Paper Example on Criminal Justice System

Introduction

The criminal justice system brings together different entities, agencies, and institutions with the aim of identifying, catching and punishing lawbreakers. The system involves institutions such as law enforcement agencies, prosecution arms, lawyers, courts and incarceration centers. Law enforcement agencies such as the federal and state police departments and other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, prison departments as well as other specialized law enforcement agencies work hand in hand to ensure that offenders are handed over to the courts for legal action and imprisonment. The coordination and cooperation between all these components have resulted in the arrest of offenders and ensuring that they face the full wrath of the law (Sommerfeldt, 2010). Effective policing ensures that the society is rid-free of criminal elements and all lawbreakers which helps in building a more positive society. The criminal justice system plays a pertinent role in the society today and all the stakeholders who ranging from the enforcers, the court and legal system, and the prison system play a unique position.

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It is an agreeable fact that the law enforcers in the country work in some of the hardest and most cruel working conditions in the country as they are always exposed to many risks in the line of duty. In the same context, it is important to appreciate that ethical issues have mired the execution of their mandate. The criminal justice system in the United States leads the world in the number of incarcerated citizens. More than 2.2 million Americans have either been imprisoned before or are currently incarcerated, with the rate increasing by more than 500% in the last thirty years. The police and law enforcers have come under scrutiny in the past few years over claims of ethical malpractices during the execution of their mandate. Issues such as excessive use of force and unfairness have characterized the forces in the past years. Evaluating ethical issues in the implementation of police mandate is thus a critical subject.

One of the main ethical issues in policing is their ability to balance between power and authority. The police force trains and mandates the police officers to ensure fairness and protection of individual rights as provided by the condition during the execution of their mandate. The question of when to use power and authority raises ethical questions. The recent past has seen a surge in incidents where the police were accused of excessive use of force. It is important to highlight that the people's right to live a free live and be free from excessive use of force by the law enforcement agencies is rooted in the Fourth Amendment and cannot be taken away. In the recent years, there have been incidences where police use of excessive force has gained national interest. In 2014, 18-year old Michael Brown was shot twelve times by a police officer despite having allegedly already surrendered (Lopez, 2015). This incidence elicited a lot of massive protests in Ferguson and other places in the country. Similar shootings have occurred in Charlestown, South Carolina, Maryland and Baltimore among others.

While the police are allowed to use force, the questions have always lingered around when to draw the line and who decided to do so. The fact that these incidences have occurred consistently may indicate that some of the officers in the profession do not adhere to their professional code of ethics and practice. It is, however, important to appreciate that the few officers who disregard the tradition are not a representative of the entire profession. From the policies governing policing, use of lethal force need only be applied as a last resort and should only be used when the officer's life is at-risk; hence the recent incidences paint a different picture.

At the same time, the police force has been accused of biasness in decision making. It is unethical for officers to allow their political or religious beliefs to guide the execution of their mandate and they are expected to be impartial at all times. They are supposed to uphold the law always, and not interpret it based on their own beliefs. Reports have shown that the treatment that offenders get from officers is often dependent on their racial or religious backgrounds. African Americans have, for many years now, outnumbered that of whites in U.S. prisons. By 2016, federal and state prisons were holding an estimated 486,900 African American inmates as compared to 439,800 whites, a difference of about 47,000. It should be noted that blacks are a minority community in the country, representing 12% of the entire adult population in the country but more than 33% of the prison population. Similarly, research notes that blacks accounted for more than 31% of police killings in the country, indicating a disproportionate application of force (Lopez, 2015). Unarmed victims of police shootings and other brutal actions are also more likely to be from minority communities such as blacks and Latinos (Lopez, 2015).

Unfair application of force is increasingly becoming detrimental to the police leadership and how it relates to the general population. Research conducted by the Pew Institute found that while a majority of law enforcer view their primary source as that of a protector and ensuring social order, the public doesn't think so of them. Only 16% of the people believe in the police role of protecting them, with more than 80% of the public finding that the police can always misuse their mandate and harm them (Pew Research Center, 2017). In the policing discipline, earning public trust is essential in fulfillment of the mandate. When the general population holds the notion that those enforcing the law are not doing so in a fair or ethical manner, there is reduced cooperation which can only complicate matters. In addition to that, while the police have always had a code of conduct in place, the lack of adherence to it has resulted in these problems.

Lack of ethics by law enforcers is a critical leadership problem owing to the high esteem with which the officers are held by the society and the essential job that they do. The lack of proper administration of these enforcers and the agencies affects their ability to maintain peace and safety effectively and impartially. It is fundamental to appreciate that from a command perspective, administration of the police entails defining policies and making operational decisions that best achieves the goals of the police mandate and doing so without violating either the constitution or public trust. The instances above of police excessiveness are in breach of all the two. At the same time, from a human resource perspective, leadership among the police entails making decisions regarding hiring, discipline, retention, and management of the police force. It is critical to note that most accusations against the police leadership regarding excesses have not been successfully tried and perpetrators convicted (Crowder & Turvey, 2013). Finally, it is critical to enhancing accountability both from the internal perspective and external.

Application of Management Schools of Thought to Leadership Problems in Policing

Management theory can be applied in overseeing the ethical challenges affecting the effectiveness of the law enforcement officers. The problems facing the criminal system mostly result from inefficiency and a proper oversight approach and the use of different management thoughts can be fundamental in shaping outcomes (Wren & Bedeian, 2009). The two schools of thought that will be applied in the case above is the Administrative Theory proposed by Henry Fayol and the Scientific Theory proposed by Frederick Taylor.

Administrative Theory

In this theory, Fayol theorized that the role of management is to get things done and doing so with people in organized groups. Fayol has been considered the father of the modern day operational management theory and his ideas continue to play a significant role in management systems today. Fayol and others who enhanced the method such as William Newman, McFarland, Henry Mooney, and Harold Koontz held the belief that the 14 principles of management proposed are of universal application across various forms and situations of control. From Henry Fayol's thoughts, it can be deduced that he viewed management and administration as a top-down function and that the control had to have a direct influence over those below (Sapru, 2008).

Fayol proposed the 14 principles of management which can be applied in the case of law enforcement officers above:

• Division of work- this concept is premised on the belief of specialization of work
• Authority and responsibility
• Discipline
• Unity of command
• Unity of direction
• Subordination of individual interest to general interest
• Remuneration of personnel
• Centralization
• Scalar chain
• Order
• Equity
• Stability of tenure of personnel
• Initiative
• Espirit de corps

Scientific Theory

Frederick Taylor's scientific management theory analyzes and synthesizes workflows at the organization level with the focus of improving the efficiency of the economies. His main concern was how to increase the efficiency of production, reduce costs, raise profitability and make it possible to pay workers better (Wren & Bedeian, 2009). According to Taylor, scientific management requires a complete mental revolution to ensure that the workers' focus on work, their fellow employees and the general public (Frederick, 1911).

Taylor formulated four main principles as the pinnacle of his scientific approach to management:

• Replace the rule-of-thumb work methods with scientific methods.
• Select, train, and develop each worker using scientific approaches rather than leaving them to learn on their own.
• Cooperate with the staffs to ensure that the scientific methods adopted are being followed.
• Focus on dividing the work well, planning and overseeing execution of tasks.

As mentioned, Taylor's main concern was on the level of productivity and economies.

Problem Resolution Process

As the two theories are used extensively in resolving management issues, they can be applied in this specific situation of curbing ethical issues that present during law enforcement as discussed above. Many of the problems addressed can be resolved through cross-cultural means and administrative enforcement which are all provisions of the two theories.

Problem Resolution Process Using Administrative Theory

As mentioned above, Fayol's 14 principles of management can be applied directly in addressing the root of ethical malpractices in the police force. The concept of division of work as proposed by Fayol is premised on the principle of specialization of labor. According to Fayol, specialization is fundamental in promoting efficiency. Regarding the police department, there could be a possibility that there is an unequal division of work among the police force. A lack of experience in handling a particular group of offenders, for instance, can easily lead the officer to panic and draw fire. Some of the shootings could be better managed by ensuring that the officers involved have the training and skills to handle the situation (Habersaat, Geiger, Abdellaoui & Wolf, 2015).

Furthermore, it is essential for the administrators of police to have proper authority and responsibility towards the officers working under them. It is necessary for the officers to understand they are responsible for their actions. One of the primary undoings has been that the criminal system is protective of its officers even when they are culpable. When the officers understand that they will be held responsible for everything, there is a high likelihood of them doing their work well....