Administrator Challenges Paper

Criminal Justice Administration

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Criminal Justice Administration

Criminal justice administration is a complex field that deals with the effective management of resources as well as the personnel that work at all levels to ensure upholding of all aspects of the law and ensure that the law is followed strictly and to the later. Like any other administrative unit, there are several levels of management in the entire administrative unit. All these have to work completely in tandem to enable the entire unit to succeed and work effectively. These include issues around combating crime, solving disputes, preventing and providing punishment for any ongoing illegal issues such as terrorism and recreational drug use among several aspects of the work involved in any criminal justice department.

There are several levels of administration within the department. One can either work with the correctional department, the police and the probation officer. One can also choose to work with the community advocates. In all the different aspects of the taskforce, administrators at this all the levels mentioned are facing several disadvantages on a day-to-day basis. For any unit to succeed, these challenges often have to be addressed and sorted in good time.

To begin with, is the high rate of drug use in several states and the continuous crime cycle. Illegal drug use is known to be against the law by most individuals, however in several cases, those involved still find themselves using the drugs. This often times follows an arrest period or a similar altercation with the police. Youths in particular and adolescents all at different ages engage in some form of drug use, this then leads to their arrests but doesn’t stop them from using the drugs. This is made worse by the fact that most drugs are very addictive and once an individual starts abusing them, it often takes a spirited form of intervention to counter this.

The main challenge here is the unending use of illegal drugs, even by young individual who clearly know the adverse effects. For any administrator, it is extremely worrying to have a trend every year of increasing drug use and increasing arrests to that effect. The youth and adolescents make up a part of the society that is often filled with zeal, enthusiasm and vigor. If this were to be put in constructive use in other fields or aspects of life that are not crime related, there would be a huge change noted in the society. Drug use is also directly connected to the crime cycle. There are several criminal cartels whose main source of income is drug peddling. Therefore, for the administration to effectively combat crime, it has to combat drug use within its society, which in itself is becoming a great challenge.

The next challenge comes with the use of the three-strike legislation. This law was initially meant to deal with the persistent, serious offender that an officer comes across. This law seeks to arrest and convict offenders three times after which the individuals are out. This law doesn’t take into perspective the fact that, using recent statistics, crime and recidivism was noted to decline with age. In addition, it has been noted that an early crime committal age is directly proportional and predictive of a long criminal career for the involved individuals. Thirdly, effective crime prevention should have its focus on early intervention and effective preventive measures among the used before they become entangled in any forms of crime.

The other main challenge noted is the present overcrowding in the jails and prisons. The last century has seen an upward spike in the rate of crimes committed and consequently, increased number of prisoners. Unfortunately, there has not been an effective increase in the number of jails and prisons or correction units consequential to this. This has ultimately given rise to a state of overcrowding which in itself is marred with several risks such as inadequate control over the huge masses by the management at their levels; also, it has led to transmission of communicable diseases which are easily preventable had there been no overcrowding in the first place. This has led to diversion of resources to look into the health and take care of the sick prisoners in several instances. These resources, if there were not any overcrowding and disease spread, could have then been put in use that is more constructive .

The police take up a very important role within the criminal justice department. In my opinion, they are the pivot force behind every successful criminal justice system. They have several functions that include but are not limited to the following. First, they ensure that the law is upheld to the latter, and that the law in itself is upheld impartially. They are also meant to protect the human rights and dignity of the ordinary members of the public. Next, the police promote and preserve public order within the society. They combat unnecessary running battles for instance during violent demonstrations and ensure that properties belonging to innocent citizens are not destroyed in the process.

Another important function of the police is to prevent occurrence of crimes and reduce the rate at which they occur. Once they occur, they follow up specific channels to see to it that corrective or punitive measure are taken to prevent recurrence of the crimes and to ensure that the individuals have learnt whatever lesson they need to prevent them from repeating the initial offence. The third and very important function of the police is the protection of internal security, prevention and control of terrorism, maintenance of harmony within the community and prevention of any form of militant activities. This ensures that every individual is safe within their location of residence and ensures that crime rates are lowered. Finally, police also protect public property including roads, street light installations, railways among others several property, which cannot be taken care of by individuals.

In conclusion, this course has sufficiently prepared me for the other aspects of criminal justice that I was not fully aware. It has also increased my knowledge and broadened my scope of thinking. Moreover, it has been an integral part within my learning and when needed, the content received can easily be applied or suggested for instance in discussions about cases and other related fields. It has been a very important experience that should also be received by several others in my field.

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