Police and Justice Professionals Roles
What is the role of a criminal justice professional? There are numerous amounts of roles that a criminal justice practitioner plays. Depending on which section of the criminal justice system you are certified in, your studies ensures your specialty in your career field. In this particular essay, we will focus on the key social issues contributing to the service of the criminal justice practitioners, the role of the criminal justice professionals serving needs, and how the key social issues impact the role of the criminal justice professionals along with examples.
There are numerous amounts of key social issues contributing to the need for criminal justice practitioners. The three main issues that we are going to discuss are sex offenders, drug abuse, and gun control. The first key social problem is sex offenders. When you are a sex offender, the law in the state you reside in requires you to be registered in the system and allow the public to know where you live and what kind of offense you made (Perlam 2006. ). An example of a sex offender is someone such as an adult, adolescent, or toddler having consensual or nonconsensual sex with someone under the age of eighteen or in better words a minor.
Having a sex offender living in your community might not appear to be a good thing for your schools and home, but with individuals being registered allows people in the community to be aware of them. This effects the community as a whole and the offender as an individual. The next key social problem that world has to regret is drug abuse. Drug abuse is an issue that causes a need for a criminal justice practitioner in several different ways. This subject can be very broad, therefore, we will discuss this as a whole.
Drug abuse is a major social problem and it is a physical pain that a person inflicts upon themselves intentionally and unintentionally while under the influence. Drug abuse leads to life threatening addictions and can also potentially kill a person, which therefore causes for a need of a criminal justice professional in this particular category to promote abstinence of narcotics and prevent these individuals from serving the rest of their lives behind bars. When a person abuses drugs, they do not see their problem as an issue. A criminal justice professional roles comes in place and help drug abusers in many difference
ways such as, sending them to rehabilitation centers or helping them seek medical treatments. Drug abuse influence violence and others to become addicts as well in our communities. The last key social problem is gun control. In the United States Constitution, the Second Amendment states, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringes. ” Therefore we all have a right to bear arms when we are of the right age and are licensed to do so (Reuters 2013. ) Not everyone with a gun is a criminal, yet there are people out there that are not responsible with handling a gun.
The Second Amendment is often violated and abused based on the sum of suicides, homicides, and other crimes that involved the use of a fire arm. Criminal justice professionals roles are strongly needed to influence gun control. According to Henderson from USA Today, they are to stop violence and help the society feel safe when people use guns responsibly. The role of the criminal justice professional is serving individuals personal needs as well as a societies needs as a whole. Criminal justice professionals are responsible for defending and helping American nations while punishing and rehabilitating offenders (Cook, 2006.
) As far as a professional serving an individual matter, an attorney is to prosecute or defend an offender. The attorney is to find the truth for their client, help place the right person in prison, and fortunately set innocent people free. When society is being represented by a professional, they are committed to promoting safety and protecting communities regarding to fire arm control. How do problems impact the roles of a criminal justice professional? Depending on the type of circumstance, not having enough evidence, the lack of witnesses, and police corruption can influence a professional in a variety of ways to affect their duty.
In reference to Captain Dean Harper of Meridian, Mississippi police department, “It’s really hard to work an investigation when people will not come forward and speak to the police. ” As a result, the guilty are terrorizing our neighborhoods and justice is not served. Also the lack of evidence is parallel to not having a witness regarding to the role of the criminal justice profession. Evidence may take the form of having reliable DNA, a witness testimony, or even a trail of sufficient elements that may be reliable to a judge and jury.
Lack of evidence can unfortunately terminate a person’s legal case, resulting in a motion to dismiss due to the party of opposition being unable to prove their half (Conjecture Corporation. ) Also authority abuse is a major factor for criminal justice profession success. As a result, police corruption lose the trust of the community and influence citizens’ retaliation. According to the California Innocence Project, police corruption could be police harshness, deceit, deception, compulsion, and sexual misconduct. All of these examples can cause for a mistrial, wrongful conviction, and shows the world that our judicial system cannot be trusted.
In conclusion, the role of a criminal justice practitioner have many different obligations in serving the nation. With all of the issues that they have to deal with, they are needed to help protect society and maintain law. In order to do their duty as a professional, every job comes with obstacles that impact their personal affairs as well as their morals. Their role is significant and will be needed forever. Throughout this essay we’ve discussed the roles of a criminal justice professional and how social and individual issues impact their role as ambassadors of the law.
