AC3.1 Explain the role of agencies in social control Flashcards
What are the aims and objectives of the police?
To reduce crime and maintain law and order. This involves protection of life , preservation of peace, and prevention and detection of criminal offences
What are the polices statutory powers?
Arrest, detention, search, and interview
What are the 9 principles of policing founded by Robert Peel?
Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership, fairness, and respect.
What is the philosophy of policing?
The policing by consent is rooted in the belief that for policing to be effective, there must be broad public support for a police service’s actions.
What was the funding for police in 2020-21?
Funding was £15.2 billion- 2/3 comes from central government and 1/3 comes from local tax.
What are the working practices for the police?
All forces have teams of officers who are responsible for general beat duties and respond to emergency and non-emergency calls from the public. Most police officers start their career here then go onto specialist areas.
They give out cautions
Making bail decisions
Investigate crime and liaising with CPS
What types of offenders and criminality does the police deal with?
All, although police may be assisted in their investigations of certain types of crime
What is the polices reach?
44 geographical police forces in England and Wales- each serves their own area, no national force
What are the strengths of the police?
They have specialist forces that deal with the complexity of different crimes- so officers working on these forces are highly trained and have superior level of expertise to deal with these offences. This leads to effective investigations and successful prosecutions.
They have shown to be effective in dealing with ‘offences of public concern’ such as domestic abuse. A 2017 report from HM Inspectorate of Police found that 2/3 of non-police professionals who were working in DA said that the police’s approach had significantly improved. For example, Alex Steele- abused by his gf who stabbed him. He said it was self-harm. When the police officer too him out of the house and turned is camera off Alex admitted to being abused by his partner.
What are the weaknesses of the police?
Budget cuts- budgets have been cut by 18% since 2010- had to fire police officers so may not be enough to attend to every call or it may take them a while to get to a crime scene. More police are dropping investigations.
Unreported crime- they will not be able to control the people who are committing crimes- people may see that others are getting away with crimes and start copying them, leading to an increase in crime.
New technology- can take police hundreds of hours looking through new technology and people can now block access to stop police getting information
There have been numerous reports that suggest that police are either incompetent or corrupt- The Macpherson Report noted that institutional racism, incompetence, and a failure of leadership failed the investigation for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
What is the philosophy for the Crown Prosecution Service?
CPS was set up to avoid officers from making the arrest and also prosecuting the same case that they arrested. This helps to avoid bias when prosecution takes place.
What are the aims and objectives of the CPS?
Duty is to make sure that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and to bring offenders to justice wherever possible
What is the funding for the CPS?
In 2016-17 budget was over £500m. When costs are awarded by courts, the CPS recovers some of the costs of its prosecution from defendants. It also gains funding from criminal assets through its confiscation activities.
What is the CPS working practices?
The Full Code test- this is a two stage test, under the code for crown prosecution, applied by a prosecutor when determining whether an offender is to be charged with an offence. If the case doesn’t pass the evidential test, then it will not go ahead to the public interest test.
What types of offenders and criminality does the CPS deal with?
Apart from minor offences, the CPS deals with all types of offenders and offence.
What is the CPS’ reach?
There are 14 regional CPS areas. Each of these 14 CPS Areas is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor, and works closely with local police forces and other criminal justice partners. However, CPS direct officers 24/7 nationwide charging decisions to police.
What are the strengths of the CPS?
CPS prosecute around 80,000 cases every 3 months in the CC and around 450,000 cases in the magistrates court. Around 80% of the defendants that it prosecutes are convicted, suggesting the CPS are effective at their role of preparing cases for courts.
What are the weaknesses of the CPS?
Budget cuts- between 2010-18 the budget was cut by 25% and they lost 1/3 of their staff. They are failing to investigate thousands of cases due to staffing cuts- mainly complex cases such as rape, modern slavery, and fraud.
New Technology- added burden on the CPS- CPS were creaking under the burden of new technology and the huge amounts of data that is generated. In the Liam Allen case- evidence was only disclosed after the trial had started
The CPS was advised to drop a number of ‘weak’ rape cases, e.g., if both people were minors, to improve their overall conviction rate. Critics argue that CPS should be more focused on justice not outcomes.
What is the philosophy of judiciary?
It is summed up in 6 principles in the Guide to Judicial conduct (2016). These lay out the standard for judges ethical conduct. The 6 principles are impartiality, integrity, independence, propriety, ensuring equal treatment, and competence.
What are the aims and objectives of Judiciary?
The judge is responsible for ensuring that the trial is conducted fairly, resolving any legal issues, giving the jury legal directions, and imposing sentences. The judge also sits with a jury of 12 members of the public. They hear evidence in criminal and civil courts, make rulings and pass sentences based on the information presented during cases. They interpret and apply the law to cases that come before it in courts.
What is the funding for judiciary?
Funded through the ministry of justice, which is publicly funded through taxation. Courts also get funds from proceeds of crime act 2002 (POCA), as they are the ones who are responsible for the collection of the money from the criminal
What are the working practices of judiciary?
The two oaths, the ultimate responsibility for decisions regarding freedom, rights, and duties of people without influence, behavioral tactics e.g., ASBOSS/CBOs, judicial law making, punishing through court only forms of punishment- fines and discharges
What are the names of the two oaths and what are they?
Oath of allegiance- judges swear their allegiance to the reigning monarch
Judicial oath- swearing to be fair and impartial towards a case
What are the strengths of the judiciary in achieving social control?
The independence from government. Vitally important in a democracy that individual judges/judiciary are impartial and independent of all external pressure- allows those who appear before them to have confident that their cases will be divided fairly.
