Criminal Justice Trends Paper PDF

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Criminal Justice Trends Paper CJA/484 Nicholas Barbella October 29, 2019

In this paper, I will evaluate past, present, and future trends of law enforcement. I will discuss the budgetary and managerial impact that future trends will likely have not only on law enforcement, but also the courts, and corrections. Current research data, both qualitative and quantitative will be included in the analysis. In the 1980’s crime was under siege for two major reasons. Those reasons being that crime had been rising since the early 1960s and that the previous attempts at policing were ineffective with coping with the crime. In 1960, the crime rate was 1,887 per every 100,000 people. In 1985 those numbers almost quadrupled. Crime was a major issue. During a 20-year period, big changes took place, in order to try to lower the crime rates. However, it was quickly learned that crime rates were not affected by the following: hiring more police officers, random motorized patrolling, foot patrols, rapid response calls for service, and routine criminal investigations. It was soon seen that police do not prevent crime. In 2008 it had been discovered that crime had decreased dramatically since 1990. This decline was approximately 34%. Some of the challenges faced during this time was declining budgets while the cost of swore police officers were rising, terrorism, new immigrants including both legal and illegal, racial discrimination, intensified accountability, and police unions. The cost policing has quadrupled between the years of 1985 and 2005. This is because there are a

larger need for more sworn officers and their services. Since September 11, the United States has been forever attempting to improve the fight against terrorism. For the most part, police officers felt that enforcing immigrant issues was more of a federal level than a local one, therefore the did not enforce it. However, the issue of immigration is now on a large rise, so local is participating as well. Racial discrimination was a large issue, and still is. This is due to arrests, use of force, shootings, street stops, search and seizure, offense charging and equality coverage. This is causing damage to policing agencies in all over the United States. Most departments believe in accountability. If you wear a badge and a uniform, you must watch the way you act when you are on duty versus when you are off duty. You cannot be posting things on social media platforms that you could not do while in uniform. Of course, officers must follow the laws as well or they should be held accountable. Police unions are most often formed when management is poor or when officers are performing horribly. Policing definitely has a future, especially as the world discovers new ideas. The potential advancements include: Police departments incorporating social media, Next Generation 911 (NG 911), and real time crime centers. Police departments have recently started posting on social media sites when they are attempting to locate a suspect, or a person of interest. Most people nowadays have a social media account of some sort, and if there is a way they can be reached on it, they will. Word spreads fast on social media. However, the public does need to be on the lookout for fake news articles, because those have been known to put lives in danger due to the content in the article. NG 911 has many benefits, that more and more call centers are accepting and incorporating. 911 operators can receive better information about a call such as text messages, images, and video data. Call centers will be more secure and

robust, while increased information sharing would help to improve emergency response. Callers will be able to contact 911 from any networked device, and call centers will be able to transfer emergency calls more easily while backing up other call centers. According to “Future Trends in Policing” (2014), “Many public safety agencies are working to establish Next Generation 911 (NG 911) capabilities that will better serve today’s wireless society. 911 Systems that are capable of receiving text messages, photographs, and videos will be more useful for public safety purposes. The U.S Department of Transportation summarized the issue: “Challenges faced by emergency call centers prevent easy transmission of data and critical sharing of information that can significantly enhance the decision-making ability, response, and quality of service provided to emergency callers” Floyd Simpson, chief of the Corpus Christi Police Department, added that the ability to text 911 is extremely useful for the deaf and hard of hearing community. According to Simpson, updating 911 centers, “isn’t just about a ne3 generation of people, it is also about serving a special needs community. In 2013, the police chief of Kemp Texas was working a call when he fell 14 feet into an abandoned well that was filled 8 foot with water. He attempted to dial 911 but the call did not get out due to inadequate service. He was able to send a text message to the city secretary who then dialed 911. The chief was rescued by police and a local fire department. He believes that being able to send that text message saved his life. Policing back in the day used to be handled more harsh then nowadays. Punishment included hangings, electric chairs, and other forms of death or even major pain to the criminal. That was up until law enforcement agencies decided that they would focus on rehabilitation instead of actual pain. That is when our patrol officers come in handy. The patrol officers used

to just patrol the streets at one time. There were no dispatchers that would take the call and send them to the call. The officers were either to be waved down, or to stumble upon the crime occurring themselves. This means that some crimes would have even went unnoticed or received delayed attention. Officers also patrolled on foot at one time and did not have their cars with the lights and sirens. It was not until money was put I that law enforcement received nicer equipment. The 911 system then came out and officers were able to respond the crime much faster. Radio systems were available for communication to the dispatch center and the officers. With all of this technology must come budgets. Budgeting for the law enforcement side, budgeting for the courts, and budgeting for corrections. Housing criminals can get expensive depending on how much time they are serving, and how well the prison is ran. If there is a lot of staff, budgeting must be done to show that they can pay all of the staff as well as house the criminals. Of course it was cheaper to reprehend the criminal without keeping them locked up, but this did not make the world any better, and the next criminal would just move on down the road and commit the same crimes. Of course, that happens anyway. Crime is not completely preventable, however, law enforcement, courts, and corrects can try to deter the crime. Inmates must maintain the prisons by doing outside work, dishes, cooking, and cleaning. This saves on budgeting costs so that someone does not have to come from the outside and clean up. In this paper I was able to evaluate past, present, and future trends of law enforcement. I discussed the budgetary and managerial impact that future trends will likely have not only on law enforcement but on the courts, and corrections. I was about to include qualitative and quantitative data in my analysis. Law enforcement is forever improving. There is no doubt that

in the future crimes will be brought to a minimum. However, criminals must want to help themselves. Police officers can stand out on the street for hours on end, but that does not mean that they will be able to stop each criminal that attempts to commit a crime. Budgeting plays a major role on how many officers can be out on foot and in patrol units and how updated the technology is. Bigger cities have better resources and better equipment as well as more individuals working. Smaller cities may have less crime therefore they do not need all of the high-end technology that bigger cities need. Uniformity is what is needed, to ensure that each law enforcement agency has what is needed to complete their job in the best moral and manner.

Sources: Federal Sentencing Reporter: FSR; New York Vol. 19, Iss. 4, (Apr 2007): 275-290. Future Trends in Policing(2014). Retrieved from https://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Free_Online_Documents/Leadership/future%20trends %20in%20policing%202014.pdf The Changing Environment for Policing(2010). Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/ncj230576.pdf...