3.1 Flashcards
what are the aims and objectives of the police
to keep peace and maintain order
protect life and property
prevent detect and investigate crime
bring offenders to justice
what is the PACE act 1984
gives police powers to stop, question, search, arrest and detain offenders
where does the police get its funding from
1 - 2/3rds from the gov (2020/21 budget was £15 billion)
2 - local council tax
3 - charging for services eg football matches
EG between 2010-18 funding has fallen by 19%, which has lead to a fall in 20,000 police numbers. By 2020 there were 123,000 police officers in England and wales
what is the philosophy of the police
the Met police was established in 1829 by SIR ROBERT PEEL who was the home secretary
- they are public servants serving the public and law
- police are just citixens in uniform who are paid
peelers - were the first police officers
bobbies - police officers seen on the street
what are the working practices of the police
39 regional forces in england and wales
Police deal with all types of criminal but there are specialist law enforcement agencies who deal with stuff like tax
EG the HM Revenue and Customs deal with tax evasions and tax fraud
what are the specialist departments of the police
eg under water search teams and dog handlers, british transport police
special constables - unpaid, parttime volunteers who undergo the same training and have the same legal powers as paid police officers
PCSOs - peace keeping on the street, less powers than police
the beginning of the CPS
was set up under the Prosecution Offences act 1985 and was established in 1986
before the police had to lead the prosecutions which ;ed to bias and a lack of efficiency and quality of evidence
role of the cps
assess evidence brought by the police
advise the police on legal matters
decide if they should be prosecuted and what charges should be brought
prepare and lead the prosecution case in court
philosophy of the cps
to be independent and equal
honest and open
professional excellence
funding the cps
half a billion pounds each year from the gov
if the courts award the costs against the defendant the cps get paid them
assets seized from criminals
CPS budget been cut by 25% in 2018 and lost more than 1/3 of the staff which means that there are more mistakes
reach of the cps
deals with all types of crime
14 local area branches in england and wales
the 15th is CPS direct which offers 24/7 advisory service to police
what tests do they cps have to go through
1 - evidential test: is there enough evidence that they could get a conviction and all evidence is admissible
2 - public interest test: how serious is the offence, what harm did the victim suffer, age and the impact the offence had on the community
3 - threshold test: even if there isn’t enough evidence a suspect may still be charged under certain circumstances - must be reasonable grounds to believe they are guilty and that more evidence will be gathered to get a conviction and that if the offence is serious enough to justify charging and that it would be too risky to offer bail
philosophy of the judiciary
judicial independence
impartiality
competence
when appointed, they swear two oaths: the oath of allegiance (loyalty to the queen) and the judicial oath (to treat people equally)
aims of the judiciary
crown court - manage a trial, ensure fairness to both sides, explaining points of law and passing a sentence if guilty
appeals court - make rulings on appeals from lower courts eg creating precedents
funding the judiciary
Senior Salaries Review Body advises that recommends what judges should be paid.
eg most senior judge in 2020 got £260,000 whilst district judges got £112,000
some experiences barristers working in commercial law can get paid up to £1 million which can put people off becoming judges
working practices of judges
have a very important role in society
security of the tenure - protected from being ousted so politicians cant abuse the system and have them removed (hard to remove a judge and its only happened once in 1830)
philosophy of prisons
HM Prison and probation service is the gov agency responsible for uk prison
purpose to ‘prevent victims by changing lives of offenders’
aim of prisons
- protect the public from harm
- rehabilitate so that offenders can positively to society
- hold prisoners securely and implement the sentence given in court
funding of prisons
paid for by gov from taxes - in 2018 they got £3billion which is 16% lower than in 2010. This resulted in cuts to staffing - 15% reduction of prison officers in 2010-19. This resulted in experienced staff leaving and in 2020 almost 1/3 of staff had less than 3 years experience
the average cost to keep a prisoner in 2019 was £41,136
prisons working practices
- in 2019 121 prisons were holding 80,000 prisoners
- prisoners are sorted into 2 categories - A is a high security prison such as BELMARSH and B is low security like FORD
- prisoners are rehabilitated by educating classes and work experience - criticised in 2020 by the Chief Inspector of prisons who said half of prisons didn’t have enough programmes for useful activities. this was because there isn’t enough staff to supervise activities
- incentives and earned privileges are achieved by keeping to the rules: 3 levels: - 1 basic: misbehaviour eg limited visits
2 standard: all prisoners enter on this eg spending money they’ve earn’t
3 enhanced: good behaviour eg tv in cell
philosophy of probation
belief that offenders can change and better themselves
belief in the worth of the individual
committed to social justice
aims of the national probation service
‘a statutory criminal justice system that supervises high risk offenders released into the community and provides statutory support to victims of serious sexual or violent crime’
priority - to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders
what are the types of client that probation gets
1- offenders serving community service - eg 300 hours of unpaid work and a curfew
2 - offenders released on license from prison before the end of their sentence to attend a drug treatment or anger management class
funding of probation
2018 there was £4.6 billion between prisons and probation
PRIVITISATION partly went very wrong (ending the CRCs) because they were taking risks with payers money and there was a lack of face to face meetings, there was no reduce in re-offending. 19/21 companies didnt meet the targets for reducing offending. Report in 2018 by COMMONS PAC said that £342 million had been spent on crc’s and by 2020 the ministry of justice had spent over £500 million more than expected
