3.1 and 3.4 - Explain the Role of Agencies in Social Control Flashcards
Name the 5 government sponsored agencies
- police
- CPS
- Judiciary
- Prisons
- Probation
Name the 3 charities and pressure groups
- Howard League for Penal Reform
- National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO)
- The Prison Reform Trust (PRT)
What are the 5 sections of each agency you need to discuss
- Aims and objectives
- funding
- philosophy
- working practices
- evaluation (strengths and weaknesses)
What are the main aims and objectives of the police?
- Keep peace and maintain order
- Protect life and property
- Prevent, detect and investigate crime
- Bring offenders to justice
What did the PACE Act 1984 allow police to do?
Stop, question, search, arrest, detain and interview
What are the 3 main funding sources for the police?
- 2/3 comes from the central government
- Local council tax
- Charging for services such as police presence at events
How much did the police cost in 2018/19?
£12.3 billion
Due to funding cuts how many police officers lost their jobs between 2010 and 2018?
20,000
What is the main philosophy of the police?
- public servants there to serve the public and the law
- technically just citizens in uniform that get paid.
- Met police established in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel (Bobbies)
What was Robert Peel’s philosophy for the police?
- Prevent crime and disorder
- Depend on public cooperation and approval
- Use physical force only as a last resort
- Impartially serve the law
- Police are public and the public are police
What are the working practices of the police?
- 39 regional forces in England (North Yorkshire Police)
- Specialist forces that are National - border force, national crime agency and transport police
- Police deal with all types of crime and offender apart from fraud and tax evasion which is dealt with by HM revenue and customs
- They patrol, respond to the public, deal with reports of crime, secure crime scenes, protect evidence, collect witness statements and find offenders.
- There are specialist units in parts of the country where they need it such as underwater search (we don’t have it due to the RNLI), dog handlers, air support, traffic, drug and covert surveillance.
What are strengths of the police?
- maintain public order
- protect the public from violent offenders
- specialist teams go where they are needed for the best chance at achieving justice
What are weaknesses of the police?
- understaffing issues
- low budgets so some areas can’t put as much into investigations
What is the role of the CPS?
- assess the evidence brought to them by the police
- advise police on legal matters and lines of enquiry
- decide of a prosecution should be brought
- prepare and lead the prosecution case in court
- support victims and witnesses
What are the aims of the CPS?
- To be objective, independent and fair
- Honest and open
- Respectful to all
- Based on equality and inclusion
- professional and aim for excellence
Explain the funding of the CPS.
- money from central government (approx half a billion a year)
- costs paid by defendants
- goods/assets recovered from criminals
How much was the CPS budget cut by in 2018?
25%
What are the working practices of the CPS?
- 14 local area branches in England and Wales
- 15th Branch is CPS direct that offers a 24/7 advisory service to the police
- led by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) (Max Hill since 2018)
- CPS deals with all types of crime and offender, including very serious crimes. It may not deal with some minor crimes.
- Full code test
Give a couple of examples of the evidential test and public interest test as part of the full code test
PUBLIC INTEREST
- How serious the crime was
- Is prosecution a proportionate response
- suspect’s age and maturity
- what is the impact on the community
- what harm has the victim suffered
- suspect’s level of culpability
- do sources of information need protecting?
EVIDENTIAL TEST
- is the evidence admissible in court
- is the evidence credible
- is the evidence reliable
What 5 conditions must be met in the threshold test?
- Reasonable grounds to suspect the person
- Reasonable grounds to believe more evidence will be obtained that could lead to a conviction
- Crime is serious enough to justify charging immediately
- Substantial grounds to object to bail.
- In the public interest to charge the suspect
Give strengths of the CPS
- attempt to prevent false evidence from making it into court
- tries to secure justice for victims and the public
- public protection
- their tests are useful in testing evidence credibility and suspect risk
Give weaknesses of the CPS
- get things wrong: allowed Jeremy Bamber’s ex to take the stand when she was a liar and disgruntled ex
- offenders might fail threshold test when they should pass
What is the philosophy of the CPS?
- be independent and impartial making decisions based solely on evidence and public interest
- Full code test and threshold test
- Fairness and justice should be achieved
- aim to be efficient and accountable - strive to deliver justice each time whilst being transparent about decisions
What is the role of the judiciary?
- the judiciary is all the judges in the UK
- over 3,000 of them
- judges are appointed, not elected
- they swear and oath of allegiance to the crown and a judicial oath “do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will” - translation they will do what the law tells them and be objective.
- there are superior judges (high court) and inferior judges (lower courts)
Explain the funding of the judiciary
- pay comes from the government
- salary for judges is between £110,000 to £257,000 in 2018
- the senior salaries review body are an independent body that recommends the pay of public roles such as MPs.
- salary sounds high but many lawyers won’t become judges as they can earn up to £1 million in commercial law especially.
- in 2008, Dame Hazel Glenn conducted research which found that lawyers are put off due to low salary.
Define these key words for the philosophy of judiciary: independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, ensuring equality, competence.
Independence - should be separate and free from the government in their decision making
Impartiality - must be non-biased in favour of one side or the other
Integrity - must be morally upstanding and honest
Propriety - strives to maintain social norms and values
Ensuring equality - so that people receive the same treatment under the law
Competence - must have required knowledge and expertise
What are the working practices of the judiciary?
- very important role in society ensuring the rule of law, maintaining justice and fairness
- some judges in higher courts deal with issues of national significance whereas lower courts deal with more local issues. (York Crown Court vs London Courts)
- protected from being ousted so politicians cannot abuse the system
- to remove a judge is very difficult and involves petitioning to the king and both Houses of Parliament
- deal with all types of crime and offender (except minor ones, which would be dealt with by magistrates or police.
Give strengths of the judiciary
- impartial/objective
- experienced - you don’t just ‘become’ a judge
- ensures fairness and due process
- fairness and consistency of sentencing
- independent of politics - improves objectivity
Give weaknesses of the judiciary
- there have been cases of judges being bribed or bought
- narrow backgrounds of judges: 50% are aged 50+, 71% are male, 95% are white, 74% had a private education, 74% went to oxbridge
- unduly harsh or lenient sentencing
What are the aims of prisons?
- protect the public from harm
- help offenders to rehabilitate and become positively contributing members of society.
- keep prisoners held securely and carry out the court sentencing
Explain funding for prisons
- government (taxpayers money)
- between 2010-18 funding fell by about 16% to £3 billion per year
- Caused decline in number of prison officers which has led many long-serving ones to leave making 1/3 of prison officers having less than 2 years experience
- in 2018 the cost to keep one person in prison was £37,543 which is more than many people make yearly.
- an official study suggests that taxpayers in England and Wales pay more towards prison upkeep than most people in Europe.
