Criminal Justice as it Relates to New

¶ … criminal justice as it relates to New Jersey. Specifically, it will describe the information provided on four New Jersey Web Sites, and tell what I learned about each of these agencies by looking at their Web Sites.

New Jersey Web Sites

http://www.monmouth.com/%7Efairhavenboro/Public_Safety/Police/police.html

This is the Web Site for the Borough of Fair Haven Police Department. This first page gives a lot of helpful information; from how many officers work in Fair Haven, to where the Department is located, and how the Department tries to be "community" oriented, and listen to the community's concerns. One way they are addressing this is by employing more motorcycle and bicycle officers, who do not have the "barrier" of a vehicle between the officer and the public. The information here is scant, but what it does tell the visitor is that Fair Haven is concerned about how its' officers appear to the public, and they are prepared to change their image if it is necessary to provide better service. It is clear the Department is also concerned with safety, from the reminder to "buckle up," to the information on children's safety and many programs geared to children. There is also timely news about community events and crime prevention. This is clearly a small community police department that is hoping to keep some of the problems and concerns of the big city out of its community. http://www.prosecutor.co.monmouth.nj.us/

This Web Site is for the Monmouth Country Prosecutor, and it has a different, more professional feel than the Fair Haven site. Clearly, Fair Haven was trying to appeal to the community, while the Prosecutor wants people to see how professional their office is. This is a full-service site with numerous pages concentrating on all facets of criminal justice in the Prosecutor's office. The pages are easy to navigate, and all contain valuable information for anyone who might have to deal with the office, whether as a professional, victim, or accused. There are lists of all the police departments serviced by the office, information on keeping safe on the Internet, and even information on unsolved crimes. It is clear this is a Web Site designed to be used by many different people, and so it provides a lot of information, and in a very professional and easy to read manner. I learned a lot about the office, the man who runs it (from his bio), and what to look for on a professional Web Site from this site. This is an excellent Web Site for what it does, and what it is intended, and it could be used as a good example for many other Web Sites in the criminal justice area. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/home.htm

The New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice Web Site is also a comprehensive Web Site meant for a variety of users. It uses a lot of graphics to break up the pages and make the reading more interesting, and it is very easy to navigate, even if it does seem a bit crowded at times. There is a lot of information here to digest, from Megan's Law to Bullying, and Identity Theft. This is the kind of Web Site that would take several visits to see everything, because it might even seem a little overwhelming at first glance. For example, the Law Enforcement Resources section has news releases in addition to thirteen different sections with information on everything from Drug Testing to Other Resources. Clearly, it takes a long time to wade through all these resources. Some of them might be very valuable, but you might miss them during the first or even the second visit to this site. This site might contain too much information in one place, and might need to be broken down into smaller sites that had the same information, but might be less intimidating to the user. This was probably the most difficult of all the Web Sites to understand and navigate in one or even two visits. http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/nj_overview.htm