly growing share of Asian demand. 15-20 metric tons are estimated to be trafficked to China, while 35 metric tons are trafficked to other South and South-East Asian countries. 35 metric tons are thought to be shipped to Africa. For the North American market, cocaine is typically transported from Colombia to Mexico or Central America by sea and then onwards by land to the United States and Canada. The US authorities estimate that close to 90% of the cocaine entering the country crosses the US/Mexico land border, most of it entering the state of Texas. According to US estimates, some 70% of the cocaine leaves Colombia. Colombia remains the main source of the cocaine found in Europe. The importance of Colombia seems to be in decline. In 2002, the UK authorities reported that 90% of the cocaine seized originated in Colombia, but by 2008, the figure fell to 65%.
Resources
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/drug-trafficking-distribution.html
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/legal-framework.html
Brittany Winslow
War on Crime
The mandatory sentence is it right or wrong who is to say what it is? The government, the people, the state, who? I believe that it is the people yes the government and state are above the people but the vote of people can have some leverage on the decision.
The fact that even with these people are being released from prison and committing the same crime over or worse yet committing a worse crime, that will send them right back to the prison that they were just released from. This proves that the mandatory sentence does not work for all people, I mean when the person was charged with a crime that has a mandatory sentence of 25 years and the person is already kind of old and dies in the prison what did that help the society. He died that just got him/her off the street for a while then someone else decides that it sounds like a real “fun” idea or are so upset that they see that as a way to get out of it. Then what, people commit another felony are put in jail, serve their time then leave. How in the world did that help the person besides protecting them from the opportunity to commit the crime again?
The prisons in the United States are holding more people than they are releasing. In the United States the prison had become 4 times as much as it was in 1980.( image source 1 ) That is outrageous I would think that wit h all the technology and special ops we have that the prison would go down; due to the fact that we can prevent it be intercepting the message before it gets to far. I just don’t understand why there are 2.4 million people in prison and not that many being released over an amount of time. Most of the people in the prison are not even in there for murder or robbery most are there because of drug offences.
There are three times as many people dying in prison than that are being released that should say something about how we are handling our release programs. How much would life changed if we put the advance technology and things we have to use to protect the good of the people. Also what if we had random undercover bosses go and talk to the inmates to see how they really are being treated would that be a threat to the people. I think that if we had people go in as an undercover boss and get the real truth on what is happening then the prison might not have as many deaths as they do. It still amazes me that even though we give prison the equipment they need to take care of the inmates they still are dying in prison.
As you can see I feel as if the mandatory sentence doesn’t work for some people due to the fact that it may cause people to want to so the same crime over. I think that some of the reason people want to believe that the mandatory sentence works so well is because it gives the individual time to think about what they did I see this as an opportunity for them to plan it again or to decided what their live is really worth. (image source two) I also feel that it’s important for us to keep tabs on how the inmates are doing and how they are being treated on a daily basis. What’s your opinion on it that is something that should be thought about?
Resources: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/wonkbook-11-facts-about-americas-prison-population/) (http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-prisons-have-too-many-old-people-2013-8)
Images: http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/6/5/6/8/1/7/i/9/2/2/o/Prison_crowded.jpg (1)
http://crimemagazine.com/images/prison-cell.png (2)
Cordae Mckelvy
Policy
Ever imagined how the world would be with no laws or rules? What if we left it up to each other to maintain order? Society has tried that, of course it failed. Now think about what it takes to keep a society in order. The criminal justice system came up with policy. The idea of policy is to guide behavior and establish ways to deal with problems
This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Of course where there is a rule there is someone who feels like they are not being treated fairly or just chooses not to abide. So within the policy the criminal justice system has to come up with enough policies to ensure that everyone is being treated fairly and the proper punishments are in place. Policies also have to not put too much power in the hands of one individual or group of people.
When someone does not abide the policy most likely they are committing a crime. Different philosophies in society have different views on how the criminal justice system should go about punishment. This makes it more complicated to create fair policies. There are six different philosophies, some of them relates in a few ways. Some philosophies believe the opposite of others. The system tries to come up with ways to reduce crimes. Some philosophies cause for the proper punishment to reduce crime. Other philosophies think that if I crime is committed then no matter what there should be a punishment. Then you have the philosophies that thinks it don’t take punishment for people to realize what they did was wrong. The idea of these philosophies is for people to learn by seeing examples or for people to seek help.
According to Eric E. Sterling it is wrong to just lock people up who commit a crime. He says that the more people that gets locked up the more serious the crime problem become. One reason he thinks is because the prison culture extends respect to more serious offenders. Another reason is because it makes people more violent and more sensitive to being disrespected. The last reason that Eric gives is basic human needs will almost never be met. Those needs are intimacy and trust. In prison that’s just something a person will not receive.
To create a public policy it takes six different steps. First you have to identify a problem that needs a responding procedure that will help solve the problem. Secondly there is agenda setting. Because there is so many types of different problems the system has to see which ones need to be handled immediately. After that is done several different groups steps in and help to formulate a new public policy. The next step is to actually adopt the policy. A policy is adopted once congress passes a law, or the president could sign an executive order, or the Supreme Court could rules on an important case. Then the executive branch comes in and carries out the policy. This action is step five, implementing the policy. The final step is to evaluate the policy. This is where policy makers check to see if the policy is effective and being used properly.
Resources: http://www.cjpf.org/crime , http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp
Crime: Sex Trafficking in America
By Jessica Moss
For centuries, sex trafficking crimes have been relevant all throughout different parts of the world. Sex trafficking occurs when children or adults are forced to work in the sex industry against their will. They may be enslaved in a variety of different places, including; brothels, fake massage businesses, hostess clubs, truck stops, street rings, as well as escort services and many other businesses.
Unfortunately in the USA, sex trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry after drug trafficking. It has become a $32 billon dollar industry, with almost half of all victims in the business being underage. In 2010, more than 1,000 of the 2,515 cases investigated involved minors being trafficked.
According to the FBI, the business of sex trafficking has become much more organized and violent today. Women and girls are often held captive and locked up, beaten, raped, and terrorized until they submit to the traffickers. The system is often based off a hierarchy criminal organization system. Traffickers with multiple victims often possess a victim referred to as a “bottom.” This victim has earned the trafficker’s trust due to being in the ring the longest and reigns over the hierarchy of the other girls who are working as prostitutes. In terms of recruiting, it is especially easy for traffickers to enslave younger girls by establishing a “bond” with them. They often make false promises to the girls by saying they will fill the victim’s life with love, marriage, and comfort, and they claim that the sexual abuse is special and intimate between them; a part of their future together.
Traffickers intend to gain full control over their victims by also taking any forms of identification they may have, including passports, birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and other forms of ID. At this point if the victim ends up escaping the organization, they will often have no means to support themselves and will end up right back on the street where they started. Instead of living homelessly with nowhere to go, they will most likely return to their trafficker and be brought back into the trafficking ring.
In the year 2000, the first comprehensive federal law to address trafficking known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was passed. This law placed a significant amount of focus on the international factor in the issue of trafficking. Later in October of 2001, the office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons was created as a result of TVPA’s success. This act had been established to enforce every law in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The TVPA is now enforced by both the FBI and ICE. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Services and protections for trafficked victims are entirely related to cooperation with law enforcement. Raids and prosecution are the most frequently used legal procedures. However, it is argued that raid procedures may do more harm than good to the victims involved. They may also be useless in terms of holding traffickers accountable for their crimes as well. Private actors are criticized for their lack of experience and failure to identify the actual victims and perpetrators in the sex ring. Law enforcement even agrees that raids can even intimidate victims, which will ultimately render raids as unsuccessful actions.
While sex slavery in America is still a widespread issue, thousands of investigations have been solved and successfully dealt with in all aspects of the cases. Many organizations are continuously fighting against sex trafficking crimes and making an effort to increase awareness of them and reduce the amount that occur throughout the years.
For more information:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_United_States
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/15/human-trafficking-month_n_4590587.html
Allen Goff
Challenges
A challenge in the police workforce is all of the criteria in the force. You have all of the criminals with guns trying to shoot you and you as a
police man are trying to stay safe and you don’t want to harm the guy but if you do it isn’t a bad thing to do. The choices that the police man make could be stressful on themselves and other people around them. The choices could be small ones like wanting to chase a car for speeding or using a gun on and innocent who is just being a little stupid in the head and it could scar a policeman for either crashing his car and killing someone or himself or shooting someone who didn’t need to be shot down. You also have all the media making up stories of what they think happen and not what actually happen. Challenges can even be found inside the department, either through a nasty little thing like policies, or maybe even the fellow officers.
Challenges for a police officer can range from minute things to large things while on duty Female officers could face the torment of their male colleagues, and not just the perps that they have to face on a daily basis. Not all challenges for officers can be physical it could also be mental. “One such thing that could lead to a blow to the mental, psychological state would be if an officer were to see a severely mangled body of a child.” ( www. Wikipedia .org/wiki/Police 1). “A physical injury a police officer might face can be from falling, getting beaten up in some cases by an assaultant, or even getting stabbed and/or shot by an aggravated attacker or fugitive.” ( www.spirtofthelaw.org/solart6.htm 1).
Another challenge officers could have would be a high speed chase one wrong move and either he could get injured or he could kill other people on the highway going at a fast speed; or he could catch the guy and everything could be safe and no one would get hurt. Also, just think that an officer could get a call because of a disturbing the peace and the house turns out that it is a meth lab, and it turns out that there is a whole gang and the officer has to get behind his car and take cover so he doesn’t get hurt and has to call for help. People never think to believe that women could have what it takes to be an officer, so she faces discrimination and as well as sexual harassment. Women officers are actually tougher because they go through all of that they want to stay and prove the men wrong and the women mainly succeed with this.
You also have the criminals who beat their wife and the male officers don’t treat that as a thing to do its called domestic violence and that a man should never beat a women so if a man does he could be sentenced to jail or maybe even community service and should never return to his wife after he his done with all of his punishment. “Some commentators suggest that the decline in homicides may be evidence that abused women have developed legitimate ways to leave their relationships (e.g., divorce, shelters, police, and courts). The reasons for the decline may be even more complex because there is wide variation by race, not just by gender. Between 1976 and 2002, the number of black male victims of intimate partner homicide fell by 81 percent as compared to 56 percent for white males. The number of black female victims of intimate partner homicide fell 49 percent as compared to 9 percent for white females.”
Resources
(www.stopvaw.org/Domestic_Violence_the_issue//1)
( www.spirtofthelaw.org/solart6.htm 1).
Elyssa Carr
Capital Punishment
We build fences, lock our doors, get the newest and most secure house alarms, we do this to protect ourselves and those we love; but when all these fail we seek justice. Relying heavily on its shoulders, but how do we let our justice system protect us to its full extent? By allowing
and supporting the death penalty as a punishment for criminals. Capital punishment deters other murderers, brings closure to victims and their families, and justice is far better served. The death penalty should be a form of usable punishment to protect ourselves and those we love. Capital punishment has been used throughout the ages, beginning in ancient times. Long, long ago the Ancient Laws of China established the death penalty for those who commit crimes (Reggio).
“In the 14th Century BC, the Hitte Code also prescribed the death penalty. The 7th Century BC Draconian Code of Athens made the death penalty for every crime committed. In the 5th Century BC, the Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets codified the death penalty” (Reggio). The first death sentence officially recorded happened in 16th century BC Egypt, during a time many nobility was accused for magic, and men and women were forced to take their own life (Reggio). In the 18th century BC, the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon allowed capital punishment if someone committed one of 25 different types of crimes (Reggio). Some of the types were “publication of libels and insulting songs, the cutting or grazing of crops planted by a farmer, the burning [of] a house or stack of corn near a house, cheating by a patron of his client, perjury, making disturbances at night in the city, willful murder of a freeman or a parent, or theft by a slave” (Reggio). Mosaic Law codified a multitude of capital crimes (Reggio). “[S]toning, hanging, beheading, crucifixion (copied from the Romans), throwing the criminal from a rock, and sawing asunder” these were just a few of the techniques the Jews tried to carry out a death
sentence (Reggio).
Some people believe that the death penalty should not be used for fear of sentencing an innocent person to death. However, new science and technology, such as DNA testing, of labs we can do away with almost all unsure thoughts of whether a person is guilty or not (Messerli). DNA testing has been proven to have an effectiveness rate of over 99 percent (Messerli). We must also consider that a jury of 12 members has to all agree together that a person is guilty without a reasonable doubt (Messerli). This means that 12 different people, with different opinions, ideas, and ways of thinking, must all decide that the person is guilty. It is very hard, if not impossible, to convince 12 different people that a person is guilty if they are in fact innocent.
Death penalty creates a deterrent effect when other criminals consider murder. Without a deterrent for killers and other criminals, very few places would be safe, it would be okay to commit crimes because there wouldn’t be a lasting or enough of a punishment (Messerli). Prosecutors need to be able to use a variety of punishments to weaken crime (Messerli). “[S]tudies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time- while trying to eliminate the effects
of crime rates, conviction rates, and other factors- and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise” (Liptak). Twelve recent studies have shown that every inmate that is put to death indeed save lives, for every execution prevents 3 to 18 murders (Liptak). Naci Mocan, an
economist at Louisiana State University states “I personally am opposed to the death penalty, but my research shows that there is a deterrent effect” (Liptak). Even those who do not believe in the death penalty find it effective. Now, we must think about those who have been sentenced to life in prison (Messerli). What is to stop those people from killing others while carrying out that life sentence (Messerli)? Nothing without the death penalty.
The deterrent effect is not the only upside when considering the death penalty, we must also consider the family of the victim. Capital punishment brings closure and a way to move on to the families that have been through and suffered that much (Messerli). Loved ones of the victims may never get over the tortured loss of a person (Messerli). An action that can speed up recovery is getting some kind of closure to help mend them (Messerli). Life in prison is not closure (Messerli). There is a chance for escape, parole, or the simple fact that the person who murdered your loved one is still out there and alive. Capital punishment can put an end to the family’s suffering and help them move on from that terrible part of their life (Messerli). There are lines and lines of victims waiting to get the justice that they deserve, families waiting to be at peace (Messerli). We must serve justice. Justice can be served to the needs of each crime and is a necessary form of punishment. One of the largest fact to allow capital punishment is to not have the crime happen again (Messerli). The basic principle of justice is to have a form of punishment to fit the worst crimes so that justice is always carried out (Messerli). Our very own U. S. Supreme Court decided that the punishment for a crime has to be proportional to the crime act itself, if not, then the penalty for the crime violates the Eighth Amendment outlawing cruel and unusual punishments (“Death Penalty”). When they carry out a death sentence the criminal is not allowed to feel much pain or it violates this amendment, no matter how much pain he or she put their victims through, they cannot experience it themselves. Our courts have created the “Objectively Intolerable Test” while considering whether the technique of capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment or not (“Death Penalty”). This means as long as the penalty is not cruel, which it is proven not to induce a lot of pain, or unusual it is constitutional. Bob McCulloch a prosecutor states that, “There have to be very specific statutory aggravating circumstances…It’s a murder for hire, multiple murders, cases that are killing a witness, killing a police officer in the line of duty, doing it while there are other felonies being committed” (Phillips).
Finally, I would like to end with a horror story. There was a man in prison, Gary Tison, who was there because he killed a prison guard, his three sons came to break him and his cellmate out and they brought guns and they shot many people (Kay). After escaping jail they
all rode in a 1969 Lincoln sedan, but one of the car’s tires went flat in Arizona (Kay). That is when a man of 24 years who was a Marine Sergeant traveling with his young family, stepped in (Kay). The Marine Sergeant pulled over to help these people not knowing they were criminals, until the five men took and robbed the family (Kay). Gary Tison, the leader, went even farther into terribleness as he shot and killed the entire family, from the Sergeant to his child a 22 month old toddler (Kay). How do you believe this tragedy should end? With a jumpsuit and a life sentence? There is a good chance those men could be broken out again. This is where capital punishment served justice for innocent good samaritans. These are innocent people, who died at the hand of evil men, and we cannot let evil men go without punishment, because an innocent life is worth something more than that.
All in all we are not putting innocent people through the death penalty. We are putting evil people through the death penalty for the sake of those who are innocent in our country. Capital punishment creates a deterrent effect, it brings closure to families, and finally, it means justice is being served. So we must keep the innocent safe, the families, the children keep them from the evil this world has supplied. Capital punishment should be allowed in every state.
Resources
Kay, Jonathan. "The Ashes of the Dead." ProQuest Sirs. National Post, 1 Feb. 2014.
Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Law School, Cornell. "Death Penalty." Wex Legal Dictionary/ Encyclopedia. Cornell
Law School, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Library, CNN. "Death Penalty Fast Facts." CNN U.S. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Liptak, Adam. "Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate." New York Times. N.p.,
18 Nov. 2007. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Messerli, Joe. "Should the Death Penalty Be Banned Form of Punishment?" Balanced
Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Phillips, Camille. "The Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty: Two Parallel Discussions."
St. Louis On the Air. N.p., 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Reggio, Michael H. "History of the Death Penalty." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
War on Terrorism
Bailey Ellegood
If you ask the average American what they that a terrorist is, they would say that it’s someone that attack another country, usually they are from a different race and religion. What happens when the person who attacks said country is from that country? Do you still view them as terrorist? For most people, from any country, view them as just criminals or rebels, even though they do the exact same things that terrorists do. So what changes the definition of a terrorist? Nothing. A terrorist is a terrorist no matter where they are from, religion, or race that they happen to be.
The definition of a terrorist is someone who uses threats or violence to intimidate or coerce, especially for political reasons. (dictionary.com) Nowhere in this definition does it say that the person must be from a different country, race, or religion. When a person commits an attack of violence to try to intimidate the government to do what they would like, foreign or domestic, is an act of terrorism.
There are not many cases where the terrorist is said to be American. If they happen to be American the media always feel the need to say what religion they are. Most of the time religion, race, or nationality have absolutely nothing to do why the terrorists did what they did. It’s a want to either change their government, or they feel the need to please the “leader” of the group they are in. When the government won’t listen to someone speaking and saying the changes they would like, then they feel like the only way the government will listen is by being violent. The media also plays a big part in how terrorists are portrayed. They have a huge part to play in how any criminal is portrayed. When the media shows who the person was that did the crime, they give the terrorist power. This power is exactly what the wanted and they feel like it is the only way to be heard. These people want so badly to be heard or seen that they are willing to hurt other people, just to get what they want.
When the Boston Marathon Bombing happened many people in my school, including some of my teachers, their first thought was "Oh, the person who did that must be Muslim and from the Middle East." This is the stereotypical thought process when it comes to terrorism. When terrorist attacks happen they think that person has to be from a different place originally. If you search for terrorists on the FBI’s Most Wanted list of Terrorist, you don’t find very many Americans, and if they there are on the list they are at the very bottom. There are actually only five on the list, and only two are on their where the crime occurred after 2001.
There was a woman, in 2006, who was planning on commenting arson to a government building. The woman was originally from Canada, but she was an American citizen. She hasn't been found or caught yet, and it doesn't seem like they are doing a lot about catching her. Although there is a $20,000 reward for any tips leading to her arrest. The government works a significant amount more towards finding and arresting foreign terrorists. When the government talks about talks about the "War on Terror" they never mention American, born and raised, terrorists. They always mention major terrorists who are almost always foreign. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are the most common terrorists that people think of. Again people don't often think of Americans as terrorists, even though they do the same things. Overall, in the public’s eye, the government seems to try to hide the fact that terrorist can be born and raised Americans, even though it can happen and it does.
Resources
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/dt
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists
**Issues of Law: The Drug War
Breanna Emahizer
Wiki essay 2**
For many years the drug war has been an ongoing struggle with in the United States. It has a massive effect on our economy as a whole. From the loss of people producing goods and services, to the money we are spending on keeping drug dealers incarcerated in our nation’s jails and prisons. We are losing more money than we can make to break even. The laws that prohibit drugs are just making it more of a thrill factor to smuggle and sell without being caught. If we were to tax sections of the drugs and regulate it instead, we would be making head way to recovering our nation’s debt. It would not happen overnight, it would take time but it is a good place to start.
It depends on the route you want to take when you approach the issue which is very sensitive to most of the pulic. If we tax and regulate that as well as prostitution which ties in to the war on drugs based on the percentage of known prostitutes who are addicted to drugs, and those who turn tricks to fund their drug habits we would give our economy a boost and hopefully start it moving again. These are two of the largest populations in jails and prisons because of the prohibiting laws. I’m not saying legalize it all. Make them get permits or have papers. not trying to say it will solve all of our problems, but it will give us a start.
“First let’s defining what the Drug War means. Drug war is a term commonly applied to a campaign of prohibition, military aid and military intervention, with the stated aim being to define and reduce the illegal drug trade.This initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of what said governments and the UN define as illegal psychoactive drugs. The term was first used by United States president Richard Nixon, and was later popularized by the media.” (1)
The drug war is a multinational problem. It is a big dollar affair that will keep going on as long as someone wants to buy, which there will more than likely always be the druggie or meth head who needs a fix. There are always going to be customers whether it’s legal or not. We don’t need to legalize all of it, we just need to make some of it regulated and then we can decide what to do next. It will take a long time to figure out how this subject needs approached and this is just an idea as to what we should do.
We have to look at the lesser of two evils in this instance. We need to decide which is worse, selling it on the black market and people dying for these drugs. DO we want our populations fluctuating so much if we keep going the way we are going? When are we going to make the decision on what we the people believe is right? As soon as the nation can decide, we can make head way into becoming a growing economy again.
Resources
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/142827/the-drug-war-un-declares-drug-war-a-failure-obama-rejects-calls-for-change-hope**
Bryley Roper
// Poor People Getting Punished By Law//
Everyone has to deal with the law, whether you obey it or decide to break it, it will be a major part of your life. The law is suppose to be fair to everyone, but I think that they choose to pick on and harass a certain economic status more than others. The poor people or the lower class get hammered with more than pretty much anyone else.
Each state has different laws, but some of them are ridiculous and hurt the poor people around the world. In Arkansas if you don’t pay your rent you could go to prison.According to the failure-to-vacate law, once you're late on your rent, landlords can give you 10 days to pay up, move out, or go to jail. And it's written so that there is no independent investigation. to find out if the landlord is telling the truth or if he's looking to fill your apartment with his buddy's hot daughter. So naturally the system is abused to the point where actual homeowners have been somehow charged with not paying their rent.
In Wisconsin they are working on a law to freeze the bank accounts of people who are unemployed. And in Texas and Oklahoma they have a yearly car inspectiion and if you don’t pass you have to pay to fix it before you can legally drive again. And if you don’t pay how are you suppose to get to your job, so you have to spend money you don’t have or take the risk of getting pulled over and getting a ticket and having to pay more money you don’t have. Being poor is a tough status to break considering many are born in poverty and it’s a hard cycle to break if your parents can’t afford to give you good opportunities and you have to go to a crappy school and get a crappy education. People shouldn’t get punished more for not having money, it should be the same or even less than everyone else.
One law in Tennessee that they are trying to pass a law that makes Welfare of a family depend on the child’s grades. If the kids fail to make progress in school then the well fare check can decrease by up to 30%. Obviously taking away money from the family isn’t going to make the kids perform better. If anything it would be added pressure on kids who aren’t ready for it and would limit the amount of resources that the kids would be able to have to help them out in school.
The New York Times told the story of Gina Ray, whose $179 speeding ticket turned into $3,170 in fines and fees and 40 days in jail when she couldn’t afford to pay it. Gina is one of many in America’s new debtors’ prisons, a growing problem nationwide. Just because someone is not able to pay their ticket at first doesn’t mean you should increase the fine, which decreases the chance that it will ever get paid considering they couldn’t pay the first fine. And then you throw them in jail when she most likely has kids that she has to take care of and then they are put in a bad spot. Paying a fine isn’t a persons first priority if they have to focus on having a place to live and having food to eat and support their family.
So obviously I think that the law is being too harsh on the lower class
considering that making them pay more fines that they can’t afford does no good. People should not go to prison for being poor when often times you can’t help it.
Resources
http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/5-insane-laws-written-specifically-to-harass-poor-people/
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/courts-should-stop-jailing-people-being-poor
Fatoumatta Darboe
Putting a Stop to Child Abuse in Africa
The life of a typical African girl isn't such a pleasant life. From childhood to womanhood, these young girls suffer and go through pain. They said culture is meant to be fun and one is meant to enjoy it to the fullest, but the life of this young girls is worst than just being a culture and before God and man it is against the law for one to be treated as such.
These young girls suffer to an extend of loosing their lives, through what they called Female Genital Mutilation. It is one of the horrible and most painful ways young girls experience Africa. Female genital mutilation or cutting is a destructive, invasion procedure that is performed by mostly non educated, old woman in Africa where by they removed or all the external genital with blade or razor with or without anesthesia.
The operation is forced mostly on approximately 6,000 girls per day, world wide about one every 15 seconds, to young girls below the age of 18. that this age they are unable to give their consent because they were forced abused. They said it is an honor, and respect for a girl to go through such and to also prevent her from social evaluation and sex, reducing the sexual response to make less likely become sexually active before marriage or to seek extra marital affairs after marriage, in other words sizing their rights to feel like a woman.
In such occasion, you see blood flow like water, blood of young innocent girls, tied up like slaves, crying and shorting for help, little babies that do not even know their right to left, lying down in a state of unconsciousness while their parents talks and jubilate..in such occasion the their right to life is at stake.
That the end of the day, some died due to pain and excess bleeding, for those that live, live but suffer for the rest of their lives. no health benefits, they suffer from abscess, painful mensuration, painful sexual intercourse, infertility and so on. Such is a violation of human right.
But little do their parents and society know that these little girls have the right to make choices as part of their human right, they don't deserve to go through such pains, they don't deserved to loose their live all because of culture. It is against the law and something must be done to stop it in countries that are still practicing it even through so many are trying hard to stop it. life is very delicate and it must not be wasted by anyone non our parents or society. No girl is to treated as such
Resources
https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/laws-fgm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation
Tanner Townley
Issues of law
Let’s say you were dropping your kid off at school, whom you would do anything to protect, and on your way out of the school you saw a man coming into the school with a weapon to do harm to children. If you’re like most people you would want to stop him. The question is how would you do it without a weapon of your own, with a concealed carry weapon you could stop him before he even started shooting. It would not only save your kid, but all of the others. If more people had concealed carry permits our society would be safer with less situations like these. The more people with concealed carry weapons the less we would see school shootings, murders, rapes, and robberies. The concealed carriers use their weapons to deter, stop, and defend themselves and others against armed criminals.
The more people with concealed carry the safer our society would be from armed criminals. Concealed carry permit holders benefit society in many ways, one of the ways is to deter crime but most concealed carry permit holders use their weapons mainly for self-defense. People with concealed carry permits would be able to defend themselves (“College Campuses Are Less” 172). “Those who desire to be prepared to defend themselves should be allowed to do so” (Schwan 184). They are not only able to defend themselves but they would be able to defend others as well.
On the contrary, others believe the more people with concealed carry permits, then the society is just that much more dangerous with extra guns walking around. They say concealed carry weapons do not reduce crime but increases it (Handgun Control Inc. 119). They go on to state that concealed carry laws put weapons in hands of everyone but convicted felons (Handgun Control Inc. 119). Opposers also stated that concealed carry laws put weapons in the hands of untrained civilians (Reynolds 116). They oppose the thought that shooters would be deterred knowing someone has a weapon and can stop them before they even start the rampage (“College Campuses Are” 159). Finally, one of the biggest things they say is that it increases the number of accidental gun fatalities (Reynold 116).
One of the main benefits of the concealed carry laws is what’s called the Deterrence Effect. The Deterrence Effect means that is more people had concealed carry that criminals would be less likely to commit a crime knowing that there are armed citizens that could stop them or even kill them before they commit the crime. A representative of the State of New York, quoted that, “shooters may or may not be deterred by concealed carry permit holders, but deterring shooting sprees is only one of several potential benefits,” referring to concealed carry laws and the Deterrence Effect (“College Campuses are Less” 172). Some believe that gunmen would be deterred from shootings if they knew their rampages would be stopped before they began (“College Campuses Are Less” 173). Some experts believe that even if the knowledge that concealed handgun license holders might be present at their area of the planned shooting, still is not enough to deter all would-be shooters, an attempted shooting spree thwarted by a licensee might be enough to deter a few (“College Campuses Are Less” 173). Still even with all this some believe that it won’t work and that gunmen would not be deterred by concealed carry holder, but if we don’t try it are we ever going to know if it works or not (“College Campuses Are Less” 173)?
Another issue, is that most don’t think concealed carry laws are a bad idea to put weapons in the hands of untrained citizens. This ideology without discussion, is wrong. Concealed carry permit holders are required to pass training courses (“College Campuses Are Less” 174). Most states also requires proof that the applicant for a permit has past the training course he or she has passed being properly trained (Reynolds 116). One of the questions asked about training is why they do not make them pass law enforcement training, the answer is that concealed carry permit holders do not need the extensive training that law enforcement are required to have (“College Campuses Are Less” 173). Concealed carry class students are required to pass a pretest and a final test covering the laws of self defense and the consequences of misuse of deadly force (Reynolds 116). Concealed carry classes also spend ten to fifteen hours emphasizing situations on conflict resolution (Reynolds 116). In the conceal carry classes the instructors stress on weapon safety not only in class but on the firing range and even after the class is dismissed and students are on their own with their concealed carry (Reynolds 116). Finally, at the end of the class before the students graduate they must pass a stringent of shooting accuracy tests, which they must pass each time they renew their permit also (Reynolds 116).
By far the biggest concern people have against the concealed carry laws is their claim that, concealed carry laws increase the number of accidental and homicidal firearm related fatalities. On the contrary, this claim has been disproved by the statistics of firearm related deaths since the introduction of the concealed carry laws. Statistics show that the number of fatalities by firearms has declined rapidly, at the same time, gun ownership in the United States of America has more than doubled (Reynolds 116). Since concealed carry laws have been adopted the death rates from public multiple shootings has been cut by sixty-nine percent (Deakins 34). Also, for each additional year the concealed carry laws are in effect the murder rate on average has declined by three percent (Deakins 35). Concealed carry not only decreases murder rates, but decreases the rates on rape and aggravated assaults decreased as the number of concealed carry permit holders go up (Deakins 34). Another concern is that weapons are dangerous to have around children and teens, but statistics show that firearm related accidents among children fell to an all time low of one hundred eighty-five in nineteen\ninety-four a sixty-four percent decline since nineteen seventy-five (Reynolds 116). It is also statistically proven that children ages fourteen to fifteen are fifteen times more likely to die from automobile injuries and three times more likely to die in a bicycle accident than from a firearm (Deakins 34).
In conclusion, concealed carry benefits our society in many ways. It benefits us by dropping murder, rape, assault, and shooting spree rates. Concealed carry holders are not criminals they are people who benefit us by deterring crime and are trained how to use their firearm properly. In the end we should have concealed carry for its pros outweigh any cons.
Works Cited
"College Campuses Are Less Safe Without Concealed Weapons." Gun Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. 167-78. Print.
"College Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Weapons." Gun Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. 155-66. Print.
Deakins, Jacob. "The Link Between Gun Ownership and Gun Violence Is Flawed." Gun Control. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2007. 30-35. Print.
Handgun Control, Inc. "Legalizing Concealed Weapons Does Not Make Society Safer." Gun Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. 118-22. Print.
Reynolds. "Legalizing Concealed Weapons Makes Society Safer." Gun Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. 112-17. Print.
Schwan, Clair. "Laws Allowing Citizens to Carry Concealed Weapons in National Parks Will Make Visitors Safer." Gun Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. 179-84.
How To Become An FBI Agent
By Kali Kuper
There are many jobs in the law enforcement area of jobs. For example, there are police officers, corrections officers, prison guards and probation officers. But the most sought after job in the U.S. is an FBI agent. The reason for this is higher pay, great health insurance, excellent retirement benefits and it’s the best-known and highly respected job in the law enforcement area. The FBI agency is known world wide and honored in almost every place they must go. The question remaining is, how to become an FBI agent.
To become an FBI agent, it is required that the individual be a U.S. citizen or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands. Also, the individual must be between 23 and 37 years old, hold a valid drivers license, hold a four year degree from an accredited institution and be ready and willing to work nearly anywhere in the world. Sounds easy, right? Also, the individual must have at least three years of professional work experience. Not as easy as it sounds. Examples of this are police officers, probation officers, corrections officers etc.
Once the individual meets the required standards, the person will be put under one of five entry programs or tracks. The five programs or tracks are accounting, computer science and technology, language, law or diversified. On the accounting track, the interested person must have at least three years experience in professional accounting firms or as an accountant and a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In the computer and technology track, the employee must have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, information technology or any related field. If the interested person does not have a degree in either of these, they must receive a degree from either Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE). Also, a four-year degree is still required even with the numerous degrees. In the language entry program, the interested person(s) must be fluent in a second or third language and must posses a bachelor’s degree in the field(s) of language. They must also be able to pass language proficiency tests that have writing, reading, speaking and listening. In the law entry track, the individual must possess a juris doctorate law degree from an accredited school. If the individual does not fit into any of the named groups above, the FBI does have a fifth entry track called the diversified entry program. The diversified candidates must have a four-year degree in any type of major, three years working experience or a graduated degree with two years working experience.
After applying under one of the programs, applicants are prioritized based on if they possess what the FBI is in need of at the time. These skills are investigative experience, prior law enforcement, computer science, physical and biological sciences, language, intelligence gathering, finance and accounting. If an employee if determined to meet all requirements, they will move into the testing phase. The first part of testing will occur at a local or near by FBI facility and consists of written test of competency and basic abilities. After phase one, the individual will then begin phase two which consists of tests about the individual(s) written skills and an oral interview. After phase two is the physical fitness requirements, background investigation and medical testing. Once the individual passes all of the required fields, it is time to become an FBI special agent.
Although it is a very tough and time-consuming process, being an FBI agent is a highly honored and privileged job that any person interested in this field would die to have. Not very many people are cut out for this type of work and very few will make it when applying for the job. If the individual does make it into the program, then think of themselves very lucky and dedicated to their job. Look to them with honor and respect for they are risking their own lives and much more to protect the citizens of the U.S.
Resources
http://criminologycareers.about.com/od/Career_Profiles/a/How-to-Become-an-FBI-Agent.htm
www.fbijobs.gov
http://www.army.mil/media/232087
Lucas Coulter
Life as a Sheriff
When people think of law enforcement they think of high speed chases exciting adventures of going undercover and getting caught in the line of fire but in all reality that almost never happens. The life of being a law enforcer like a police officers, detectives, and Sheriff's isn't all that
exciting. Its full of patrolling time, paper work, and routine stops; but just because their job isn't all too exciting doesn't mean they are any less important. Police and Sheriff departments have a huge roll in fighting crime. Being a Sheriff is a difficult job. You have to have patience, the ability to talk to people, and physical skills.
Like said before being a Sheriff isn't all too exciting. Most of the time they are patrolling, making routine traffic stops, and paper work. They also have service jobs like checking up on elderly people, working funerals, and speaking at schools about crimes that have recently been committed. Sheriffs take a lot of time driving around because they have to patrol such large areas. A Sheriff has to patrol a certain county. Sheriffs also have a lot of equipment to take care of. A normal Sheriff will carry an equipment belt that has all sorts of gadgets like handcuffs, flashlights, a Taser, a handgun and stuff like that. They also carry a bullet proof vest, and a walky talky. Every Sheriff also has a vehicle they will be assigned to. In their vehicle they carry bigger weapons then a handgun like a shotgun and an assault rifle. They also have a laptop in their front seat. Most vehicles also have leather back seats and a cage in the back just in case they have to take someone to jail or to the hospital.
To be a Sheriff you have to have your high have your high school diploma or your GED. Most departments like you to have a military, or college back round so they know you have some experience prior to going to the academy. They would hire someone with a military or college back round over someone who doesn't almost every time. There are also skills you should have to be a Sheriff. You should be able to handle situations without taking people to jail every time. If there is a bar fight and all you do is arrest people that is a lot of pointless paper work that has to be done. What you can do is talk to them and tell them to go home and give the threat of going to jail. You shouldn't have to arrest someone every time there is a conflict. You should also have some physical attributes. Even though it is unlikely for someone to run from a Sheriff, it does happen. So you should be able to catch him or at least be able to stay with him so he doesn't get away or something like that.
So becoming a Sheriff is not really too easy to do. It's also not the most exciting job in the world, but it’s completely necessary to have them. It's good to have some knowledge about them too. Like said before, being a Sheriff is a very important job. Law enforcement is the base of the criminal justice society, and if we didn't have police and Sheriff the world would be chaos
Resources
http://www.spartanburgsheriff.org/job-description-deputy-sheriff.php
http://www.washingtoncountysheriffwi.org/deputy.php
How the S.W.A.T team works
Stafan Bradley
SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers are members of highly trained paramilitary units that tackle situations beyond the capability of conventional police forces. SWAT teams are called in when an incident presents significant risk to law enforcement officers or the public.
These elite professionals use their advanced training in weapons, teamwork and strategy to resolve crises such as: Hostage situations , Counterterrorism operations Apprehension of armed and barricaded suspects, Suicide intervention , Warrant service under fire , Protection of visiting dignitaries , High-risk search and seizure ,Covert and undercover operations Crowd and riot control , and Fugitive tracking in rural environments.
While all swat officers are expert marksmen with in-depth training in combat most play a specialized role within the team.
The swat team responds when the police cannot handle the situation whatever that’s going on and the swat team try to contain the situation. SWAT officers perform more routine duties.
Many spend a majority of their time in conventional policing activities such as patrol and traffic enforcement. In some areas, they use their specialized tactical knowledge to conduct crime suppression exercises that ferret out dangerous offenders.
Most SWAT officers consider serving on the team an honor and privilege. Members are chosen from the ranks of experienced police officers based on their superior fitness, marksmanship and service record.
The requirements to be a part of the swat team is if you are a new recruit you have to complete New recruits complete 15–30 weeks of academy training covering law, tactics, police procedure, firearms, emergency driving, report writing and leadership. Instruction covers both classroom and practical learning and includes simulations of common field situations.
Physical conditioning is a key component of the program, and recruits must generally meet rigorous fitness standards in order to graduate.
SWAT recruits are generally chosen by an open examination, which usually includes an interview, psychological exam, and fitness testing and skill evaluation. Those deemed fit for SWAT duty continue on to the academy for advanced training. SWAT officers undergo continuing education and requalification throughout their careers and must maintain a high standard of physical fitness.
A police officer who wishes to join SWAT must have an excellent service record and secure a recommendation from a superior officer. Success on the competitive exam requires superior marksmanship and physical fitness. Candidates must also be able to pass a rigorous psychological interview that tests their suitability for service in a high-stakes environment. Other desirable qualities include emotional stability, physical courage and the ability to make quick decisions under stress. Because SWAT units operate as a close-knit team, strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Your physical strengths and abilities, and your mental fortitude, will play a big role in your success as part of a SWAT team, so your conditioning and preparation for the job are vital. As a SWAT team member, you will have to dedicate yourself 100%. Your dedication will pay off when the Chief or Sheriff calls to thank you for your service. The job will demand an enormous amount of your time, so your degree of respect and caring for your fellow man – and your desire to make your community a better place to live must be at their peak.
Every SWAT team conducts tryouts, and members are carefully chosen by the team. If you want to be a part of a SWAT team, don’t give up. To be a part of this type of elite team is a significant accomplishment. It shows that your hard work has paid off and that you are one of the best, and it will carry with it a bond of unity with your team members that will last forever.
Resources
http://blog.discoverpolicing.org/uncategorized/so-you-want-to-be-a-special-weapons-and-tactics-swat-team-member/
http://people.howstuffworks.com/swat-team.htm
History of law enforcement
Justin Underwood
The America’s first known system of law enforcement was in Boston. In April 1631, the townspeople formed a “watch” made up of six women, one constable, and several volunteers who was walking the rounds at night. In the 17th century they had been reported fires, maintained order in the streets, and has raised trouble so they started to capture and arrest the law breakers. In rural populated areas of the Colonies, the sheriff was the main law enforcement. The sheriff was appointed by the governor, some of the sheriffs duties include serving legal documents and was paid to fixed amount for each task he performed. Some of these tasked can be dangerous, the first known American peace officer to be killed in the line of duty was Columbia County (in New York) he was shot on October 22, 1791, as he attempted to serve a writ of ejectment. In 1749, Philadelphia passed a law that had watch in an attempt to salve problems. Now, officials called wardens had the authority to hire watchmen if they were needed.
The powers of the wardens and the authority increased and also the tax to pay the watch. Only male had to be interested in the job and had to apply. With all these changes New York jumped from a population of 33,000 in 1790 to 150,000 in 1830. The overall boom, in industrial growth brought more crime, riots, public health issues, race, and general disorder. The solution to this was by England in 1829, a stronger, more centralized police force. They had to start organizing a 24 hour police force.
The law enforcement agencies were designed to enforce law violations that deprived either the government of funds or citizen of the few services for which they depended on the federal government. With all these funds they started to see more mail theft, this began in 1850’s when the mail started to move west and they started taking it from ships, stagecoaches, and the railroads. In 1852 the Capitol Police was created. It was comprised of a chief, four assistant police officers, and two individuals who patrolled the grounds. The Secret Service was established in 1865. At this time they was to designated to investigate and prosecute counterfeiting of the U.S.
Today the agents are also assigned to protect president, vice president, former presidents and their families. In 1908 the DOJ created its own investigate and it lacked power. Hoover was named director in 1924, a position held until 1972, this would be one of the longest tenures in U.S government history. Hoover was chasing bank robbers and car thieves. He was never a local police officer but he used the media and the power to do what he did. He was also the turning of FBI into one of the most recognized law enforcement agencies in the world. In 2004 many of the agencies are not as large as county or state police departments or large municipal police departments, together they employ more than 85,000 people, and 50,000 of whom are sworn police officers.
Resources
http://www.education.com/reference/article/federal-law-enforcement/
http://www.nleomf.org/museum/news/newsletters/online-insider/2012/April-2012/early-days-american-law-enforcement-april-2012.html
State Police
Logan Lampe
State Police are a type of sub-national territorial police force, especially in the United States. Other countries have territorial police forces such as Canada and Australia. The primary goal of state police officers is the safety on the interstate highways, but can be involved in state wide law enforcement and criminal investigations.
In the United States state police are a police body unique to each U.S. state having statewide authority. The different state police departments may serve under different departments. These departments include the Department of Transportation and the state Department of Natural Resources. Only twenty-two U.S. states use the term “state police”.
State police officers, or state troopers, ensure that drivers are following state laws and regulations. These officers may direct traffic, issue citations, arrest criminals, and assist local law enforcement. This job requires one to have a full understanding of constitutional and state laws. These law enforcement professionals may also document evidence, conduct interviews, and take appropriate photographs of a crime scene.
The requirements for state police officers depends on what state the officers are from. The police academy for a state police officer is 12-14 weeks long. Mental and physical challenges will be used to prepare them for their careers. The physical requirements also depend on the age of the new recruit. Those enrolled into the academy are enrolled in the academy are taught a different set of skills. These skills include civil rights, traffic control , first aid, self-defense, and the use of firearms.
The annual salary of a state police officer may vary depending on a lot of things such as the size of the industry, the location, and the years of experience that an officer may have. A State police officer is expected to make less than $52,162 every year. As of May 2012 the annual salary for state troopers is $55,270.
State officers can have different ranks. The lowest rank of a state trooper is a recruit. A recruit is a state police officer who is attending the training academy. The highest rank of a state police officer is called a superintendent. A superintendent is colonel basically and is appointed by the governor of the state to be head of the department. The other rankings of state police officers include major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant, technical trooper, master trooper, and trooper.
Other countries have “state police” officers as well. Some very interesting ones are Canada and Australia. Canada’s state police force only covers two provinces in the whole country. In Australia the only police force is the Australian Federal Police whose role is to enforce criminal and civil law.
There is all different kinds of equipment that state police officers use. In the United States state troopers carry 12 Gauge shotguns and patrol rifles. Types of equipment used also depends on what country or state an officer is from as well. There are also different vehicle type that state police officers drive around in. In the state of Kansas State officers drive at least six different types of vehicles.
The state of Kansas is one of the twenty-eight states that does not use the term “state police’’. The Kansas Highway patrol began in 1937 and has been very successful. In Kansas there are 541 state troopers and their headquarters are based out of Topeka, Kansas. While the Kansas Patrol is mainly focused on the state highways and the interstate highways they are also in charge of helping rural or local police departments. The Kansas highway patrol assists other agencies with emergencies.
State police officers put their lives on the line each and every day to protect their state or province by enforcing constitutional and state laws.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_police
http://education-portal.com/policeman_career.html
What Is Law Enforcement
By: Anthony Stephens
Law enforcement is the collective term for professionals who are dedicated to upholding and enforcing the laws and statutes that are currently in force in a given jurisdiction. There are law enforcement jobs that focus on local settings, while others are focused more on upholding and enforcing national laws. In addition to enforcing laws, the function of legal enforcement also involves managing the punishment process for people who are convicted of crimes, up to and including managing the process of incarceration.
At its core, law enforcement seeks to achieve two goals. First, enforcement professionals seek to prevent the occurrence of a crime that is in some way damaging to another human being or to society as a whole. Second, people employed in some enforcement capacity will seek to ensure suspected criminals are tried in a manner that is in compliance with local laws. Various officials will also assign some form of punishment or imprisonment that is considered equitable for the type of crime committed, while also seeking rehabilitation of criminals when and as possible.
The concept of law enforcement is not new. Since the beginning of recorded time, there have been people appointed to maintain the standards and rules of the tribe or other society. For example, ancient Chinese culture used a system involving prefects or protectors who were assigned by the ruling government. The role of the prefect was to protect the general public, hear the facts regarding alleged criminal activity, and impose fines or other forms of punishment as deemed appropriate.
Today, there is a number of law enforcement jobs found at many different levels. A local police force serves by protecting the rights of citizens living within a specified jurisdiction. Police are empowered to apprehend and arrest people who are suspected of committing acts deemed to be criminal in nature. In many cultures, the administration of the police department works with other law professionals to make sure the suspect is held in custody or at least remains in the general area until he or she can stand trial for the suspected criminal activity.
State and federal law enforcement professionals are also empowered to apprehend suspects where there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Most nations have one or more enforcement agencies that have broad authority to function anywhere within the borders of the nation and any territories the country may possess. Some of the best known national agencies of this type include the FBI in the United States, and Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom.
Law enforcement also includes other professionals who manage some aspect of the containment, punishment, and possible rehabilitation of criminals. Employees of state and federal penal systems are considered to be members of the law enforcement community. In like manner, private detectives are also often viewed as being associated with legal enforcement. Probation officers, district attorneys, and court judges are also enforcement professionals who help to protect the rights of all citizens and seek to minimize the incidence of crime within.
Resources
http://www.charleston-sc.gov/index.aspx?nid=303
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=7
Detective
Jason Manning
A detective is an officer of a police agency or an individual that works as a private person. Detectives that work privately are also known as private investigators or private eyes. A detective is an individual who solves crimes including ones of historical nature, and they also look into old records. Crimes that detectives might solve may include murder cases, or cases that have ran cold and then reopened.
In certain law enforcement administrations the job of a detective is not assigned it is earned by completing a written test after finishing the required course for becoming a police officer. Other law enforcement agencies have the majority of their detectives formed from graduates of college. A few people argue that the job a detective does is entirely different in feel than what a police officer would do and as such detectives require completely different training from a normal police. Others yet say that without first being a police officer the detective cannot have the prior know how or ability to properly command or have the proper knowledge of procedure.
In the united states before someone becomes a detective they must first go to a law enforcement academy and acquire at least 16-24 units of criminal justice foundation. Once one graduates they will begin job training with a field training officer for a certain set amount of time that the department will specify. Afterwards they will continue to work while under a probationary period, which usually lasts from one to two years. During this time the detective looks for evidence, under supervision of a superior officer. Some detectives will also further their education during this time, some even specialize in a certain field. Through years of experience detectives may sometimes work with a few of the following, including, criminal procedure, testing their skills and knowledge of criminal justice, participating in interrogations and collecting evidence. The detectives in training will then undergo a competitive examination where they will be tested on their skills of detective work and procedure. The agency will then promote either a few or all of the detectives to a full time position.
Private investigators are licensed by the state which they work within. Not all states require a private investigator to acquire a license but most states do require the private investigator to have one. Private investigator applicants must complete a state examination to acquire their license. They must also meet certain requirements to the job such as a college education and past investigative experience as well as a background check.
The branch of detective work is the most vast containing many sub-branches departments or squads. In these sub-branch departments in were the work of specialized detectives come into play in crimes or undercover operations. Detectives have a large variety of techniques at their disposal while they are conducting an investigation. While they have a large disposal of skills and techniques to do their investigation most crimes are solved during the interrogation stage of the investigation. This process of interrogating all the parties for information proves to be very time consuming. Detectives also rely on informants that they have gathered and acquired over their years of service. During investigations after a detective has a collection of suspects in mind the next step is to collect evidence. Evidence is usually physical or forensic in nature, the detective will use the evidence in court to help gain a verdict and close a case. Past records such as photographs, or old case files are also at a detectives disposal to help aid him in current case.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_investigator
DEA
Miranda Hernandez
DEA agents work for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a branch of the United States federal government. DEA agents are responsible for enforcing laws to curtail the trafficking of illegal drugs and controlled substances within the United States. The work of a DEA agent is challenging and dangerous but also rewarding. Entrance requirements for acceptance into the DEA agent training program are numerous and rigorous.
You will be dealing with very dangerous people and very dangerous chemicals in very dangerous circumstances. It will test your physical prowess and your mental agility. It won't be glamorous.It is dangerous. It is mentally and physically exhausting. It is the very definition of difficult. It is intense. It could be fatal.A condition of employment is that you are willing to go anywhere they tell you to go. It's best to realize this now. The odds of you getting posted exactly where you want to be are slim to none. If you really want to be a DEA Agent, you go where they want you to go.
Though a Bachelor's degree is not required, it's highly advised. If you don't have one, you'll need to spend years getting experience conducting narcotics/drug related investigations, working surveillance, arresting persons suspected of drug related violations and organizing evidence.Your Bachelor's degree would be best served in finance, accounting, computer technology, engineering or a foreign language. However, degrees in criminal justice or police science will also be received well. Your Grade Point Average (GPA) should be 2.95 or higher regardless of your degree.
Most DEA agents have some type of prior law enforcement experience — some cops, some military. Though it's not necessary, it certainly does help and make sense. Neither requires a college degree and both paths can be started near your hometown. If you don't have any experience and are young enough to still get started, consider one of these paths before you hit up the DEA for recruitment.One of the initial hurdles to becoming a DEA Agent is the PTT, the Physical Task Test. Even they consider it rigorous. As part of the application process, you'll have to pass this. And then it's onto training, which is even more intense.
Resources
http://www.drugenforcementedu.org
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/11/dea-thinks-youre-drug-dealer-and-theyre-listening-in/
http://www.justice.gov/dea/divisions/recruitment/nj-recruit.shtml
Marcus Tibbles
SWAT Teams
Police officers handle a lot of different situations during their life as police. They handle traffic stops, domestic disputes and aggravated public mopery. Sometimes though, a situation arises that they can’t handle with normal police work. Situations such as hostage rescue, barricaded areas, or heavily armed criminals require the SWAT Team.
SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics, and not as I was lead to believe Silly Weasels Are Tenacious. The name SWAT comes from the Los Angeles Police Department, who were among the first to adopt such a team all the way back in 1967. These teams were formed after several incidents involving gunmen shooting at civilians and police, and the violent riots during the Sixties. Incidents such as the Texas Tower Shooting where Charles Whitman climbed the University of Texas Bell Tower and shot 11 people from the top of the tower. Several other police departments, mostly in major cities adopted their own SWAT Teams.
SWAT Teams are made up of officers that have former military experience or have been on the force for a set number of years. The officers, sometimes called operators, are select volunteers from the department that can handle the physical needs of tactical operations. Some select few are even chosen for SWAT Sniper which goes back to why these teams were formed in the first place. All of the team members go through intense training, up to two-thousand hours worth. So being on the SWAT Team is not for everybody.
As stated these teams use special tactics used for dealing with their perps; fast roping, door breaching, killing people with their minds by sending brain signals to their trigger fingers. As for the weapons that are considered special; they use semiautomatic shotguns, submachine guns, and carbines. Although with the small size of carbines, and power behind their cartridges a lot of these teams are ditching their submachine guns for these compact assault rifles. Personal Defense Weapons have also become popular. Like the H&K MP7, which fires supersonic grains of rice straight through most body armor. In addition to guns they also use flash bang grenades, tasers, tear gas, and stinger grenades which launch several rubber balls at alarming speeds towards the target’s tender body. But perhaps the most evil is the pepperball gun, which is a paintball gun loaded with balls filled with Oleoresin Capsicum (pepper spray.)
More agencies than just local agencies have SWAT Teams. The DEA has the FAST Team, which is also available for international drug busts. The FBI has the Hostage Rescue Team, which is a national SWAT team that deals in hostage rescue and counter terrorism. There is BORTAC of the Border Patrol, PACTACLET and TACLET of the Coast Guard. International groups include the German GSG-9, which was created after the Munich Massacre where the undertrained and underequipped German police failed at rescuing nine Israeli athletes from their Pakistani captors. Speaking of Israel they have the Kidon, which assassinating terrorists seems to be their main focus. The CIA has SAD, the Specail Activities Division which operates internationally as a counter terrorism team. These last few examples might not be SWAT Teams exactly, but they’re still tactical teams that exist to handle extreme situations for the protection of their people.
References:
http://ntoa.org/site/about/brief-history-of-swat.html
http://www.lapdonline.org/inside_the_lapd/content_basic_view/848
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAT
Image Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/jan/21/swatting-prank-celebrity-tom-cruise
Louis Edmiston
Becoming a Police Chief
One of the job positions in law enforcement that is very important is a police chief. A police chief is very important to have for a city. A police chief has to manage the police officers in the city and they also have to make sure the police force has what they need. According to Wikipedia, a police chief is the heal of all the police officers in the department. The duties of a police chief include full dismissal or heavy sanctioning of officer duty varying by municipal ordinance, patrol, investigating, and other duties performed by officers. The also have to keep up and update the other department equipment such as police vehicles, firearms, communications equipment and uniforms.
Being a police chief requires a person to be very organized with future plans and with past records. The police chief must also have very good leadership skills. They have to be very focused on his or her decision making, so the officers will be able to act in an efficient amount of time. The chief of police must also be able to work with other officers and make sure that they are getting the job done. The police chiefs must also make sure that their officers have all the equipment they need. They must also make sure that everything the officers use is in working order such as the police cars, weapons, and other materials that they use every day. Police Chiefs must also be able to interact with other police chiefs from different counties so they can share ideas and also get information about criminals or there needed
The chief must also be working with other agencies in the city and state so they are able to interact with them to make decisions. Another position in the department is the sheriff.According to Wikipedia, Many states require every county to have a sheriff.; The usual compromise allows the chief of police to exercise law enforcement jurisdiction and to give the sheriff and his or her deputies authority over jails and the serving of civil papers.
There a some aspects on how to become a police chief. The first aspect is ranging. Ranking is very important in the police department. How an officer is ranked is by experience and years of service. According to Ehow.com, Police departments have military-style rankings, and a typical career ladder might include moving up to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, deputy or assistant chief and chief.This method or ranking is very effective because it can be the concept of working up in the table of command. It motivates officers to move up on the ladder by hard work and professionalism. Another aspect of becoming a police chief would be to get the experience. Sometimes it may require to start small with a police ride along or maybe an internship. Then it may be becoming just a police officer. It all has to do with starting at the bottom of the ladder and making your way up the latter. That is the most effective way to become a police chief.
There are many jobs in law enforcement, but becoming a police chief can make a person have one of the best jobs in law enforcement. Becoming a police chief may take a lot of hard work and it may be a stressful job at times, but it is very rewarding and it is very important job to have in the police department. Many police officers everyday are working hard to become a police chief because they know that it is a great job to have and it offers so many benefits.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_police
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5029960_steps-officer-takes-become-chief.html
SWAT
Armando Lobato
Law enforcement has it’s very of positions. For example, there are Sheriffs, Deputies, State Troopers, SWAT and many more. Being a member of the law means more than just carrying around a gun or a badge. It means you are there to protect the people, you work for the people, and you defend them and stop all crime.
SWAT officers are members of highly trained paramilitary units that tackle situations beyond the capability of conventional police forces. SWAT teams are called in when an incident presents significant risk to law enforcement officers or the public. These elite professionals use their advanced training in weapons, teamwork and strategy to resolve crises.
The duties that SWAT have to encounter are confronting heavily armed criminals; performing hostage rescue and counter-terrorism operations; high risk arrests; and entering armored or barricaded buildings. Such units are often equipped with specialized firearms including submachine guns, assault rifles, breaching shotguns, sniper rifles, riot control agents, and stun grenades. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers, inside enclosed structures.
In most police departments SWAT members do normal deputy duties such as working in the office, patrolling the streets of the town. But when there is a critical incident the SWAT team drops what they’re doing and instantly take on the mission. They also go through a serious of training so they are prepared for anything. They must be able to run for long distances climb stairs and carry heavy loads. They must be physically and mentally prepared for anything that is thrown they’re way. Swat members have their regular hours of work like any other law enforced jobs. They are always on standby during holidays incase anything happens. They are there to protect not only the civilians but also their fellow deputies.
SWAT began on August 1, 1966 when a man named Charles Whitman in Texas shot people in Austin Texas. This is best known as the Texas Tower Sniper. Many believe that this was the spark of SWAT. Officers came up with a plan to end the threat from the tower. The plan consisted of using an underground tunnel that connected the buildings on campus. The officers gained entry to the clock tower building, where they made it up to the twenty-seventh floor. The officers were advised of Whitman's position via walkie-talkies. As the officers were advancing on Whitman, he suddenly turned and fired his weapon at the officers. One officer didn't hesitate and returned fire striking Whitman six times with his duty weapon. The other officer shot Whitman twice with a shotgun.
The first SWAT team to be established was in Las Angeles California. LAPD Swat is one of the most known Swat teams worldwide. With LA having one of the biggest crime rates in the US, the SWAT team is always active. It’s hard to know the exact number of times the SWAT team has been called but yearly they have at least 100 barricaded suspect incidents and over 120 high-risk warrants a year.
Over all, SWAT teams are needed worldwide to stop armed and dangerous people when police officers can’t. SWAT is not only good for the people but it’s nice to know as a police officer to know that when you face somebody dangerous to have someone covering your back at all times, and at all cost.
References:
http://tacticaltidbits.tripod.com/articles.htm
http://www.lapdonline.org/inside_the_lapd/content_basic_view/848
http://www.innerbody.com/careers-in-criminal-justice/how-to-become-a-swat-officer.html
Special agent/FBI agent
Taryn Di Rito
There are always crime shows on television that show cops, robbers, FBI agents, and criminals, but are those shows really showing us the real deal? Are the FBI agents on the shows the same as the actual thing?
Special agents are referred to as detectives or investigators for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. FBI special agents are responsible for a lot of things. FBI Special Agents are responsible for conducting sensitive national security investigations and for enforcing over 300 federal statutes. As an FBI Special Agent you may work on matters including terrorism, foreign counterintelligence, cyber-crime, organized crime, white-collar crime, public corruption, civil rights violations, financial crime, bribery, bank robbery, extortion, kidnapping, air piracy, interstate criminal activity, fugitive and drug-trafficking matters, and other violations of federal statutes.
People can’t just become a special agent right away. They have to go through specific training. For the agents in training, just getting in the door hasn’t been easy. They’ve competed against hundreds of thousands of like-minded Americans in one of the most rigorous and selective application processes in the nation. In some cases, they’ve given up high-paying jobs in the private sector for the opportunity to serve their country. Now, the recruits must spend countless hours studying everything from ethics to investigative techniques, learning about Bureau operations, gaining experience in conducting intelligence-led investigations, fine-tuning their computer skills, and pushing their bodies to their physical limits.
The most common forms of training is basic, agency-specific basic (ASB), advanced/specialized, and agency-advanced/specialized. To operate safely and effectively, U.S. special agents and criminal investigators must possess skills and knowledge regarding criminal and civil law and procedure, enforcement operations, physical techniques, and technical equipment, to mention a few. They must also be physically fit. While possession of a college degree can aid in obtaining employment in this profession, only extensive training provided at specialized facilities, combined with on-the-job training, can provide the skills and knowledge needed to perform the duties of a federal criminal investigator.
References:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/training/sat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_agent
https://www.fbijobs.gov/11.asp
POLICING AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
Jamal Jones
The police are considered to be the “muscle” for the enforcement of society’s laws. Police are required to use necessary force to ensure that laws are obeyed and public order preserved. There are three main responsibilities for police officers: law enforcement, order maintenance, and service.
Law enforcement
Police officers enforce the law by capturing criminals and giving tickets after people commit crimes. Besides using weapons and take-down maneuvers, police officers must also use patience, good communication skills, and their knowledge of human psychology. Preventing crime by not allowing criminals the chance to commit a crime and settle hostile situations before they become violent.
Order maintenance
Many people call and depend on the police to handle their domestic issues. Fighting couples, drunk-driven arguments, and people disturbing the peace are examples of problems police officers must also handle. They don’t always take people to jail if they don’t need to.
Service
Giving directions, helping people that are having car problems, escorting people for funerals, checking empty buildings, checking on vulnerable older adults, and many other services are provided by local police and sheriff’s deputies. Most police start their career doing services like these.
There are over 800,000 officers and agents employed by the government. There are different levels of officers.
Local
Local officers are the ones with the blue uniforms and the regular police cars. Their areas to patrol are usually limited to the border of the city they work for. Most local police departments are small.
County
County police tend to work of areas that are without other local police resources. In larger cities the county police act as sheriffs.
Sheriff
The county sheriff is one of the oldest polices offices and are usually authorized by the state constitution. Sheriffs work with all three branches of criminal justice: Corrections, courts, and policing.
Special police
State laws authorize police forces for special limited purposes such as railroads, school districts, college campuses, parks and woodlands, and mass transit systems. Also called “special police” are the part time officers who work for municipal, county, and sheriff’s departments, while working their regular jobs.
State
State police have standard law enforcement duties and general jurisdiction throughout the state. Highway patrol enforce traffic laws on state highways. They have police training and powers but no general police jurisdiction.
Federal
Federal agencies do not enforce state or local laws but have specific powers and jurisdiction under federal law. Examples of federal law enforcement agencies include: border patrol, customs service, federal protective services, and the mint police.
Some police and law enforcement general job requirements
Education
Police Jobs and their Requirements: Must have a two-year associate's degree, or at least 60 accredited college credit hours or any equivalent amount of active, full-time military experience, including military training/education (two complete years of military experience is equivalent to one year of education or 30 credit hours). All college credit hours must be at a college or university accredited by the North Central Commission on Higher Education, or written verification that credits would transfer to a college or university that is accredited by the North Central Commission on Higher Education, all of which has been completed with a minimum grade of "C" or better, or "credit" when taken with a credit/no credit option, at time
Experience
Police Jobs and their Requirements: At least two years of work and/or life experience directly relating to a combination of skills and experiences including at least two of the following areas:
Demonstrated community involvement and experience working with youth, the disabled community, the elderly, or with drug/alcohol intervention issues.
Interviewing, public speaking, and conflict resolution skills.
Demonstrated ability to solve problems using creative methods to resolve issues.
Positive multi-cultural work and life experiences.
Stable work history.
Valid driver's license and acceptable driving record.
REFERENCES: Lab, Steven P. Criminal Justice: The Essentials. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.,and http://www.realpolice.net/articles/training/police-and-law-enforcement-general-job-requirements.html
The Life of a DEA Agent
By Breanna Emahizer
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an agent in the DEA? The DEA is one of the top agencies in the government alongside to Home Land Security, and the FBI to name a few of them. It’s a lot more competitive to get into these agencies than you would think. They have to endure rigorous training, many tests and not to mention the countless background checks, which are all used in order to see if the applicant is eligible to be a member of the DEA. First things first what is the DEA? What do they do? What is their specific mission? Are you good enough?
The DEA or the Drug Enforcement Administration has a very important mission. That mission is to enforce the drug and substance laws of the United States of America. The DEA was founded on July first of 1973 by the Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1973. There are special agents that are then appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate out of the total number of employees in the organization. It has 21 domestic fields and 227 field offices as well as 86 foreign offices in 62 countries and 10,800 employees in total. Only 5,500 of that 10,800 employees are special agents and to become one of these special agents is a very competitive process. Basic training consists of a16 week resident program with an emphasis on leadership, ethics and human relations. The typical class size is 40 to 50 Basic Agent trainees .In addition to 122 hours of firearms proficiency, marksmanship, shooting, safety and deadly force decision training and oh so much more fun activities and obstacles.
The DEA is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, but they do however share some of their jurisdiction with the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Immigration and Customs enforcement or the ICE. As a side note, if you have any past history of drug use, you will be terminated from the application process. This agency has quite a few ranking levels which starting with the highest here are a few levels, the top dog: administrator, next is the deputy administrator, followed by human resources and then career board, then the bored of professional conduct, and the office of training to name just a few. Everyone in the DEA has a special job that they are superior, even if it is just filing paperwork or computer work. They all use their talents to help and catch and put a stop to illegal substance use in the country.
Some of the qualifying criteria for becoming a member of the DEA:
• Qualifications Review
• Written and Oral Assessment and Panel Interview
• Urinalysis Drug Test
• Medical Examination
• Physical Task Test
• Polygraph Examination
• Psychological Assessment
• Background Investigation
All of these tests and investigations will lead to the final hiring decision. And hopefully an awesome career choice if you make it in. There is hands on training will be given at the academy where you will learn about surveillance, arrest techniques and undercover work, defensive tactics, firearms, as well as basic report writing and factors that deal with drugs. This is a well-known agency that does amazing things on a daily basis. (If you have any more questions about the hiring process, you can go to the official site of the Drug Enforcement Administration)
Resources
Basic info for hiring and requirements http://www.justice.gov/dea/careers/agent/faqs.html
Image retrieved from iaslifestyles.blogspot.com
Levels of the DEA: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration
Fish and Game Warden
Colton Osborn
Being a Fish and Game warden is not a job but a life style. A game warden is a law enforcement officer, public education trainer, and protector of the environment. A person must be willing to work days, evenings, nights, holidays and be on-call for complaints. Most of the job is spent outdoors in all kinds of weather dealing with a great variety of duties. A warden must be physically fit and have nerves of steel to be able to approach potential violators of the law that carry a loaded weapon.
A game warden has many duties that deal with criminal justice. A game warden patrols assigned areas by car, boat, airplane, horse, ATVs, or by foot. They patrol large assigned areas where they enforce fishing, hunting, trapping, and boating laws. The game warden can seize equipment that is used to violate any laws. A game warden investigates hunting accidents and reports fish and game law violations, along with issuing warnings or citations and filing reports as necessary. Wardens also serve warrants to make arrests and may be called to present evidence in a court of law. A game warden may also provide assistance to other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies if requested. They can even assist Homeland Security. For example, wardens are also called upon by fire fighters for search and rescue operations. Another responsibility is making sure that people are safe when using national parks. Licenses, permits and other documentation are also issued by the game warden for fishing, hunting, trapping and camping. A game warden also works with the public. Game wardens provide services to the community such as safety lessons, or lessons on how to properly hunt, trap, or fish. They also meet with groups and clubs to talk about new laws, tips, and techniques.
There is more to being a game warden than the criminal justice side. A game warden keeps track of the plant and animal population along with monitoring the entire ecosystem in their area to make sure that it is balanced and healthy. This is done by seeing if there is enough food for all species and if there is any suspected pollution. They monitor how many licenses are issued to ensure that the population of certain animals is kept in balance and there is no excessive hunting. Monitoring the damage of properties that is caused by wildlife and offering advice of preventative measures is yet another duty.
Because a game warden’s responsibilities are so vast, a variety of experience and training is necessary. A bachelor’s degree is needed in wildlife management, forestry, park management, environmental science, and/or criminal justice. A position as game warden is hard to come by so the more education and experience the better. Many people work in law enforcement positions such as police officer, or deputy sheriff or in other positions in the Division of Wildlife until an opening becomes available. It is also a field that has not expanded much over the years so competition for these jobs is fierce. Overall, the Fishing and Game warden has many duties, not all in just the criminal justice area. This is a job that requires many different skills and a great interest in the environment.
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References
http://dot-job-descriptions.careerplanner.com/FISH-AND-GAME-WARDEN.cfm
http://job-descriptions.careerplanner.com/fish-and-game-wardens.cfm
Christian Jones
Sheldon Nelson
Probation Officer
Probation officers and responsibility in process. Probation officers are responsible for overseeing people who are convicted of crimes, but who have been released on probation or parole. They help with helping people find jobs, make better choices for themselves, and keep track of the progress that they make throughout the probation process. They also write reports documenting progress and hold meetings to discuss different options. They also play a role on helping people get back on track with their own life and be happy with the choices they can make knowing they're getting a second chance to not go to prison.
Training in the process of being a probation officer to help those in need. Probation officers must have strong communication skills, as they will be communicating with offenders, their families, treatment specialists, and judges on a regular basis. They need to be prepared for the worst at all times no matter how stressful or hard it can get for either the officer or the person in probation. Along with having a strong writing skill for reports and being highly organized with themselves.
Educational training for the job is very important. At a minimum, probation officers should have a bachelor’s degree in a field related to human service. The best degrees for probation officers include social work and criminal justice. Other possible areas of study are psychology, sociology, or criminology. Students who are also in school can take classes online to pursue this career if need to be. It also requires a lot of time and patience to do the process of being trusted in with someones life such as having good social skills and past experience.
Trust is very important, specially to become a probation officer him/her self. Background checks are included before becoming one and interviews being required also. The career field is set to grow by 18%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). On average, probation officers tend to earn around $47,200 annually, the BLS reports. The top 10% earns around $80,750 a year, while the bottom 10% earns around $30,920 annually.
Probation Officers are also the hero's too in the story. Probation officers are to be trusted not only as an officer but also as a friend. They try to learn why the person in probation acts up in the first place. They are interested in their lives to learn what is going on not only in their life but with their friends or family too. Parole officers work with people who have been released from jail and are serving parole, to help them re-enter society. Parole officers monitor post-release offenders and provide them with information on various resources, such as substance-abuse counseling or job training, to aid in their rehabilitation. By doing so, the officers try to change the offenders’ behavior and thus reduce the risk of that person committing another crime and having to return to prison.Keeping in touch is the last step to being a great probation officer.
Some probation officers keep in touch with the people they've helped changed for the better of themselves. Knowing that they have not only saved someone's personal life choices but touched the hearts of those who were helped in the process.
Sources:
http://www.criminaljusticeusa.com/probation-officer/
Jesel Herrera
FBI
FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation is a law enforcement agency that protects the United States from terrorist and Foreign Intelligence Threats. It was establish in 1908 with a motto “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity” The FBI had different locations. Not every duty is the same. To become part of the FBI you need education and training.
The FBIs headquarters are in Washington D.C. There are 56 field offices located in major cities throughout the U.S. and about 380 smaller offices called resident agencies in cities and town across the nation. They have more than 60 international officers in U.S. embassies worldwide.
There are different duties as an FBI agent. Investigating terrorists, hackers, pedophiles, gang leaders and serial killer are some of the duties. Agents that know more than one language can have an opportunity to become a special agent linguist position. Languages currently needed are Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Hebrew, Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, Vietnamese, and Russian. This special agents use their language and skills to study and block terrorist activities. Also as a special agent they can do undercover jobs. Agents that have a background that they were in the military or law enforcement experience may be assigned to the most urgent, complex cases in the United States. Intelligence analysts are another part of the FBI function. They duty is to do protect national security. They have skills in gathering information and putting it together into a picture to figure out threats. Depending on the position, FBI employees work from sitting behind a desk at an office to a tent in the desert. Traveling also depends on the type of job. Relocation is often a condition of employment for FBI careers.
The way to becoming a member of the FBI can begin with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Depending on the position, the FBI may give preference to someone with more than one language or a degree in law or technology. You must be a U.S. citizen between the ages of 23 and 36. For the training you go to the academy. The academy offers different training programs. It includes firearms, emergency vehicle operations, survival skills and others. The training is 20 weeks long at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
In conclusion, becoming an FBI agent takes skills. You have to be prepared well, go to the academy and get a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, Law or technology. If you want to exceed more, learning another language will help you get a job.
Resources
http://www.floridatechonline.com/resources/criminal-justice/fbi-career-and-salary-profile/#.VDRWxPldXuI
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/quick-facts
Career of a Homicide Detective
Jessica Moss
There are many different job opportunities in the criminal justice field, particularly in law enforcement. One job a person can get with the right education and training, is the homicide detective rank. While it often requires previous experience as a police officer, homicide detectives are still required to work closely with police officers. Their main objectives are to investigate typically gory crime scenes in order for justice to be served in the case that they're working on. Some pointers that they are specifically required to look for are, what happened, how it was perpetrated, and who did it. Homicide detectives combine these pointers with other factors in order to build up a case on the crime committed to make substantial progress in solving the crime altogether.
When a homicide detectives arrives on the scene of a crime, their first objective is to look for any evidence that may provide clues to fully uncover the crime. Evidence is important since it can help lead to the identification, and then the arrest of the murderer. The homicide detective is purely responsible for knowing not only what to look for in the scene of a crime, but how to gather clues and analyze them. Blood samples may be collected, as well as items in the victim's home or office that appear to be potentially linked to the murder.
One of the least fulfilling parts of a homicide detective's career is the logical reasoning that must come into play after a crime scene is analyzed. If evidence is insufficient to uncover a crime, the detective is pressured to use his or her instincts to carefully decipher what most logically happened.
The majority of the job is the filing and paperwork that comes into play after a crime is committed and has been investigated at the scene. The detective's report will be the root of the case file created, and can ultimately decide whether the investigation will be continued or not.
When a suspicious murder is committed, it is most often first dealt with by the police. If the death is difficult to understand, a police officer trained as a homicide detective will typically arrive on the scene shortly thereafter. Homicide detectives and police are often required to work together at some point when a murder is committed. The detectives are assigned to help wrap up the case quicker rather than with police working on it alone, one example may be when a detective is set up in an interrogation room to question potential suspects involved in the murder.
Some detectives work separately from police departments, and are available for hire as “private detectives.” These detectives may work with a private agency, or even independently and are available for hire to individual clients. They are often called upon to investigate deaths that the police are not interested in, or that the cases have already been closed on.
Becoming a homicide detective typically requires some kind of college degree in a major such as criminal justice, criminology, or forensics. To work for a police department, homicide detectives will undergo a special training course and are often required to work as a police officer for a certain amount of time until they are promoted. In conclusion, it is typically easier for one to go into private practice rather than a police department, but this career has a wide variety of options available to those who pursue it.
For more information:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Homicide_Investigator_Requirements_Duties_and_Career_Info.html
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-does-a-homicide-detective-do.htm
**The Bahamas Court System
Bernard Newbold**
Magistrates Court
The Stipendiary and Circuit (S & C) Magistrates’ Courts are the primary courts for many civil and criminal cases. S & C Magistrates are appointed by the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. There are currently fifteen (15) permanent S & C Magistrates, including the Chief Magistrate, two (2) Deputy Chief Magistrates, one (1) Senior Magistrate and one who serves as a full-time circuit magistrate. In addition to the full-time circuit magistrate, other S & C Magistrates from New Providence also go on circuit to the other Islands where there is no resident Magistrate or in cases where the resident magistrate is unable, for whatever reason, to hear a case.
A Magistrate has jurisdiction to try all summary offences, investigate all charges of indictable offences and to hear and determine any civil cause where the amount to be recovered or the value of the property in dispute does not exceed $5,000.00, unless a statute provides jurisdiction in relation to a higher amount, as is the case in a number of regulatory statutes e.g. the National Insurance Act (PDF 130KB). Various juvenile and domestic matters are also heard in the Magistrates' Court.
Industrial Tribunal
The Industrial Tribunal comprises (3) members appointed by the Governor-General acting on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. The Tribunal has the power to hear and determine trade disputes, register industrial agreements, hear and determine matters relating to the registration of such agreements, make orders or awards and award compensation on complaints brought and proved before the Tribunal.
Supreme Court
This is the second highest court in the country. The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and not more than eleven and not less than two Justices of the Court. The Chief Justice is appointed by The Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by The Governor-General on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.
The Supreme Court has unlimited original jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes and matters and an appellate jurisdiction conferred on it by the Supreme Court Act, 1996 or any other law, which includes appeals from the Magistrates’ Court.
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal consists of a President, the Chief Justice who, as head of the judiciary, is an ex officio member of the Court and sits at the invitation of the President, and not less than two and not more than four Justices of Appeal. The Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments, orders and sentences made by the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal also has jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from matters in a magisterial court in respect of indictable offences triable summarily on the grounds that - (i) the court had no jurisdiction or exceeded its jurisdiction in the matter; (ii) the decision was unreasonable, could not be supported by the evidence or was erroneous in point of law; (iii) the decision of the magistrate or the sentence passed was based on a wrong principle; (iv) some material illegality occurred affecting the merits of the case; or (v) the sentence was too severe or lenient.
Privy Council
At the apex of the court hierarchy for The Bahamas is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council serves as the ultimate Court of Appeal in all matters where appeal is permissible. The Judicial Committee consists of the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chancellor, ex-Lord Presidents, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary and such other members of the Privy Council as from time to time hold or have held high judicial office and two other privy counsellors who may be appointed by the sovereign.
Resources
http://www.courtofappeal.org.bs/
http://www.courts.gov.bs/
Today’s Court System
Natalie Elmgreen
The court system today is more complex than ever before. There are so many process’ and laws. As a criminal and a victim the court system can be very stressful. Cases can be drug out for weeks, months, even years in a desperate attempt to serve justice.
Today the court system has a lot more to do with lawyers than ever before. When a person is arrested they have always have had the right and always will have the right to an attorney. For most people this is a good idea because they don’t know the law well enough to defend them. The lawyers that take on cases are sometimes court appointed and other times they are hired by the defendant with their own money. This is also dependent on the severity of the case and crime that the defendant is accused of.
The courts start locally, taking on small cases like speeding tickets and other local offenses. Generally these are handled quietly and with short jail time or simple fines. Most local cases are handled within the community and usually don’t leave the community. But there is always an acceptation to the rules such as celebrities that manage to rack up large fines with speeding tickets and possession charges.
More severe cases like rape, burglary, arson and murder are taken on by the state. The state prosecution puts together the best case possible using all evidence possible. A problem in major cases is not all the evidence that the defense team and the prosecution cannot use all the evidence they have because it is not allowed in court. An example of this is polygraph tests. A poly graph test can be used by police stations and major organizations to eliminate people as suspects. A polygraph test has been found to not be 100% accurate.
If the state finds a person guilty of a crime the person found guilty can appeal to a higher court. This is a higher state court of appeal. From there the case can be appealed to the supreme courts. This is the federal level of the court system and is as high as a case can be appealed. Cases like Roe v. Wade, Tinker v. Des Moines, and other law changing cases. These are cases that are used to defend accused in other cases. Cases like this are used as base lines for other laws.
The court systems of today not completely accurate, there are always going to errors or cases that cannot be proven. The system is set up to be the criminal justice system, not the victim’s justice system. The people who are victimized cannot choose the punishment of the people who wronged them. The only way there will be justice is if the jury of our peers finds that there is enough evidence to find a person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Without a system the opposite of this there would be a lot more innocent people in prisons. The United States justice system is one of the best out there and has been used by other countries to create their own criminal justice systems.
Resources
http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/court.html
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/home
United States Court
*By Brandon Gaede*
The court system is a very broad complex system. Every court has its own jurisdiction. Which just means what territory the crime takes place is what court the hearing goes to. One of the most known courts in the United States is the United States Supreme Court. But the only way they over see court cases is if a court case gets appealed up to them. Also they have to choose the court case. So they can just choose not to hear a case. Also another thing that is different about the supreme court is that their are seven justices that are appointed by the president, instead of just one judge. Also in most supreme court decisions they decide what officers have to do, or can and can't do. A great example is Miranda v. Arizona, and ever since then police and investigators have had to read or tell people their Miranda rights before they can interrogate the individual.
Also court is not as is seems like it is on T.V. Unless it is a big case like a murder or rape case, but most of the court proceedings are pretty boring, and court is rarely ever done in one day, unless it was something minor like a traffic ticket. But some cases take over a year to come to a decision because the case just keeps getting continued until both lawyers have all their paper work together. But it seems people that have already been through the system a couple of times go quicker because they know the system and know that taking a plea deal is better then fighting it and getting stuck with a worse charge.
The justice system may not seem very just, and at times its not. But most of the times its not just is either the defendant had a really good lawyer, or an officer made a mistake, and when the justice system isn't just it may make some people want vigilante justice which is just worse for them.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court
Jahrod Henderson
Community Corrections
Courts may decide that an offender should receive a penalty other than imprisonment. These offenders are often then referred to the department to undertake community based sanctions including Probation, Community Service (Repay SA), Supervised Bail or Intensive Bail Supervision (Court ordered Home Detention).
During the period of their community based sentence, offenders are supervised by the department and are often ordered to undertake programs to address their offending behaviour. Offenders are required to comply with all conditions of the community based order. In addition to supervising offenders on court orders, the department provides community based supervision for prisoners leaving prison on Parole and Home Detention programs.
Community Corrections has recently implemented a targeted, risk based model of offender management, known as Enhanced Community Corrections. Improving public safety and managing offenders based on their level of risk are the key principles behind the Enhanced Community Corrections Project.
Enhanced Community Corrections strengthens the department’s capacity to effectively and rigorously manage adult offenders in the community with a focus on public safety, public confidence, offender responsibility, and the rights of victims. Part of the Enhanced Community Corrections approach involves subjecting offenders to random breath and urine testing to detect the use of illicit drugs and alcohol.
Testing is undertaken by a specialist mobile Alcohol and Other Drug Management Unit which visits community correctional centres across the State with the sole purpose of conducting urine and breath tests. Community Corrections services are provided at 17 Community Correctional Centres situated throughout the State. Not only are these administration centres for community corrections, but most have a workbase attached or close by for the supervision of offenders in community service work programs.
It is from these centres that such offenders are organised into work crews for individual projects. Work bases hold equipment and other facilities for this work to be completed. Community Corrections Centres are staffed by community corrections officers some of whom are qualified social workers, other staff are recruited from a range of vocations .Staff required to supervise community service work have a trade or skills background.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=15
http://www.thedeptofcorrections.com/cc.mang.offices.php
Casey Temmel
Probation/Parole Officer
Parole officers and probation officers play a role in criminal justice systems by supervising offenders released from incarceration or sentenced to non-custodial sanctions such as community service. In some jurisdictions parole or probation officers are involved in presenting reports on offenders and making sentencing recommendation to courts of law. Generally, probation officers investigate and supervise defendants who have not yet been sentenced to a term of incarceration.
Transversely, parole officers supervise offenders released from incarceration after a review and consideration of a warden, parole board or other parole authority. Parolees are essentially serving the remainder of their incarceration sentence in the community. However, some jurisdictions are modifying or abolishing the practice of parole and giving post-release supervision obligations to a community corrections agent, generically referred to as a probation officer. Still some others are expanding the duties to include post incarceration supervision under special sentencing such as Megan's Law offenses, civil commitments, and violent offenders.
These cases involve persons who have completed their incarceration, but must be supervised under the special sentence for three years, or even life supervision as in the case with Community Supervision for Life sentencing for sex offenders. In some states, due to the heightened danger to the public, these cases are supervised by parole officers rather than probation officers since parole officers are more commonly trained in police academies and carry firearms. Typically, probation and parole officers do not wear a uniform, but simply dress in business or casual attire. Probation officers are usually issued a badge or some other form of credentials and, in some cases, may carry concealed weapons or pepper spray for self-protection or serve arrest warrants.
Parole officers, in many jurisdictions, are issued a badge, credentials, and firearm, and often have full police powers. Probation and parole officers, who have law enforcement powers, are technically classified as peace officers, and if so, they must attend a police academy as part of their training and certification. Before being hired as an officer one must pass a series of drug tests, meet medical standards, and have a criminal history background check. You will undergo an extensive Office of Personnel Management (OPM) background investigation, medical examination, and drug screening.
Upon successful completion of the background investigation, medical examination, and drug screening, the selectee may then be appointed provisionally, pending a favorable suitability determination by the court. In addition, as a condition of employment, incumbent will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, updated background investigations every five years and, as deemed necessary by management for reasonable cause, may be subject to subsequent fitness-for-duty evaluations and drug screening. If a provisional hire is authorized, continued employment will be contingent on successful completion of the OPM investigation. Also, since I am a probation officer myself, I have learned a lot in such the short time that I have done it, and it definitely gives you a different perspective on people.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probation_officer
http://www.vaep.uscourts.gov/resources/2/HR/Officer%20Requirements.pdf
Career of a Homicide Detective
Jessica Moss
There are many different job opportunities in the criminal justice field, particularly in law enforcement. One job a person can get with the right education and training, is the homicide detective rank. While it often requires previous experience as a police officer, homicide detectives are still required to work closely with police officers. Their main objectives are to investigate typically gory crime scenes in order for justice to be served in the case that they're working on. Some pointers that they are specifically required to look for are, what happened, how it was perpetrated, and who did it. Homicide detectives combine these pointers with other factors in order to build up a case on the crime committed to make substantial progress in solving the crime altogether.
When a homicide detectives arrives on the scene of a crime, their first objective is to look for any evidence that may provide clues to fully uncover the crime. Evidence is important since it can help lead to the identification, and then the arrest of the murderer. The homicide detective is purely responsible for knowing not only what to look for in the scene of a crime, but how to gather clues and analyze them. Blood samples may be collected, as well as items in the victim's home or office that appear to be potentially linked to the murder.
One of the least fulfilling parts of a homicide detective's career is the logical reasoning that must come into play after a crime scene is analyzed. If evidence is insufficient to uncover a crime, the detective is pressured to use his or her instincts to carefully decipher what most logically happened.
The majority of the job is the filing and paperwork that comes into play after a crime is committed and has been investigated at the scene. The detective's report will be the root of the case file created, and can ultimately decide whether the investigation will be continued or not.
When a suspicious murder is committed, it is most often first dealt with by the police. If the death is difficult to understand, a police officer trained as a homicide detective will typically arrive on the scene shortly thereafter. Homicide detectives and police are often required to work together at some point when a murder is committed. The detectives are assigned to help wrap up the case quicker rather than with police working on it alone, one example may be when a detective is set up in an interrogation room to question potential suspects involved in the murder.
Some detectives work separately from police departments, and are available for hire as “private detectives.” These detectives may work with a private agency, or even independently and are available for hire to individual clients. They are often called upon to investigate deaths that the police are not interested in, or that the cases have already been closed on.
Becoming a homicide detective typically requires some kind of college degree in a major such as criminal justice, criminology, or forensics. To work for a police department, homicide detectives will undergo a special training course and are often required to work as a police officer for a certain amount of time until they are promoted.
For more information:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-does-a-homicide-detective-do.htm
http://education-portal.com/articles/Homicide_Investigator_Requirements_Duties_and_Career_Info.html
Lydia Oliver
Overcrowding In Prisons
Imagine your own apartment, Lets say 214 square meters, you have a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, maybe even an extra room to build the man cave you always wanted. Then all of the sudden you decide to kill your neighbor who is a little too loud, and BAM you’re in prison. If you’re lucky you get stuck in a 6’ by 8’ foot cell with one toilet with a sink built in, a sleeping bag sized mat on a steel bunk, no space and a “cellie” who calls you cupcake and wont stop making kissy noises. Now lets step a little further and put you in a dorm (see picture above), that should hold 75 inmates, that has a row of toilets without doors, a small cluster of sinks, a triple stack of those sleeping bag mats, and 300 “cellies” who wont stop smiling at you.
This is called overpopulation, one of the most pressing issues of the criminal justice and corrections system. Overpopulation causes a lot of problems inside the prison system like neglect of the inmate’s mental and physical health, double-celling, Inmate violence, segregation issues, as well as on the outside of the system like the general safety of the public when the inmates are released without the proper resources, rehabilitation, mental health care and monitoring. As a result of over population the Correction Officers and prison guards are outnumbered by the vast numbers they are supposed to monitor. The officers and guards have to maintain order, regulations, rules, the daily work given to the inmates, and sometimes escorting the prisoners when transferred.
Because of these overcrowding issues we have early-release programs, a rehabilitation that is more like a two-step program, “incentives” for parole offices that can keep the prisoners they have from repeating offenses, and many long term suggestions. Now though the core blame rests on those who commit the crimes themselves, a piece of the blame could be put on the policy choices of the General Assembly, These policies include but are not limited to “Whether an act should be a crime; Whether it should be a felony; Which degree of felony (and its range of incarceration options); Whether it deserves mandatory incarceration; Whether any enhancements apply based on the age, infirmity, or nature of the victim, prior offenses, etc.; Whether there are any limits on consecutive sentences; an
Whether the sentencing structure contemplates prison population and other resource pressures in a Systemic way. (Diroll, David. "The Rise of Mandatory Sentencing.." PRISON CROWDING:THE LONG VIEW, WITH SUGGESTIONS. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct 2013. <http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Boards/Sentencing/resources/Publications/MonitoringReport2011.pdf>.)”
Resources
file:/D:/Problems%20with%20Overcrowded%20Prisons%20-%20My%20Criminal%20Justice%20Degree.html
file:/D:/Prison%20overcrowding%20is%20a%20growing%20concern%20in%20the%20U.S.%20%EF%80%A7%20Online%20CCJ%20PDX.html
Brittany Winslow
Institutional corrections
Institutional corrections is something that we all hear a lot about like Sing sing prison and others like that but when you think about why some of the people are in there because they want to be it’s because they made some poor choices in life that kept leading them down in to a place of the unknowns consequences. Most of the people in Sing Sing actually are religious. This is what is so surprising to me because most of the time I think that people with no conscience of what is right or wrong. I was also shocked to know that we don’t hear about the riots that happen in prison unless they are really big.
On the site National Dropout prevention center showed that 82% of people in prison in America are high school dropouts this proves to me that my education is very important. This also tells me that in high school no one really told the students how important their education was for the rest of their life. Also this could mean that schools need to give more of an opportunity for students to ask question or come in for extra help. I also believe that when someone is in prison then they should be given the opportunity to have another chance to get their education. This could lead to making wise choices that would lead to better opportunity for a better job because of the education.
Something that really shocked me was that most people in jail are religious and only about .005 percent are consider having no religion. Most of the people in Sing Sing consider themselves Catholic at about 55% then Protestants at about 33.3% then Jews at about 11.4% and lastly the Atheist which is about .005%. This really shocked me because most of the things that put people in prison are things that the Bible tells us not to do. So it makes me wonder if some of them even really are religious or are just saying so that they can get out of the monotony of the strict schedule that happens every day of their lives while they are in prison.
I don’t understand why when people get out of prison they talk about the riots that happened yet we don’t hear about the riots that they said had happened. On this issue I believe that people should be informed when a riot happens in a prison especially if there are injuries attached to the incident. I mean we don’t need to know the names but just to know that some of the riots happened and that it was got under control this is just a concern for me because if someone that you know is hurt in a riot then it can’t be considered inmate abuse. One out of every 10 inmates says that they had been abused while doing time. In some cases the one that was abused will result in then abusing other.
From this I hope that you get that education is very important and could possibly prevent you from going in to institutional corrections also just follow the law would also keep you out. Secondly that if you claim to have a certain religion then you need to practice what you believe to be true this will also cut down on the offences in my opinion. Lastly I believe that the community and other communities should be informed of riots that happened especially when an accident happens and someone got hurt. Just think about if you were in institutional corrections you got hurt from a riot and no one knows what really happened but the other prisoners and correction officers.
Resources
www.skepticfiles.org/american/prison.htm
http://americangraduate.org/grad-day?gclid=COym-4zFpLsCFa9aMgodv0kAew
Marcus Tibbles
Prisons
So you weren’t able to get the jury and judge to believe that you accidently rob that bank and are now charged with a felony. That means you’ll be living the next few years in a prison. Not county jail, but prison; the hoosegow, the farm, the clink, the rock, the slammer, the big house, say goodbye to your hoe prison. Prisons are nothing new; they’ve been around since at least last spring. Ever since the first man broke the first law there has been ways of dealing with people who are found to be unfit for general society. People used to be locked in stocks where they could be ridiculed, or shackled in dark depressing holes under castles. Australia used to be used as a prison by England, and look how they turned out.
Modern prisons exist in the same way as historic prisons in that they exist to remove the rights of individuals. Inmates still remain the most basic of rights including; the right to food, the right to practice the religion of their choice, and the right for health care. In some prisons, such as the one in Norton, Kansas, inmates are incentivized to be good with the availability of TVs, MP3 players, and other commodities that those on the outside probably would die without. Of course if they mess up they could and probably will lose their possessions they worked so hard to achieve.
The guards in prisons are some though hombres. They are outnumbered by the inmates by a good ratio, but still manage to control the large amount of prisoners with stern looks and curse words alone. Guards are only armed with pepper spray and other non-lethal weapons, no guns. Except for the guy in the tower, he has a high powered sniper rifle. If things get hairy in a place where all the violent dangerous people of a community are forced to live then there is the SORT team that can be called in to deal with the problem. SORT stands for Special Operations Response Team, and they stand on the crumpled bodies of those who would dare oppose them. They use heavier, more armored gear to deal with special problems in the prison. Problems such as riots, or hostage situations, pretty much prison swat teams, only still without guns. Alright they have non-lethal launchers that fire pepper balls, or 37mm rubber batons nothing you would consider and actual gun.
Prison is a lot like grade school, you’re told when you can eat, when you can go outside, and when to go into a small room separated from everyone else. There are prison gangs who conduct business inside the prison, as well as outside. There is also social correction in that if one prisoner is going to cause a problem that will cause everyone else a problem the prisoners will take care of the problem themselves without the guards needing to do anything.
America has the most people incarcerated in the world, go team! The problem with prisons currently is that they are focused on just the punishment of individuals rather the rehabilitation of them so they can exist into society. If only we could just brainwash everybody into being good citizens, I guess a lobotomy will have to do.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison
http://www.prisonhistory.net/
But mostly from Norton’s presentation to the classes.
Image was found on Google Image Search.
Jason Manning
Prisons
Prisons are an institutional correctional facility were criminals who are convicted of a crime are sent to due time to fit there severity of there crime. The criminals are held against their will and are forced to stay till a set time has passed. This set time is set by a judge who believes that a certain time will be an equivalent punishment to that of the violence or severity of the criminal act committed. Criminals who are in prison for there crimes will also be denied certain services and rights to make the punishment more severe, this coupled with the fact of having to stay in an enclosed area for extended amounts of time is usually enough for a punishment. One of the aspects of serving time in prison is that the criminal usually goes under a type of rehabilitation in which they are rehabilitated or made socially acceptable for the public in the sense that they won't commit crimes any more. By undergoing rehabilitation criminals can return to the public as a healthy individual who is a healthy member of society.
Modern prisons came to be more popular around the 18th century when live executions and other means of torture or harsh punishment became frowned upon by the public and mass populous. Because of this resistance and negative association to these types of punishment many people looked to a new type of punishment that the public would be more enthused about yet kept the criminals out of the community and the society as a whole. What was finally settled on was to incarcerate criminals in large numbers creating what is now to be known as a prison. Once this was finally settled criminals after committing there crime were then sent to these prison were they were required to do either time or some other form of punishment. Punishment for crimes could still include death, the punishment of death was just simply moved out of the general peoples view. Simply putting it. What they don't know won't hurt them. After serving there punishment they would then be released back into society. Most of the time they just returned back to a life of crime seeing as rehabilitation wasn't as popular as it is now. The criminal just was more careful about getting caught a second time.
The security of modern prisons are designed around the effect of trying to keep the prisoners inside the institutional correctional facility. It does this deploy means that would severely hinder the criminals escape by using means of hindering escape ranging from simple hindrance to items that would cause injury that are impassable. Objects that would hinder the criminals escape and advance can consist of fences that are electrified and /or razor wired, walls, earthworks, and the guards that patrol the area are all objects that would hinder a criminal convicted of a crime's escape. Usually criminals who are also known as convicts are locked in there own personal cell which does not lead them much time to escape in the first place. The convicts cell is a small holding are which doubles as there limited area of living while serving their set time for the punishment they committed. The cell is equipped with a toilet and a bed for sleeping and using of the restroom. There are also different levels to prisons which prisoners are placed based on there actions within prison or the severity of there crimes. The levels differ from prison to prison, but some are more sever than others.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison
http://www.howstuffworks.com/prison.htm
Jails vs. Prisons
Taryn Di Rito
I have always wondered the difference between jails and prisons. I never actually figured out that they were different until this day. It's not just a case of semantics. Whether a criminal is being held in jail or prison says something about the crime committed and the stage in the process. The way inmates are treated also differs between the two.
Jails are a place of detention; a place where a person convicted or suspected of a crime is detained. Jails are most often run by sheriffs and/or local governments and are designed to hold individuals awaiting dispostion of their case, waiting for transport to the state prison system after they have been convicted, or they are serving time on a misdemeanor sentence. Jails operate work release programs, boot camps, and other specialized services. They try to address educational needs, substance abuse needs, and vocational needs while managing inmate behavior. Inmate idleness contributes to management problems.
Prisons on the other hand are a place of long-term confinement for those convicted of serious crimes. State Prisons are operated by the state where the person was convicted of a felony. Federal Prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and are designed to hold individuals convicted of federal crimes such as racketeering (RICO), bank robbery, and others. Because they're meant to house inmates over months and years, prison facilities are better developed than jail facilities. Many prisons have services for substance abuse, work release programs, an on-site cafeteria and an infirmary. The origins of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization. Corresponding with the advent of the state was the development of written language, which enabled the creation of formalized legal codes as official guidelines for society.
There are obviously major differences in prisons and jails but they both keep the criminals out of society. They not only help out our society but they also help out the inmates get to start more “real-life” ready.
Resources:
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Jail_vs_Prison
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2012/12/whats-the-difference-between-jail-and-prison.html
The Controversy in our Prison System
Tahnee Saxton
10/2/14
Prison is the most common way to deal with criminals in the world. It is also the system of correction that our country has used since we landed on this continent. Today, the prison system in the United States has its definite ups and downs. Many people agree with our prison system, and many people do not. Because there is so much controversy, there are things that are wrong in the system. But because people still support it, it illustrates that there are still good things that come from our prison system. What stance is more correct?
Mail Today states that the average inmate, 12 months before getting taken into custody until he is taken, would have committed 140 crimes. Because of this statistic, supporters claim that prisons prevent, on average, 140 crimes per inmate in one year. This also means that one inmate serving a 5 fear sentence is incapable of the 700 crimes that he or she would have committed. It is factual that prison prevents many crimes. This is why people support it.
Prison supporters claim that prison is the most effective way to prevent criminals to commit future crimes. They say that it is the only way to protect the public from certain criminals for a period of time. They agree that some criminals leave unchanged, but they know that while they are incarcerated they aren’t able to hurt the innocent as they might do on the loose. Prison gives criminals a chance to change their lives by living in a controlled environment where they can take the steps to improve. Supporters also say that prison is the most humane way to deal with crime. Rather than the death penalty and other major actions that can be taken, prison gives more benefits to the people. It gives them hope for a better life.
Prison workers can attest to the fact that sometimes prison life seems ineffective. Overcrowding, unhealthy living conditions, and abusive staff can all contribute. Prison supporters stand firm and believe that any kind of institution that is in lack of funds and facilities suffer from this. Prison supporters want more funds into the system to get more facilities. They believe that the more facilities that are ready to use, the more inmates they take, which results in less crime.
On the flip side of this controversy are people that don’t believe that prison works. The mirror states that 47% of inmates will commit another crime within one year of their release, 58% of inmates with a short sentence re-offend within the year, and 70% of juvenile inmates will be re-convicted within a year. People that disagree with the prison system, because of their stats, claim that prison does not eliminate crime.
Besides that, they also say that prisons are an unnecessary expense. Every year U.S. citizens spend 32 billion dollars in tax money on our correctional institutions. People that don’t support the prison system don’t like the idea of spending more money and tax dollars on new correctional facilities. They also argue that prisons suffer from overcrowding, so they believe that the whole thing is corrupted. Alternatives to prison that they suggest are things like community sentences, no sentences, death penalty, and getting the criminals to meet their victims.
I believe that prisons do in fact cut down the crime rate. I think that even though the person may not change at all after their sentence, the crimes that they would have committed were prevented by sending them to prison. I also believe that we need more prisons to prevent overcrowding. I think that there can be alternative measures taken for funds rather than from tax money. I support the prison system and believe that it can be improved.
References:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-391584/Prison-really-does-work.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/authors/ampp3d-from-mirror/prison-doesnt-work-50-time-3748230
http://www.bop.gov/
Juvenile Justice
Bailey Ellegood
Why when an adult commits a serious crime do people say they are a “bad person,” but when a minor commits the same crime people say, “oh they’re just a child and they don’t know what they are doing.” From a very young age we are taught that there are definite wrongs and rights in the world. There shouldn’t be special conditions for people under 18 who commit violent crimes. In most states there are certain conditions that they have to meet in “family court” for minors which are limited jurisdiction (up to age 17 in most states), informal proceedings, focus on offenders, (not their crime), indeterminate sentences, and confidentiality. (Champion 2004)
In New York an 8-year-old boy had shot his grandmother in the back of the head, killing her. His punishment? He had to go live with his parents and go to counseling, and that’s it. He had intentionally done this, and all he has to do is go to counseling. Now if this had been a 32-year-old man the punishment would have been life in prison. Also people would have said “He’s such a horrible person.” but with the child they said, “ He’s just a child and he didn’t know what he was doing.” When in all reality he knew exactly what he was doing. There is a law in New York about how no person under the age over 12 can be charge with a crime, no matter what the crime is. Why are there different punishments based on age then? There are also many cases like the boy from New York all over the country and the world. For example, the case of Jesse Pomeroy, who brutally murdered two children at the age of 14. When the case went to court, the jury had found him guilty and he was sentenced to death. This was soon changed because the public was outraged because they shouldn’t sentence a child to death, even though he committed two very gruesome murders. His sentence got changed to 40 years in solitary confinement. Once again, if this had been someone over the age of 18, the public wouldn’t have said a single word about the death sentence. When I asked a teacher of mine what his opinions were, he said, “ If you murder someone, no matter what age, it means you didn’t value their lives.” He also basically said that even if you are under 18 you still know basic wrongs from rights. When someone murders another person; he/she are taking the life from this person, and he/she is also taking a valued person from many other lives. This also works for rape because when rape takes place, the person is forced to do something they don’t want to do. We learn at a young that you don’t force people to do things, and you don’t take stuff from others either. All kids know by their parents, or guardians, not to do certain things that are bad. With all of this, the argument that the offender didn’t know what they were doing just because they’re a “child” is completely illogical.
All in all you are able to see that for serious crimes; children know exactly what they are doing and how wrong it is. When a minor commits a violent and serious crime, they should have to have to same punishment as an adult. Minors who commit these crimes need to realize that just because they are under 18 doesn’t mean that they should get special treatment. All serious crimes, such as rape and murder, should get to same punishment no matter what age.
Resources
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/8-year-old-charged-intentionally-killing-grandmother-live-parents-counseling-judge-article-1.1438130
http://listverse.com/2007/11/23/top-10-evil-children/
Champion, D. (2004). The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing, and the Law. Prentice Hall, NJ.
Juvenile Justice System
By: Natalie Elmgreen
The juvenile justice system was started in 1940. After years of having children (young adults under the age of 18) prosecuted through the adult system. This system was found to be unproductive due to the amount of repeat offenders. Research and statistics have shown that kids that were put through the adult system were likely to be seen in the system again. This would result in a high prison population. To change the path that children were on and make it so that the children that committed crimes had a chance at leading productive lives. This is also put in place because there are some children that commit crimes because of a lack of parenting or bad parenting. When kids are found to have unfit parents they are removed, either temporarily or permanently. When the removal is permanent kids are out into foster care or into group homes. When the removal is temporary, kids are put into foster care until their parents have met the state requirements. The requirements can include parenting classes, changes to the physical home and much more.
Creating a system that encourages kids to get an education and a job the main idea of the system. Counseling and part became a major part of making these kids better. Talking out everything out and having to take responsibility for the crimes and the wrongs that they did. Some kids are given chance to stay home and work through their issues with the help of a parole officer. These are usually kids that have not offended before. Kids that the courts find to be a higher risk are sometimes given punishments like prison time, community service, fines, rehab and more.
The juvenile offenders that are given prison time are given the opportunity to graduate from high school and even get some college credits. This was put into place so that kids can have the opportunity to continue their education and really become productive members of society. There are also trade options that the kids are given, meaning job training opportunities. Kids that complete programs like this have a better chance to not be processed through the adult system.
Kids that are likely to be repeat offenders are sometimes given the chance to take care of animals while they are doing time. Research has shown that people that are given the chance to take care of something else they then feel a sense or a reason to not get into trouble. Often times these are dogs that are looking for homes. The kids take care of them, feed them, give them water, walk them and train them so that they can be ready for the new home that they are going to be a part of. This program also serves as job training. Some offenders who complete this program find that they like, and want to work with animals.
The juvenile justice system is one of the greatest ideas that the criminal justice system has ever created. It prevents future criminals and other problems. This can literally change lives and the world. Without it there could be twelve year-olds sitting in the same prison as hard criminals that are far from young. Kids have a chance to make a life for themselves and do something to change the world. Instead of living in a prison cell kids can be all that they can truly be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_detention_center
http://www.cjcj.org/index.html
Juvenile Intake Officer
Tyler Bruggeman
Juvenile Intake Officers deal with juvenile offenders who are sent to them by law enforcement officials or by the juvenile’s family. These officers work with the court systems, families, and the youth to get as much information about the case and make punishment or rehabilitation suggestions. They have to determine whether the juvenile can return home or if they need to be placed into a juvenile detention center to await their court hearing. These officers assist law enforcement by allowing them to return to patrolling while the intake officer assesses the juvenile’s needs.
This job generally requires a bachelor’s degree in a field related to criminal justice, psychology, or social work. Applicants may need to pass a psychological examination to show they are capable to work with minors. They also are required to pass a drug test and prove that they have not been convicted of any felonies. Some positions will require a valid driver’s license and for the worker to be familiar with a computer and possess good writing skills.
Juvenile intake officers conduct assessments of youth to determine whether they’re in need of assistance or disciplinary measures. The juvenile intake officer will collect the following information: the juvenile’s criminal history, abuse history, substance abuse history, history of prior community services used or treatment provided, educational history, medical history, and family history. The information gathered will be used in determining how to deal with the juvenile and his issue. Some of the crimes that are brought before an intake officer include truancy, drug and alcohol use, destructive behavior, misdemeanors and felonies. Once the officer has a full understanding of the crime committed, they can make a fair recommendation for the juvenile’s punishment and treatment.
These officers often assist law enforcement with admission processing and placement screening. Typical duties include referring families to community resources, providing offenders with crisis intervention, transporting juveniles to court of detention hearings, maintaining records, and corresponding with youth, parents, and attorneys.
No records, reports, or information obtained as a part of the juvenile intake process may be brought into as evidence in any Kansas court proceedings. This information may not be used in a child in need of care case except for diagnostic or referral purposes. If there is any information regarding to about or neglect of child gathered in the intake process these records, reports or other information may be used for providing necessary care of children.
Resources
http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_75/Article_70/75-7023.html
http://education-portal.com/articles/Junenile_Intake_Officer_Education_Requirements_and_Job_Duties.html
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Tyler Bruggeman
Juvenile Justice System
The courts have a process they follow when prosecuting juveniles. Through the process parents have opportunities to be an active person in helping their young person get back on the right track.
Once a juvenile is arrested by law enforcement, they are taken to the police station for questioning. Youth need to realize they have the right to a lawyer and in some cases have a right to have a parent present during questioning. The officer has to have probable cause to book them.
The intake officer makes the decision whether to detain the youth, return them to their parents with paperwork to attend a hearing, or to detain them for a judicial hearing. Once the intake officer makes his decision, it is up to the prosecutors to dismiss the case, offer a diversion, or file formal charges and bring the case to juvenile court. At this point, prosecutor’s decision depends on what evidence and the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
If youth are put in jail for their crime, it will be hard for them to prepare their case for court. It is very important that the juvenile’s parents attend the detention hearing. Some juveniles may not be able to afford a lawyer and so the judge will appoint them one. With legal counsel, a youth has a better chance of getting a fair hearing.
At the adjudication hearing, youth have the chance to prove their innocence. The youth’s lawyer can call witnesses and bring to the table any evidence they have to clear their client. They may or not testify on their own behalf.
When a juvenile is found guilty at their adjudication hearing, they will then need to attend a disposition hearing. Probation officer will look at the case and make a recommendation plan to the courts. The judge will base his decision on the type of crime and the youths past record. The judge can place them on probation, make them pay restitution, perform hours of community service, place them in a program for alcohol or drug abuse, or place them in juvenile jail or home. Whatever the judge hands down, it is very important that they complete the sentencing and do it in a timely manner. This may make a difference in their life at a later date.
Some youth will be sentenced to jail or a detention center. These youth will need to be directed on how to blend back into society and fit in. Depending on their crime, they might need to attend alcohol or drug rehab groups to help them stay clean. If this is the case, parents may want to attend a counsel group to help their child overcome their habit
The procedure for juvenile court is different form adult court. Juvenile court records are sealed documents where adult court records become public records. Juveniles may get a diversion so certain crimes don’t haunt them for a lifetime. If they have done everything they were ordered to do, they may be able to have their record expunged on their eighteenth birthday.
Parents do not need to go through this process alone. They need to find support groups and utilize them to help them and their juvenile get through these rough times.
Resources
http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/children/documents/pub/dhs_id_008412.pdf
http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-court-procedure.html
The Juvenile Justice System of The Bahamas
By: Bernard Newbold
The Bahamas Juvenile Justice System is unique to the system of the United States of America. In the Bahamas, a juvenile can only face charges as a juvenile until his or her 18th birthday and can receive bail if the offense is serious. The bail on a juvenile offender in the Bahamas has not exceeded the $10,000 mark but in capital cases, juveniles cannot receive bail just like adult offenders.
Juvenile offenders in the Bahamas have committed serious offense such as murder but under the laws of the Bahamas cannot be charge as an adult. However in these types of cases, the offenders are heard before the Supreme Court who will determine their punishment.
The Juvenile Court is presided over by an S & C Magistrate, who is assisted by two law persons selected from a Juvenile Panel. The Court tries criminal offences committed by children or young persons, except where the offence is tri-able only in the Supreme Court, or the child or young person is charged jointly with an adult. The court also deals with children who are deemed uncontrollable by parents or guardians and those who need care and protection.
When a Juvenile is sentence, they are housed at two facilities in the capital Nassau which is the Simpson Penn School for Boys and the Wilmae Pratt School for Girls. At these facilities, juveniles are educated just like any other student in the Bahamas.
They play in sporting tournaments amongst themselves and in 2009 for the first time; they participated in a Track and Field competition. Cameras are not allowed in the facility or at any functions when juvenile offenders are out participating to protect their identities.
Here are a few capital cases:
A17-year-old boy was yesterday charged with one of the country’s latest murders. The juvenile whose name is being withheld because of his age is accused of the August 15 shooting death of Luc Dupre. Police reports said Dupre was riding his motorcycle in the Sunlight Cottage area when he was killed. As neither his mother nor any relative elected to come forth to stand with him during his arraignment, a social worker stood by the juvenile as he faced charges for the crime. He was not required to plea and was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prisons (HMP) until January 29, 2013 for a voluntary bill of indictment.
Because of the capital offense, the juvenile will be housed at the main prison but away from adult prisoners for his protection. The Bahamas system on juveniles is to rehabilitate them back into society.
Three juveniles appeared in the same court and pleaded not guilty to charges of house breaking, stealing and receiving. The charged persons include a 13-year-old, and a 14- and 16-year-old. Police said that the trio broke and entered the home of Dorothy Yearwood, located at Blue Berry Hill between 7.20 a.m. and 7.20 p.m. on October 15. It is alleged that the minors stole a black compact disc holder, 28 assorted music CDs, one black wallet valued at $10, which contained $100 cash and an assortment of ladies jewelry, altogether valued at $1,065. It is alleged that the youth received the CD holder and the 28 assorted CDs valued at $580. The youngest boy was remanded as he had similar offences but the other two were granted bail in the sum of $1,500.
In 2009 statistics revealed from the Juvenile Panel that 32 females were charged with uncontrollable behavior; seven with fighting; five with stealing and receiving; two with unlawful sexual intercourse; two with assault; and one each with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply; and shop breaking and stealing.
Just like all countries around the world, there is an alarming increase of juvenile offenders committing capital and serious crimes. It seems as though, too many of the countries juveniles are leaving high school before their 18th birthday and cannot find employment which is leading to the high increase.
Resources
www.thenassauguardian.com
www.bahamas.gov.bs
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++Juvenile court
arielle Gil-Sanz
The juvenile justice system is different from the criminal justice system. Read on to learn the basics of juvenile court (also called young offender's court), juvenile cases, and the juvenile court procedures.What Is Juvenile Court?Each state has special courts — usually called juvenile courts — to deal with minors who have been accused of violating a criminal statute. The proceedings are civil as opposed to criminal. So, instead of being formally charged with a crime, juvenile offenders are accused of committing a delinquent act.
A juvenile case gets started when a prosecutor or probation officer files a civil petition, charging the juvenile with violating a criminal statute and asking that the court determine that the juvenile is delinquent. If the charges are proved and a delinquency determination is made, the juvenile offender comes under the courts broad powers. At that point, the juvenile court has the authority to do what it considers to be in the best interest of the juvenile.Often, the juvenile court retains legal authority over the minor for a set period of time — until the juvenile becomes an adult, or sometimes even longer.Eligibility for Juvenile Court
To be eligible for juvenile court, a young person must be a considered a "juvenile" under state law. In most states, the maximum age for using juvenile court is 18. In a few states the age is 16 or 17, and in one (Wyoming) the maximum age is set at 19.States also set lower age limits for juvenile court eligibility. Most states consider children under the age of 7 to be incapable of determining the difference between right and wrong, or forming a "guilty mind." So, children under the age of seven are usually excused from responsibility for acts they commit. Instead, parents may have to pay compensation to anyone victimized by the acts of a very young child. In some cases, the court will find a parent unfit to care for a child who has committed wrongdoing and will place the child with relatives or foster parents. Whether children between the ages of seven and 14 can form a guilty mind is usually left up to the judge. If the judge feels that the child was capable of forming criminal intent, the child will be sent to juvenile court.Most states regard children 14 and older as capable of forming criminal intent, so the majority of cases involving young people from 14 to 18 years of age are adjudicated in juvenile court. In certain circumstances, a juvenile can be tried in adult criminal court. (To learn more about trying juveniles in adult criminal court, see Nolo's article When Juveniles Are Tried in Adult Criminal Court.)
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_court
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-justice
http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/
Juvenile Court
Anthony McKinley
Juvenile courts systems were first established in 1899 in Chicago. When it was first created, all kids under the age of seventeen years old who committed a crime were under the same trial as an adult. Most people started to see juveniles as youth who were going down the wrong path. Instead of being so hard on these kids, the courts believed that with proper instruction and discipline these once troubled youth could get back on track to respected members of society. This theory started putting more positive resources like group homes, Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, and counselling, thus getting more options to help struggling youth deal with issues they may face.
Group home programs are designed to help kids dealing with individual issues, group trauma, difficulties with education, and vocational development. The best group homes commonly offer training to create real life skills. While living in the group home privileges are earned through a phase system that establishes rules for spending time alone, bedtime, chores and daily activities. Teens living in a group home are constantly involved in running the home to include planning, shopping and preparing meals, cleaning the house, washing dishes, planning group activities and dealing with conflicts. These recreational and real life activities that integrate into the treatment plan of the client make getting back on track easier and more realistic for the patient. Along with these great resources, group homes for struggling teens offer rules that are usually enforced in real life to show proper discipline and realistic punishment. Group home programs for troubled teens are created to provide a therapeutic environment with onside guidance from trained instructors, teaching and training basic skills combined with therapy. Troubled teens in a group home receive assistance in making emotional and behavioral improvements which is one of the major ingredients to developing a troubled teen into a functioning member of society. Group homes can also be a step-down from a residential treatment program.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) provides alternative care for teenagers with histories of chronic and severe criminal behavior who are close to or on their way to a full adult jail sentence. Community families are recruited, trained, and closely supervised to provide the youth offenders with treatment and intensive supervision at home, in school and in the community, also including clear, consistent and enforced limits with positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior and a relationship with a mentoring adult. Separating these kids from other youth offenders can be very positive, as they won’t feel that they are surrounding by bad influences. Family therapy is additionally provided to the youth’s biological family, which is a major part in repairing the juvenile’s now torn apart life. Compared to a control group, MTFC youth had significantly fewer arrests and less hard drug use in the follow up period and 60% less incarceration.
Juvenile Drug Courts are another successful option for minors facing incarceration. Based on the success of adult drug courts, juvenile drug court programs are being put into action for drug involved juvenile offenders. The courts provide immediate and continuous court intervention that includes requiring the child to participate in treatment, submit to frequent drug testing, appear at regular and frequent court status hearings, and comply with other court conditions set to accountability, rehabilitation, long-term sobriety, and cessation of criminal activity. Juvenile drug courts require the family to be closely involved in the treatment process. A number of them require parents to participate in special parent groups that provide both support and the opportunity to develop parenting skills. The drug court judge not only oversees the child's performance and progress and the family's, but also brings together the schools, treatment resources, and other community agencies to work toward achieving the drug court's goals.
All of these resources are slowly but surely pushing America’s trouble into back into a positive direction with their lives. Helping families cope with problems and learn how to help their child succeed, develop life skills, and conquer serious issues they attempt to deal with day by day. The Juvenile Court systems have consistently taken a step in the right direction with these great options and continue to improve their methods and think of new ideas that could help kids cope with internal issues and get back to growing into happy, successful members of society.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_juvenile_justice_system#Juvenile_Judicial_System_Today
http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/children/documents/pub/dhs_id_008412.pdf
The Juvenile Justice system
Jamal Jones
Until the mid-1880s, there was no real juvenile justice system. Society could punish kids the same way they punished adults. Although kids could get harsh sentences like the death penalty, there was a de facto process of nullification (a refusal to enforce the law and sanctions against children). In the early 1880s as the country experienced industrialization, there was a rapid population growth which brought many uneducated poor people. Houses of Refuge were established to take the poor off the streets and teach them things they would need to know to try to find a job and be successful.
These establishments handled both children and adults. Houses of Refuge soon started to become overcrowded and weren’t able to provide the training they were supposed to. A new establishment was soon created, which were called reformatories. Their goal was the same as the House of Refuge but they only dealt with kids and they were set up to create more of a home environment. Like the Houses of Refuge, Reformatories eventually failed as well. The first individual juvenile court was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1899 which reflected a general belief that juveniles needed assistance to overcome the disadvantages they faced in society. The Juvenile court had jurisdiction over all youths aged 15 years of age and older, and conformed to a philosophy that was diametrically opposed to the existing tenets of the adult criminal system.
This philosophy is called parens patriae. Parens patriae was to nurture, protect, and train the youths so that they could make decisions and avoid problems. The court was to act as a parent to the juveniles who were in need of assistance. Today, parens patiae is only one of the philosophy rationales underscoring juvenile justice. There are 5 “general-purpose clauses” for juvenile court. The clauses are: The Balanced and Restorative Justice orientation that focuses on the needs of all parties involved, including the juvenile and the victims; the Standard Juvenile Court Act which emphasize care, guardianship and control of the youth; the Legislative Guide that focuses on care, protection, supervision, and rehab of children; a Criminal Court orientation that focuses on deterrence, punishment, and accountability; and a traditional Child Welfare where the emphasis is on the best interest of the child. Parens patriae is a key component in all of these except the Criminal Court orientation.
There are five important stages in juvenile court processing
Detention
A detention decision considers whether the individual will appear at a later date, whether the person is a threat to others, and whether the juvenile is in danger of him or herself.
Intake
At the intake the decision is made to file a petition with the court to hear the case or to handle the youth in another way. The petition alleges that a child is wither delinquent, neglected, abused, incorrigible, dependent, or otherwise in need of court intervention. This decision to file a petition is usually make by a probation or intake officer.
Waiver
The juvenile court has an option to transfer the youth to the adult system for processing. This is a very important decision because if the juvenile is waived to the adult system then the youth would be charged as an adult and have an adult criminal record. There are other forms of waiver:
Judicial waiver – Requires a waiver hearing in front of a judge who determines the suitability of removing the case to the adult court.
Prosecutorial waiver- The decision to try a juvenile in the adult court is made by the prosecutor, who has sole discretion in the matter.
Legislative waiver- The legislature has dictated, through a statute, that certain youths must be tried in the adult court.
Once/always waiver- Once a youth has been adjudicated in adult court, the youth is permanently under the adult court’s jurisdiction.
Adjudication
During the adjudication stage the judge must determine whether there is enough evidence to support the petition and what remedy to use with the juvenile. This is similar to finding guilt or innocence and sentencing in adult court.
Disposition
Once the court has determined that the facts and evidence are sufficiently supported a disposition is determined, which is similar to a sentence in adult court.
Sources
www.raisingtroubledkids.com
Lab, Steven P. Criminal Justice: The Essentials. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print
Cordae Mckelvy
Juvenile Court Process
Police officers are not the only ones who send juveniles to court. Fifteen percent are sent to court by either their parents, school or other people from different agencies. Dealing with teenagers can be a hassle at times. After entering the court house cases go through several different steps. Cases are handled in either a formal capacity or an informal intervention. Every case that reaches the court goes through the same five stages of the decision process.
The first stage is detention. Detention is something like a bail. During this step the decision is made rather or not to send the kid home or keep them in custody. The decision is made based on what’s best for society and what’s best for the kid. Initial decisions are made by probation officers or detention workers. But, the judge always has the final say. The decision on rather or not to hold the person in custody has to be made within two days. It is illegal for kids to be detained with adults. Detentions can be both secure and nonsecure. In secure detentions the juvenile is basically in a local jail. Nonsecure detentions consist of places like group homes. Where ever the child is detained it has to offer food, a place to sleep, health care, education and treatment programs. The idea is to help the child. They often reward good behavior that the juvenile shows in order to keep things stable.
The second stage of the decision making process is intake decision. During this stage the decision is made rather or not to file a petition. A probation officer or an intake officer does a full investigation on the child, which is later viewed by a prosecutor. Most cases are not petitioned. Those cases still have to go through some form of probation or some sort of treatment. This is known as informal adjustment. Other possible outcomes can be diversion. The juvenile may either have to go to teen court or drug court. In teen court the juvenile is reviewed by teens and can be punished with things like community service and writing letters. In drug court teens are placed on probation and have to take drug test.
The third stag is the transfer or waiver decision. During this step they decide if the juvenile will be tried as an adult. If this decision is made the crime will go onto the juveniles life long criminal record. There are four different types of transfers or waivers. The most common is the judicial waiver, this is where evidence of why the case should be pushed to adult court is shown to a judge. The second waiver is the prosecutorial waiver, this is where the decision is made rather or not to try the juvenile in the adult court. The next waiver is known as the legislative waiver or the statutory exclusion. During this waiver the legislator decides that certain juveniles must be tried in the adult court. During the once/always provision waiver says that once a juvenile is under the adult court they must stay there. These waivers do not have the final say. There is a reverse waiver where the adult court can send the juvenile back to juvenile court.
The fourth stage is adjudication. During this stage the judge decides if the case enough information is provided to support and go through with the petition. The juvenile is not considered guilty or innocent. During the Disposition stage the final decision on what to do with the person is made.
To be a juvenile is to be seen as an adult in some cases. Depending on the depth of the crime this isn’t always the best option. This is a topic that I cannot side with. Is a teenager developed enough mentally to be held accountable for bad decision that they may have made? Glad the decision is not in my hands. To avoid all of this, stay out of trouble.
Work Cited
Siegel, Larry J., and Brandon C. Welsh. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law.10th Ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Michon,Kathleen. "Juvenile Court System Options." Nolo.com, N.p., n.d. Mon. 2 Dec. 2013.
Kerifa Myers
Juvenile Justice system
History
The first juvenile court was established in 1899 in Chicago as a byproduct of the Progressive Era. At the time, anyone under the age of seventeen who committed a crime was placed in the same judicial system as adults. As social views began to change, many started to see juvenile offenders as youths who had simply lost their way, rather than hardened criminals. It was believed that with proper instruction, and disciplinary guidelines instituted, a youth could be rehabilitated and again become a productive member of society.
Juvenile Judicial System Today
The focus of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate juveniles, rather than to imprison and punish them. Many states, such as Massachusetts, have special courts set aside to try and convict juveniles. Others, such as Colorado, have courts that deal with juvenile cases in addition to regular ones. On the other hand, there are cases of stricter sentencing for minors, e.g. Amy's Law, which increased the maximum sentence for a young child convicted of murder in Georgia from two years to the variable duration between the time of conviction and age 21.
Juvenile delinquency is one of the most serious threats to the current and future safety of American society. Although the results of criminal offences hardly ever change, lots of people would argue that the problem is much more complicated and demands lots consideration than adult criminals. This raises the awareness of the ethical thinking of the juveniles of today’s society. Often times these young kids act and they don’t think of the mere conquences of the action they have performed.
First of all in many cases since children and adolescences are much more characterized by what they have and don’t have and they are pressured by their environment, People should carefully consider the motives of young criminals. Many parents cannot afford to provide the name brand products for their teens, (e.g. I phones) and they are being pressured by the people around them this leads them to have no other decision than to go and steal so they can be in the cool crowd. So this would be prone to theft, as he perceives the product as a critical (i.e. a need rather than a want). The same holds true for other types of criminal offence such as drug abuse and violence.
Second, minors are typically less experienced; therefore, their perception about good and bad differ from adults, and they are much more sensitive to manipulations. Referring to the defenses in perception between minors and adults, Justice Kennedy noted that “the same characteristics that render juveniles less culpable than adults suggest as well that juveniles will be less susceptible to deterrence.” (2005).To me kids are very vulnerable therefore the act without thinking and the results of these are not as we adults would prefer but we Have to face them and let these juveniles know what they have done.
Having saying this it is now clear those factors and others imply that the juvenile justice system should be coherently different from the adult criminal justice system.
The rationale for behind giving special handling with young offenders is the idea of parents. This doctrine suggests that it is the responsibility of the state to protect and nurture children when their parents fail to do so. Therefore, when a minor commits a crime, he should receive a treatment rather than a punishment, and the legislator must make sure that the justice system considers the well—being of the specific offender more deeply than the seriousness of the offence. This approach aims to alter one’s course of criminal behavior and to turn his into a productive citizen in the future.
Refernces
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_juvenile_justice_system
http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/children/documents/pub/dhs_id_008412.pdf
Juvenile Justice System
Ja’Mar Hammonds
Kids are seen as innocent human beings. They are learning what is right and acceptable in this world and what is wrong and looked down upon by others. In a lot of people’s eyes if a child does wrong then it was an accident and they didn’t know any better. However what if the crime is more serious than just hitting someone or breaking a vase in the house. What if a child commits a serious crime like murder or theft, should the same rules apply for them that would apply for an adult who commits the same crime. Some individuals think that no matter what age you are, you should know that serious crimes such as murder and theft are wrong and should be punished to the maximum. While others on the other hand think that once again, kids are just learning the norms of society and figuring out who they are as individuals. These same people think they have a greater capacity to change their ways because they haven’t been molded and shaped into their set ways like an adult has.
The juvenile justice system has come a long way since it was first established in 1899. Back then juveniles wouldn’t really even get punished for a crime they had committed. They would simply have a conversation with the judge about what they did and how it was wrong and that would be the end of it. This was a pretty laisse faire approach and kids in my opinion were more likely to commit the crime again because they didn’t get punished for it the first time. However things became stricter in the years to come and the juvenile court systems were established. According to the article “Youth in the Justice System: An Overview,” in the case of In re Gault, juveniles were given many of the same rights that adults were when accused of crimes. For example right to an attorney and the right to confront witnesses against them. If a juvenile has the same rights as an adult does then why shouldn’t they be charged like an adult? Everyone is always talking about how everyone should be treated equal. However when it comes to the justice system this theory of equalization can be argued because kids and adults are not equal in the system. In my opinion we are too lenient on kids. If the justice system doesn’t charge a kid like an adult then they are in my opinion more likely to go out and commit the crime again because they know that they can get away with it. I do believe that kids do make mistakes however that is no excuse because an adult can argue the same thing when they commit a crime; that they just made a mistake.
In a murder case back in Indiana a few months ago, two teenage boys, I believe around the age of 16 murdered a man in his mid to late 20s. Of course the big controversy was if they should be charged as adults or as minors. When these two boys were entering the court room, they were both laughing. How could these two young men care so little and be so cold hearted to laugh in front of the victims family and friends while they were about to go in front of the judge. In this specific case, it just goes to show you that these two boys knew exactly what they had done was wrong and they simply didn’t care. Yes cases can be “waivered” to an adult court if the crime is bad enough and the jury believes that they should be tried as an adult. However a lot of juvenile cases there are more “informal” actions taken and the cases never reach a formal hearing.
According to GPN, 21 percent of juveniles were repeat offenders and 8 percent committed three or more additional crimes. Many people do argue that kids can change and they don’t know any better and that is why they shouldn’t be charged as adults. However I believe deeply that if we as a justice system charge kids more harshly then they are less likely to go and commit the crimes later on in life.
Resourceshttp://americancityandcounty.com/issue20030101/tracking-repeat-juvenile-offenders
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-court-overview-32222.html
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