Structure of Law Enforcement

Criminal Justice System The author of this report has been asked to answer two general questions about the criminal justice system. First, there is to be a discussion of the differing views of the criminal justice system as it current operates, those being the process, network and non-system. The other question is whether the three justice components, those being the police, courts and corrections, constitute a true system.

While a criminal justice system does technically exist, it is often very circuitous and overly complex and this leads to disparate outcomes and varying degrees of justice for victims and perpetrators alike. As for the first question, the law enforcement system is very much a process. In most cases, a person is either arrested or cited if they are deemed to be potentially guilty of a crime. For a citation, a court appearance may or may not be needed.

The person receiving the citation can just pay the fine or they can fight it in court. The guilt or innocence of the person is decided at a trial and punishment is doled out if the person is found guilty. For an arrest situation, the person is taken to jail and book. They then have to either post bail or they are released on their own recognizance.

At some future point, they have their trial or they work something else in advance of the trial including a dismissal, a plea or a diversion. In other words, there is very much a process when it comes to alleged crimes and the process by which someone is found guilty, found innocent or has the charges dropped. The law enforcement system is also very much a network because there are varying levels of law enforcement, even in a single area. Levels of law enforcement include city, county, state and federal.

The laws enforced may be very specific (e.g. drugs/narcotics) or it may be more general. However, there can be "fragments" whereby a part of the larger law enforcement framework is closed off from the rest. If there is an argument for a non-system, then that would be it (Fresno, 2015). Overall, however, there is indeed a system that exists between the three justice components mentioned in the question, those being the police, courts and corrections. The police enforce the law and apprehend people they believe to be offenders.

The courts then decide the guilt or innocence of the person charged. If found guilty, the department of corrections then dispenses with the punishment which can include probation, incarceration and parole. That all being said, it is a system that can end up treating people some people very badly and the same crime can be treated quite differently in different jurisdictions or even just in different situations within the same jurisdiction.

The sentencing rules and the amount of discretion that judges and juries have can lead to some very differing outcomes and there are even accusations of institutional racism and police brutality (Warren, 2014). Conclusion Even with the accusations noted above, there is indeed a system when it comes to law enforcement. However, it obviously does.