Future of Criminal Justice Policy Paper

Instructions:-

Future of Criminal Justice Policy Paper
Write a 1,050- to 1,750-word paper using definitions, principles, and concepts from previous assignments, in which you establish a thesis regarding the future of criminal justice policy making. Include the following:

Describe your thesis regarding the future of criminal justice policy making.
Analyze the future of criminal justice policy.
Describe the limitations associated with criminal justice policy making.
Suggest a realistic solution to anticipating policy outcomes.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Solution

Future of Criminal Justice Policy Paper

Introduction

Policy and procedures are something just about every business and government entity has. When it comes to criminal justice, policies are an important thing. Policies will be the basis for how an employee conducts their work. The purpose of this paper is to describe where and the future of criminal justice policy making is heading and what can be an influence in policy-makings future. This paper will be accomplished by[G1] [G2] [G3] [G4] [G5] [G6] [G7] [G8]  describing my theory regarding the future and direction of criminal justice policy making, analyzing the future of criminal justice policy, describing the limitations associated with criminal justice policymaking and I will suggest a realistic solution to anticipating policy outcomes. [G9] [G10] [G11] [G12] [G13] 

Thesis Regarding the Future of Criminal Justice Policy Making

Criminal justice policy is the basis for how the criminal justice system works. The basis of this thesis paper will be how the future of policies will change with the advancement of technology and the court decisions that will be made based on actions with the use of technology. As time goes on things will continue to change. If we look at how the criminal justice world has changed in the past ten years, we will understand it is not always the same. Being in the law enforcement industry, I have heard many times from officers who speak about how the job has changed so much from the day they started in the policing world. One of the biggest things they say has changed policing policy is the advancement of technology. Criminal justice world starts with policing, and typical policing and the court systems have the two biggest impacts on how policy in the criminal just world will change. Both the Policing and the courts are affected by the [G14] [G15] [G16] [G17] [G18] [G19] advancement of technology, and many of their policies will continue to change due to the same thing.[G20] [G21] [G22] 

Analyze The Future of Criminal Justice Policy

The future of policy-making s going to require many policies to be evaluated and analyzed. This is not just the policy, but the process of the policy as well. The evaluation process plays a significant role in making sure the creating and implementation process could be more streamlined. Technology will help with this especially in the research and data gathering areas. With technology continuing to grow, data collection methods will grow with it as well. Many criminal justice departments are collecting data using technology surveys such as Survey Monkey. [G23] [G24] [G25]  [G26] 

Policing agencies have even changed their complaints to online complaints allowing for an easier way for them to track them. With these advancements, it will be easier for the government officials to see what the problems the stakeholders have. With the technologies evolving more government officials are being asked to looking into the issues such as freedom of speech and privacy. One of the issues is the more the policies become public and clashes with technological advances the more the media and government officials will be involved. According to the article [G27] [G28] Attitudes to Sentencing and Trust in Justice Exploring Trends from the Crime Survey for England and Wales[G29] [G30] 

“In a society where perceptions of institutions are shaped by a growing range of media, there is a risk that strategies to improve the legitimacy of justice systems become little more than public relations exercises that involve securing the right media messages, and ensuring that staff remain “on message” in their contacts with the public” (Hough et al., 2013 Pg. 7).[G31] 

This applies to criminal justice policy. All higher-level personnel must all be on the same page to ensure they do not send mixed messages to the public. If the perception of a policy by the media is negative, this can severely hinder future policy development of an agency.[G32] 

Limitations Associated with Criminal Justice Policy Making

Criminal justice policy making is limited due to many factors. Still, technology is one of the biggest limitations we have. Technology is evolving so fast that the courts are unable to keep up with it. The criminal justice field has even relied on technology to help facilitate the advancements for the courts. Part of the problem is Agencies are creating policies as a protective measure to the courts and then are being told certain policies violate the Constitution because the technology has yet to be thoroughly described or defined.[G33] [G34] [G35] [G36] [G37] [G38] [G39] [G40] [G41] 

In recent years we have seen how things such as social media have changed the criminal justice policies. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are being used against agents in criminal justice fields. For [G42] [G43] instance, since the emergence of these websites officers have been warned that what they post may be against their department’s policies and can lead to disciplinary actions. A good example of this is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit decision in [G44] Liverman v. City of Petersburg. In this court case, two officers were disciplined for violating their agencies [G45] policy (Petersburg Police Department Policy Section 4, Part IV), entitled “Procedures,” of the 2013 Social Networking Policy, which provides by posting their opinion on rookie officers being trainers and new supervisors. The court stated the two were covered under the protection of the first amendment clause of freedom of speech. The policies in question briefly stated  [G46] 

“Negative comments on the internal operations of the Bureau, or specific conduct of supervisors or peers that impacts the public’s perception of the department is not protected by the First Amendment free speech clause” and “Officers may comment on issues of general or public concern (as opposed to personal grievances) so long as the comments do not disrupt the workforce” (Volokh, 2016).

This decision then has huge implications for policy making in the future. Creating criminal justice policy that is built on the principles of procedural justice is not always a good idea, and there could be many things that go wrong with them.[G47] [G48] [G49] [G50] 

Realistic Solution to Anticipating Policy Outcomes

When it comes to anticipating policy outcomes we have to be patient. Policy development is a crucial part of the criminal justice world. Do not allow the media’s agenda to create that eagerness to see the outcomes. The media plays a significant role in creating anticipation by covering stories that policy is set up on. [G51] [G52] [G53] [G54] [G55] [G56] [G57] Frost and Phillips (2011) were quoted in textbook Criminal Justice Policy by Mallicoat & Gardiner saying “Unfortunately, “public policy is influenced more by media misinformation and sensationalized high profile cases than by careful or thoughtful analysis” (2014, Pg. 12).  The speed of the coverage through social media sites can cause the public to be eager about the outcome of a policy that affects them.[G58] [G59] [G60] [G61] [G62] [G63] [G64] [G65] [G66] 

As a whole, we must understand the process of developing policy and allow the policy makers, and government officials to come up with a plan to properly implement the policy and correctly forecast the outcomes.[G67] [G68] [G69]  In the textbook Criminal Justice Policy Mallicoat & Gardiner states “Forecasting helps examine plausible, potential, and normatively valued futures; estimate the consequences of existing and proposed policies; specify probable future constraints on the achievement of objectives; and estimate the political feasibility of different options” (2014, Pg. 54). Forecasting is not always correct, but it projects the policy-makers expected outcomes. Expecting an instant fix to outcomes may is not realistic. There may be an analysis process that [G70] may have to occur before the expected outcomes are reached. Policy development is not just a one-time thing. With the emergence of technology, the forecasting may become easier and more realistic to what is possible for outcomes. [G71] [G72] [G73] 

Conclusion

The criminal justice world is based on policies. Not all policies are based on data and research. Many of the policies are based of the new advancements in technology. Future policy will be driven by those advancements in technology and social media. This thesis paper explained how a policy would be affected by those factors in the future. Describing the theory regarding the future and direction of criminal justice policy making did this[G74] [G75] [G76] [G77] [G78] . I also analyzed the future of criminal justice policy, explained the limitations associated with criminal justice policymaking and I suggested a realistic solution to anticipating policy outcomes.[G79] [G80] [G81] [G82] [G83] [G84] [G85] [G86] [G87] 

Dunn, W. N. (2016). Public policy analysis (5th ed.). Retrieved June 5, 2017, from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781317344834/cfi/6/6!/4/2/2@0:0

Hapuarachchi, T. (2017, January 09). The future of evidence-based criminal justice policy. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/future-evidence-based-criminal-justice-policy/

Hough, M., Bradford, B., Jackson, J., & Roberts, J. V. (2013). Attitudes to Sentencing and Trust in Justice Exploring Trends from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Ministry of Justice. Retrieved June 5, 2017, from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/230186/Attitudes_to_Sentencing_and_Trust_in_Justice__web_.pdf.

Mallicoat, S. L., & Gardiner, C. L. (2014). Criminal justice policy. Retrieved May 7, 2017, from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781483311814/cfi/4!/4/[email protected]:47.4

Volokh, E. (2016, December 15). Opinion | Fourth Circuit protects police officer Facebook posts critical of department policies. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/12/15/fourth-circuit-protects-police-officer-facebook-posts-critical-of-department-policies/?utm_term=.c7c6a37ccdf0

Westphal, L. J. (2004, November 09). The in-car camera: Value and impact. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://www.policeone.com/police-products/police-technology/articles/93475-The-in-car-camera-Value-and-impact/