This assignment will explore the environment in which the law enforcement function is performed. Provide your answers in a 5- to 6-page Microsoft Word document that addresses the following areas:
- Analyze the influence of the criminal justice model on the structure and mission of a local police department. In other words, how would a police department exhibit different structure and procedures under the crime control model than it would under the due process model?
- Discuss the relationship between neighborhood disorder and crime. What should be the role of the police in dealing with elements of neighborhood disorder, such as abandoned property, inoperative streetlights, and the like?
- How the mission and the structure of a police department or sheriff’s office would differ between urban and rural areas?
- What is social disorganization and how does it contribute to criminality? Analyze whether nonconforming behavior a result of poverty. Should poverty or social disorganization be a consideration when an offender is being sentenced?
- What role should politicians play in determining the structure and role of local police? In what ways can a local or state-level politician address crime by dealing with social disorganization? Consider the theories discussed earlier in the course.
Answer preview
The due process model and the crime control model govern the criminal justice system (Feeley, 2017). The two models are entirely different with the due process leaning towards the doctrine that an accused is innocent until the prosecution proves that the individual before the court is guilty while the crime control model retaliates the position that an individual is guilty until shown to be innocent (Feeley, 2017). The presumption of guilt resulting from the crime control method is subject to the defense proving that the accused is innocent (Feeley, 2017). A police unit employing the due process method is likely to respect the rights of the accused; the accused will be given a fair hearing, she or he will be informed of his or her rights upon arrest and be given time to prepare an adequate defense among others.
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