1013CCJ Assessment 3 PDF

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1013CCJ Assessment ...

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ASSESSMENT 3: SHORT ANSWER RESPONSES 1013CCJ: Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice Griffith University Student name: Tayla Hewitt Student number: Tutor name: Angelique Richards Course mode: Instructions: Respond to TWO of the following short answer questions. Type or paste your responses into the spaces provided. Refer to the assessment instructions on Learning@Griffith for further guidance.

Module 9 Short-Answer (Policing and Crime Prevention): Many law enforcement agencies use predictive policing to inform staffing levels and patrol allocations. Some of these efforts have been successful, but they have also stirred up controversy. What are the prospects and pitfalls of using this kind of approach in policing? (250 words, +/- 10%) Predictive policing [PP] is a method whereby data is analysed to conclude how to effectively respond and prevent crime. PP comprises of multiple policing principles and enables jurisdictions to provide the appropriate training and deployment of policing resources when preventing anticipated crime. PP has proved to be an effective tool for law enforcements in relation to the reduction in crime rates. The implementation of analytic tools and techniques enables for ‘hot spots’ of repeated crime to be identified and resources to be allocated accordingly. When applied to PP, data analytics promotes informed decision-making across various facets, ranging from analysis of crime patterns to identifying vulnerabilities of a community and its members. Whilst PP has been seen to have a positive impact to law enforcement, it also raises concerns is areas of privacy and racial profiling. PP is a practice dependent on the collection of data to identify individuals that may be a risk. However, obtaining this information may be violating privacy laws in terms of data being too personal or it being used to discriminate an innocent individual. Issues have been raised on PP being centred around biased data, proliferating racial profiling. When fed with biased data, PP magnifies emerging convention processes and reduces accountability. Due to data being automated this can skew resources being focused in areas of need and undermines the constitutional requirement of targeting people based upon suspicion of wrongdoing not statistical probability. Whilst PP may produce positive effects on law enforcement, there are significant negative aspects to be examined before implementing a program that is not certain of ensuring transparency of accurate analysis.

Module 10 Short-Answer (Courts and Restorative Justice): The use of victim impact statements has produced a fiery debate among scholars and justice officials: advocates argue that the process provides important benefits for primary victims and the broader community, while critics suggest that the process introduces biases that can substantially disadvantage the offender. Weighing up these pros and cons, do you think Australian courts should use victim impact statements? Contextualize and justify your response. (250 words, +/- 10%) Click or tap here to enter text.

Module 11 Short-Answer (Corrections): The use of imprisonment is costly and produces many ill-effects for offenders, leading to the principle that it should be used as a last resort and be reserved for the most serious offenders. Advances in risk assessment tools have introduced the hope of selective incapacitation, with proponents suggesting that we could use prison only for those offenders that are predicted to reoffend. What are the benefits and drawbacks of this approach? Should future risk be a sentencing consideration? Explain your answer. (250 words, +/- 10%) Risk assessments are used to provide predictions on societal risk levels of an offender and to determine the likelihood of one reoffending following their release. However, such predictions do not necessarily produce accurate results. With imprisonment rates rising many are perplexed over using imprisonment as an effective penal sanction and have considered alternative approaches with an aim to turn offenders into law-abiding citizens. With rising imprisonment rates the effect of collective incapacitation is growing to be a costly expense. Selective incapacitation [SI] is a method that has been trialled to determine whether it is more effective in reducing crime. SI is the restraint of selected persons for confinement based upon predictions that the offender will engage in forbidden behaviour outside confinement. It seeks to imprison offenders who pose the greatest risk, theoretically resulting in reduction of criminal activity. SI is a cost effect approach as it involves the allocation of prison resources selectively through early identification, ultimately leading to a reduction in crime rates due to an increasing percentage of active offenders being imprisoned for longer periods. However, from an ethical standpoint, sentencing offenders according to risk violates legal principles as it bases punishment off expected future behaviour. This undermines proportionality in sentencing as it would be applied disproportionately to social groups. The effectiveness of this policy is dependent on the ability to identify high-rate offenders prospectively before arrest. Failed predictions are due to errors of incorrectly identifying individuals as violent recidivists, in turn producing false-positive reports. Whilst there are significant advantages to considering SI, the unsuccessful predictions are an empirical issue that should be resolved before this method can be used by law enforcement effectively....