Criminal Justice
Name:
Institution:
Criminal Justice
Introduction
Criminal Justice is vital in society as it ensures that the system of various practices through institutional upholding of deterrence, social control, crime mitigation, sanctioning of law violators is enabled by government institutions. In addition, even the accused of various crimes have a right to protection against any form of abuse in precautionary powers and investigations. Throughout history, different changes have been sanctioned to enable criminal justice achieve its mandate within the United States constitution and reflection in the society. Evolvement from ancient times with added rights to the offenders, suspects and victims as well as reforms on the part of the police has been realized. With the high incidents of crimes and responses by the authorities, prudent changes in criminal justice systems should be a continuous process.
Discussion
McKinney police Officer on Leave after Pulling Gun on Teens at pool Party is an article on Fox News that discusses the conduct of an authority (Fox News, 2015). A video was posted from one of the attendants of the pool party, where the police officer is recorded throwing a teenage girl to the ground and sat on her while drawing his gun on the other revelers after a disturbance during the event. The incident took place on 5 June 2015 at the north community pool in Craig Ranch. The article is relevant to the scope of studies in criminal justice as it points to the police behavior, discretion, and operations at such incidences.
In the events of the pool party and alleged disturbance, the police officer’s conduct is brought into question. According to criminal justice, the behavior associated with authority figures should not be brought into disrepute especially as they are custodians of the law. The incident showed that the officer brandished his weapon to the harmless event goers as well as the manner in which he treated the girl in question. In light of the studies towards reforms and police behavior, ethical decision-making is necessary especially with the handling of concerns with law enforcement. In additional, rationale does dictate on prompt response on actions based with ethical approaches in handling such a situation in a community pool.
Police Discretion allows for decision-making power by the authority figure in question and pursuance of any offender or letting them off. In the article, the police officer did not respond appropriately nor institute the appropriate decision-making. By brandishing his weapon and treatment of the alleged offender at the pool party, racial and ethical questions were raised towards the measures. Thistlethwaite and Wooldredge (2010) argue that identification of options and ethical approaches towards handling the disturbance were not exhibited as well as recognition of the ethical problems that would surround his conduct. The resultant action taken by the heads of the force pending investigation were ideal according to the evidence on the video.
Conclusion
With
the high incidents of crimes and responses by the authorities, prudent changes
in criminal justice systems should be a continuous process. The required
reforms should seek to guarantee proper approaches and ethical jurisdiction
towards handling of any incident of law enforcement. In addition, proper protection
on the rights and freedoms associated with alleged offenders as well as the
authority personnel should be rectified to give more security in the systems. As
evidenced in the article McKinney police Officer on Leave after Pulling Gun
on Teens at pool Party, changes are required with evolving nature.
References:
Thistlethwaite, A. B., & Wooldredge, J. (2010). Forty studies that changed criminal justice: Explorations into the history of criminal justice research. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Fox News. McKinney police Officer on Leave after Pulling Gun on Teens at pool Party. Fox News, Retrieved from http://www.fox4news.com/story/29258682/mckinney-police-officer-on-administrative-leave-after-video-of-disturbance-is-posted-online