Criminal Justice Professionals and Their Obligations
Criminal justice professionals are assigned functions and obligations that must be fulfilled in order to meet social and individual demands. People normally expect criminal justice experts to protect them and provide them with justice. By meeting these conditions, this job becomes immensely fulfilling and instills in both its performers and its citizens a sense of character, honor, integrity, and pride (Totten, 2015).
Principal Job Responsibilities
Criminal justice officials' principal job is not restricted to prosecuting, arresting, or punishing those charged with a crime. They also have other tasks that others in society expect them to do. The needs of various populations served by the community are broad and diverse, and this demands that the case management programs should be different to meet the desire of these communities. This paper will discuss the following four needs requiring the supervision concerning inmates, medical attention, drug rehabs, and justice.
Fairness
Individuals that require swift justice from the criminal justice professionals like the persecutors, judges, and law enforcement authorities primarily are concerned with fulfilling the system's needs. The majority of them do their best to ensure that there is a smooth operation of the scheme. The efforts put towards a stable operating system decongest the court thus allowing for more criminal cases to be passed in the system without the consent of the Sixth Amendment. It also allows a comfortable flow of cases without the pressure that comes from being pushed to rush a case because at the end there are a lot of mistakes. Another need of individuals is a safe environment within the courtrooms for those who are facing charges and those who are coming to defend the accused. It is the responsibility of every criminal justice professional to ensure the protection of every person with the protections that are under the Constitution of the United States along with the fair examining of the given facts of the case (Crowder, 2013).
Drug Rehabs
Offenders who suffer from substance abuse require that they are given the correct treatment as this can help improve the population. If the offenders receive effective treatment, it will lessen the chances of future drug use and criminal behavior that is related to drugs. The correct treatment can also improve an individual's relationship with their family and friends. Studies have proven that with the proper treatment, most offenders change the way they behave, their attitudes, as well as beliefs, because of the relapse and successful removal of them from the life of drug abuse and crime.
Medical Attention
The correctional personnel is also required to provide care to the inmates while they are on duty in jails and prison. If a patient becomes sick or gets injured, while in a physical altercation in the facility, medical attention should be rendered to them. Even though nurses are working at the correctional facilities, the officers on duty are also trained as first responders who can help out when the inmates need medical attention.
Treatment of Victims
In addition, law enforcement officers have the responsibility of helping victims through the taking of reports for crimes that occur in their areas, investigating crimes, and gathering, as well as protecting, the evidence. The individuals in law enforcement are also supposed to arrest criminals, provide proof during the court process, and do follow-up investigations if they are needed. Through such steps, they assist the community to maintain its stability, to ensure problem-solving, and enhance the quality of community life through the police-citizen relations (Erin & Ost, 2012). The law enforcement, states law, and first victim responders of the scene often have responsibilities of informing the victims about their rights. As citizens, we also have duties of reporting and telling the police what we know with the aim of helping them.
CJ Profession and the Public Awareness
Research showed that the majority of people in the United States receive a lot of knowledge and impressions about the criminal justice system through entertainment and media. Such circumstances create an impression of the awareness. It happens due to the fact that the depiction of the criminal justice system may often be regarded as the one that does not correspond with the reality.
The Negative Stereotypes
Among the criminal justice professionals, there are different types of stereotypes that revert to the 'cop' stereotypes (Morley, 2017). For instance, almost everyone has the perception that cops like donuts eaters. Mostly, these types of behaviors are fun to discuss, but when it comes to the reality of their jobs, the dangers that they face changes the story. With this in mind, three things must be done to avoid them: the search for consistency as well as identifying and pushing the stereotypes away. For instance, when one identifies as criminal justice professional, they monitor their thoughts whenever they have negative feelings. Flexibility, on the other hand, involves a personal question of whether one has the same reaction from other members of society every time one meets them. Practically, labeling these responses and later pushing them does not define someone's character.
Multiculturalism and Social Diversity
The criminal justice system that entails the social diversity and multiculturalism is the idea promoted around the society. According to the American Bar Association, the race of the African Americans was calculated to be six times more often met in the criminal justice than that of the whites (Banks, 2012). However, only six percent were imprisoned. About 32 percent of them had a chance of serving their time in jail. The Hispanic males, on the other hand, only had 17 percent chance of being imprisoned while the 44 percent of African Americans were convicted as federal offenders. However, other states have the African Americans incarcerated for drug offenses, which is 57 times more than that of the Caucasians.
Conclusion
As seen in this essay, the criminal justice professionals have diverse roles to play with the aim of satisfying the needs of the society. Despite the fact that there are criminals in the communities, there is still an obligation that they should be taken care of. For instance, upon a convict getting sick, it is the role of the criminal justice officer to make sure that they get fast and reliable treatment. Besides, criminal justice employees should make sure that the law breakers are arrested with enough evidence with the aim of preserving the human dignity.
References
Banks, C. (2012). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications.
Crowder, S. (2013). Ethical Justice: Applied Issues for Criminal Justice Students and Professionals. Academic Press.
Erin, C. A. & Ost. S. (2012). The Criminal Justice System and Health Care. Oxford University Press.
Morley, S. (2017). A Companion to the History of Crime and Criminal Justice. Policy Press.
Totten, C. D. (2015). Criminal Procedure for the Criminal Justice Professional. Cengage Learning.
