The Criminal Justice System - Term Paper Example

Factors Influencing Criminal Justice Personnel Behavior The criminal justice system is a set of processes and agencies initiated by the government to contain crime and impose charges on individuals who violate laws (Cole, Smith & Dejong, 2012, p.92) .The criminal system involves personnel that initiate justice. The personnel in the criminal justice system include the police, lawyers, judge, prosecutors, and investigators auditors among others. They are influenced by extrinsic and intrinsic factors that influence their behavior in job output. For instance, accepting bribe by police officers forces them to change their behavior and support the wrong act and, therefore, a challenge to the plaintiff. Personnel in the criminal justice sector should be liable and accountable for their actions or decisions. The accountability and liability of the criminal justice personnel because of their behaviors has an impact on the economy. Therefore, there is the necessity for a civilian oversight committee to supervise the conduct and powers of criminal justice personnel in relation to the protection of policies, procedures, liability, and economic factors. Accountability Accountability is a significant principal of a liberal society that the police or other criminal justice personnel should be held responsible to account for their actions or decisions. It also refers to a scheme of external and internal checks and balances aimed at ensuring that criminal personnel undertake their duties efficiently and effectively without failure. Accountability includes what the police do and how they perform in the criminal justice system. (Prenzler, 2012. p.57). The criminal justice system has various components, that is, law enforcement, prosecution (lawyers), defense attorneys, courts (judges), and corrections. They are accountable for their actions and performances. However, the behaviors of the personnel such as the police are highly manipulated which hinders accountability. For instance, taking of bribe by the police influences his behavior negatively hence forcing him to take improper actions such release of the accused without prosecution. Therefore, accountability of the police is minimized or affected due to the bribe. Lack of motivation among the personnel also influences their behavior negatively. Low motivation promotes low performance, and poor discharge of duties thus hindering accountability of actions taken. However, certain factors influence personnel behavior positively, which enhances effective accountability. Effective accountability of the police entails various elements. They include legislation of international human rights law, which specifies the functions, and powers of the police. The laws govern the police to maintain proper conduct in work, which enhances accountability (Prenzler, 2012. p.57). Opportunity for the citizens to air their grievances influences the behavior of the criminal justice personnel, which enhances their transparency in work. Due to the transparency, the personnel make right actions thus improved accountability. Adequate training of the criminal justice personnel promotes good conduct and proper behavior among employees. The training enables them to discharge their duties proficiently without inefficiency thus enhancing accountability. Adequate supervision by the police leadership and external organs promotes good conduct among the personnel. The good behavior due to supervision and monitoring enhances proper performance and actions hence utmost accountability. Finally, effective policies and procedures on how to tackle misconduct influence the behavior of the criminal justice personnel positively. Due to the procedures and policies, the personnel will efficiently investigate the case at hand without bias and bribe thus improved accountability in the actions taken. Therefore, factors such as bribe taking and lack of motivation influence the behavior of the criminal justice personnel negatively, hence hindering accountability of the actions taken. However, factors such as training, supervision and legislative laws enhances proper good behavior among the personnel hence enhancing accountability of the actions taken. Liability Liability is the condition of being potentially subject to legal action. It also refers to the status of those individuals who are responsible together as a team as well as individually for their action or conduct. Liability entails joint liability and primary liability. Joint liability is an obligation that involves the responsibility of more than one person (Darell, 2014, p.76). However, primary liability is an obligation whereby only one individual is involved. Criminal justice personnel behavior influences the liability of a case. For instance, taking of bribe from the defendant by the police influences his behavior. The police or the criminal personnel (lawyer) will support the defendant after taking bribe hence interfering with legal process. The bribe will protect the accused that is liable or responsible for the offence. Therefore, change in behavior of personnel affects the liability of the case due to manipulation. In civil liability, a person has rights to obtain redress from another person. For instance, it involves the ability to bring a claim for damages or personal injury. To get compensation or award, the plaintiff has to have suffered an actual loss either personal injury, financial loss or damage to property. The defendant is responsible to prove he is not liable to any relevant criminal conviction (Rose, 2014, p. 57). At the end of the case, the loser pays the winners cost. However, taking of bribe, weak policies, lack of supervision and training undermines morality among the criminal personnel, which leads to wrong judgment of the liable party. In criminal liability, the state prosecutes the accused or defendant before a judge or magistrate in a court. Therefore, the criminal justice personnel should avoid torts or wrongful acts, which hinder efficient and effective identification of the liable party in a case. Economic Impact Economy refers to the resources and wealth of an individual, region, or a country. It is mainly in terms of consumption of goods services and production. Economy also involves vigilant management of resources. However, several criminal justice personnel behaviors affect the economy both negatively and effectively. Bribe influences the behavior of criminal personnel to act in a wrongful act. Taking of bribe affects the economy negatively. It minimizes the money in the society, which the public could exploit in productive activities such as entrepreneurship and sales trade. A bribe is a form of corruption thus hindering development projects. It leads to selfish personal gains among the security officers or the criminal justice personnel at large. Therefore, bribe leads to rapid economic decline. However, factors such as training of the criminal personnel, supervision, and provision of effective policies influence their behavior positively. Utmost training and supervision affect the economy positively. There is accountability for actions taken; therefore, no involvement of erroneous acts such bribe taking which thwarts the economy. It is, therefore, evident that various behaviors of the criminal personnel affect the economy. Role of Civilian Oversight Committee The Civilian Oversight Committee helps in ensuring that the police do not abuse or misuse authoritative powers in relation to the procedures, policies, discretion, and economic factors. The committee creates every effort to make police accountable for their powers together with the justification of force, office misconduct, violence, harassment, and false arrest (Sen, 2010, p.8). The Civilian Oversight Committee keeps the police and the police department in check for their action. The Civilian Oversight Committee takes complaints against criminal justice personnel and investigates them. It further review, monitor and audit the complaints. However, the civilian oversight committee faces various challenges such as lack of political support, police corruption, and lack of activist support, lack of resources and poor leadership and management. The committee gives the citizens the form of democracy that the police powers had taken. It keeps a close check on the police and track their daily dealings with the citizens with to how the public are treated (Sen, 2010, p.156). The committee ensures that the citizens are to be treated according to human rights and the law. It acts as a management tool to ensure the police officers abide by the rules of conduct available to the police officers. The Civilian Oversight Committee, therefore, ensures that the police officers use the recommended procedures and policies to undertake their duties efficiently and effectively and enhance political and economic stability. References Cole, G., Smith, C., & Dejong, C. (2012). The American System of Criminal Justice. Cengage Learning. Print. Prenzler, T. (2009). Ethics and accountability in criminal justice: Towards a universal standard. Bowen Hills, Qld: Australian Academic Press. Rose, D. (2014). Civil Liability in Criminal Justice. Routledge. Sanders, A., Young, R., & Burton, M. (2010). Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, USA. Print. Sen, S. (2010). Enforcing police accountability through civilian oversight. New Delhi, India: SAGE. Print. Read More