Transcript Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Criminal Justice
System Components:
Locating Probation
and Parole
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Criminal Justice System Components:
Locating Probation and Parole
• The criminal justice system consists of law
enforcement, the courts, and corrections
• Personnel who work in probation, parole, and
community corrections are heavily involved in
offender supervision and operate programs designed
to rehabilitate or reintegrate offender-clients
• These personnel are also expected to supervise and
assist clients with the purpose of making them lawabiding citizens
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Criminal Justice System Components:
Locating Probation and Parole
• Probation officers and parole officers often fail to
achieve these personal and departmental objectives
• The reasons their clients fail, however, are often
beyond their direct control
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An Overview
of the Criminal Justice System
• Entry into the criminal justice system begins with
the commission of a crime, followed by an arrest
• If there are successful prosecutions of defendants by
prosecutors, they will be found guilty and sentenced
by judges
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An Overview
of the Criminal Justice System
• Probation is a sentencing option imposed by judges
in lieu of incarceration
• Probationers are allowed to remain free in the
community but must adhere to certain probation
conditions for a period of time
• Parole, on the other hand, is an early release from
prison or jail permitting convicted offenders back
into the community again with restrictions and
conditions
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An Overview
of the Criminal Justice System
• Regardless of whether an offender is on
probation or parole, there are certain program
conditions that must be obeyed…If not,
probation or parole can be revoked
• A parole revocation means that parolees may
be returned to prison for some or all of the
remainder of their original sentences
• A probation revocation may also mean
incarceration, or it can mean a more intensive
form of supervision by probation officials
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Probation Officers
and Parole Officers (POs)
• Enforcing the conditions of probation and parole
are probation and parole officers, often referred
to as POs
• Offenders are required to report to their PO
regularly and to comply with rules and
regulations
• POs often collaborate with community agencies
that provide special services for offenders
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Probation Officers
and Parole Officers (POs)
• Depending on the jurisdiction, POs may be
assigned to supervise:
– (1) adult probationers and/or parolees
– (2) juvenile probationers and/or parolees and/or
– (3) offenders with special needs
• POs therefore perform many duties, but their
primary responsibility is the management and
supervision of nonincarcerated offenders
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All Probationers and Parolees
Are a Part of Corrections
• Corrections is the aggregate of programs,
services, facilities, and organizations
responsible for the management of people
who have been accused or convicted of
criminal offenses
• Some offenders may receive treatment for
their needs or problems in a jail or prison
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All Probationers and Parolees
Are a Part of Corrections
• More often than not, inmates are influenced
by those they associate with while they are
confined
• These association may not be positive or
therapeutic
• The criminogenic environment of prisons
and jails and social interactions with other
inmates often leads to and explains probation
and parole program failures
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Types of Offenses
Felonies
• Major crime that carries a potentially severe
penalty of one or more years in prison or jail
and fines
• Usually statutory penalties are associated
with all felonies and include both fines and/or
incarceration in a state or federal prison
• Includes arson, murder, rape, burglary,
robbery, vehicular theft, and aggravated
assault
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Types of Offenses
Misdemeanors
• Minor or petty offenses that carries less severe
penalties compared with felonies
• May result in fines and/or incarceration for less
than one year
• A misdemeanant is someone who commits a
misdemeanor
• Includes making false financial statements,
prostitution, shoplifting to name a few
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Types of Offenses
Violent crimes
• Characterized by extreme physical force, including
homicide, forcible rape, child sexual abuse, assault
and battery by means of a dangerous weapon,
robbery, and arson
• Also referred to as crimes of violence or crimes
against the person
• Persons are directly involved as victims and
affected emotionally and physically as a result of
the crime
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Types of Offenses
Property crimes
• Nonviolent offenses such as burglary, vehicular
theft, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and
larceny
• Although persons are victimized by such
offenses, their lives and physical well being are
not directly jeopardized by these offenses
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Classifying Offenders
Prisons and Jails
• Officials use various classification schemes
to determine the level of institutional
custody for inmates:
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Who should be isolated (Violent)
Mentally Ill
Suicide Risks
Escape Risks
Predators
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Classifying Offenders
Probation and Parole
• PO’s have a vested interest in classifying
offenders for the appropriate level of
community supervision
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Type of Criminal History
Mental or Physical Impairment
Personality Disorders
Alcohol or Drug Dependency
Treatment Needs
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Traditional Offender
Categorizations
First offenders
• Those offenders who commit one or more
crimes but have no previous history of
criminal behavior
• No useful generalizations can be made other
than they have no prior history of offending
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Traditional Offender Categorizations
Recidivists
• Offenders who continue to commit new
Crimes
• Even after they have been apprehended,
prosecuted, and incarcerated, these are the
many offenders who continue their
criminal activity when released
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Traditional Offender Categorizations
Career criminals
• Offenders who earn their living from the
crimes they commit
• Career Criminal have reached a stage where
they view crime as an occupation
• Their criminal activity is a craft that requires
expertise and special training
• Many, however, are more bothersome than
dangerous, thieves, burglars, vandals
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Criminal Justice System Components
Law enforcement
• Arrest—taking a suspect into custody
• Booking—administrative procedure to gather
information on offenders for law enforcement
officials
• Bail—surety to procure the release of those under
arrest to ensure they will appear to face charges in
criminal court
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Criminal Justice System
Components
Prosecutorial decision making
• Prosecutions—examination of case by prosecutor
to determine if enough evidence exists for
prosecution:
• Screening and prioritizing cases—determining which
cases are most worthy of prosecution as well as which
have the highest probability for conviction
• Plea bargaining—preconviction agreement where the
defendant pleads guilty in exchange for leniency or
concessions
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Criminal Justice System Components
Courts and judges
Judicial workloads—court calendars are full of
cases in many jurisdictions
Case processing—defendants are entitled to a jury
trial as a matter of right in criminal proceedings,
most convictions are obtained through a plea
Sentencing—those defendants found guilty are
sentenced by a judge, who has several options,
including incarceration or probation
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Criminal Justice System
Components
Corrections
• Jail and prison overcrowding—frequently there
is little room in prisons and jails
• By 2006, 33 states were under court order to
reduce their prison inmate populations
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Criminal Justice System
Components
Corrections
• Availability of community services—Most
citizens equate criminal punishment with
incarceration, despite the fact that a majority of
offenders are never incarcerated
• Depending on availability of community
services, these offenders are allowed to remain
in their communities doing community service,
paying restitution, and attending educational or
vocational training
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