Problems in Criminal Justice - Essay Example

13 December Problems in Criminal Justice The American Criminal Justice System functions with three components, to deal with crimes and administering justice, such as “the police, the courts and corrections” (The American Criminal Justice System: An Overview 461). It is needless to say that in a democratic society, where people have certain set of rights that are protected under law, the maintenance of law and order and the administration of justice poses a major challenge. Besides, the American criminal justice system is also based on the concept of free and fair trial to all citizens. Thus, it endeavors to ensure a “due process model” that relies on the premise that “it is better to let ten guilty persons go free rather than convict one innocent person” (461). Thus, it becomes incumbent on the various components of the Criminal Justice System to protect citizens’ rights at “every stage of the criminal justice process” (461). This entails various problems for the police, courts and correction as discussed under: Problems for Police: The ever increasing crime rate, coupled with the diverse nature of crimes, is a major concern in the US, which entails numerous problems for the law enforcement agencies. One of the major issues that police forces encounter is the complaints relating to incidents of police brutality, which are in fact hindering them from honestly performing a “professional and fair enforcement of their duties (462). In a society, where crimes are rampant, police officers have to sometimes resort to the use of excessive force to prevent a crime from happening for eliciting information about an accused criminal. However, when such incidents occur, media and public make an outcry about violation of human rights and police officers will have to bear the brunt. It is also relevant that the nature of police work entails a lot of pressure and stress for the officers on duty. Thus, on occasions, the nature of crimes and the modus operandi of criminals often do not leave much scope for following routine procedures and such instances get blown out of proportion, causing criticism against the law enforcement agencies. In order to overcome this problem, police officers need to be bestowed with more powers depending on the circumstances of the crime. Besides, they also must be provided with latest technological support to monitor, investigate and process criminal cases. Policing is a hazardous and pressurizing job that involves risk of personal safety and even life to the police officers. In comparison, the remuneration they receive is meager. Corporate executives, who are in a position to enjoy a much relaxing lifestyle, earn much more than police officers, who are duty bound for 24/7. This is especially so in view of the escalating problem of international terrorism. This factor may cause resentment in the police officers and entail a lack of motivation in them. Besides, criminals and terrorists have access to latest technology and modern weaponry, while most police forces are using outdated technology and weapons. This reduces their operational efficiency apart from having a demoralizing effect on them. In order to overcome this problem, the government must review the pay package of the police forces and upgrade it to conform to the inherent risks of the job. Additionally, police forces also need to be provided with latest technology and weaponry. Problems for Courts: The main problem of courts is the difficulty due to “inadequate legal representation” for the accused persons during trials (466). Besides, a general trend exists that public prosecutors tend to be less experienced than counselors being hired by wealthy defendants. Thus, on the one hand, accused individuals who hail from a poor background do not receive adequate or timely legal representation. On the other hand, accused persons who are wealthy, enlist the services of highly proficient advocates, who outsmart relatively less experienced public prosecutors. Thus, in many cases potential criminals escape sentencing. It appears that if the government provides better remuneration packages to prosecutors in government service, more capable lawyers will be attracted to the profession, which will help solving the problem to a great extent. Similarly, the present system for providing defense to the accused may be reviewed. As crime rates rise across the country, so do criminal cases that courts have to deal with. Thus, a very significant problem, especially for courts with “larger jurisdictions” is the “case overload” (467). The ever increasing volume of cases in a court may entail in lack of quality in the administration of criminal justice. Besides, this may cause “sentence disparity” in which courts award different sentencing for a same offence (467). In order to tackle the increasing crime rates and to dispose criminal cases expeditiously, the government needs to review the jurisdiction of courts covering larger areas and cases and divide them into more units so that additional burden is not put on a particular court. Problems for Correction: The most significant problem that correction systems in the US confront is that of prison overcrowding. As the number of crimes and sentences increases, prisons become overcrowded and the prison management often finds it difficult to manage the situation with the available resources. Similarly, the war on drugs also has had a heavy impact on prisons, which resulted in increased Black Americans being “in prison than in college” (469). Measures like split sentencing or parole will be more effective for countering the problem of prison overcrowding. Besides, the criminal justice system also needs to consider imposing of fines for nonviolent and economic crimes. Another major problem that correction systems across the country encounter is that of the scarcity of resources. As stated earlier, the increase in crimes has resulted in overcrowding of the prisons. This, in turn, has caused scarcity of resources for prisons. In addition, “aging prison population promises to add mounting costs” to correction systems (469). Thus, overall, it has an overburdening impact on the available resources of correction systems both in terms of human as well as financial resources. As aforesaid, an ideal solution for this problem will be awarding fines instead of sentence for nonviolent and economic crimes, where feasible. The additional revenue so accrued can be utilized for replenishing the prison resources. Works Cited American Criminal Justice System: An Overview. Chapter 14, Introduction to Criminology. (n.d.). Web. Read More