3.1- explain the role of agencies in social control

Question 1

Police - philosophy

Answer 1

Summed up by Sir Robert Peel, who in 1829 founded the Metropolitan police, the first modern professional police force in Britain. Peel states the basic mission of the police is to prevent crime and disorder, the polices ability to perform their duties depends on the publics cooperation and approval, the use of physical force is a last resort, the polices duty is to impartially serve the law, the police are the public and the public are the police, police are just citizens in uniform upholding the law.

Question 2

Police - aims and objectives

Answer 2

To keep the peace and maintain order, protect life and property, prevent , detect and investigate crime and bring offenders to justice. They have specific legal powers to stop, question, search, arrest detain in a police station and interview a member of the public in relation to a crime.

Question 3

Police - funding

Answer 3

In 2020, 21 the total police budget was £15.2 billion, this comes from about 2/3 from central government, most of the rest comes from local council tax and a small amount comes from charging for services such as policing football matches. Polices funding fell by 19% between 2010 and 2018, this led to a fall in 20,000 in police numbers during the same period, by 2020 there 123,000 police officers in England and Wales.

Question 4

Police - working practices

Answer 4

Nationally and local reach consists of 39 regional police forces in England and four in Wales, the Metropolitan police, South Wales police. One police force for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland. The police deal with virtually all types of offence and offender, some specialist law enforcement agencies do deal with certain kinds of crime and criminal (HM revenue and customs deal with tax evasion and tax fraud). Most police have genral duties with patrolling a particular area, working with local community etc.

Question 5

Police - specialist policing

Answer 5

Departments with specialist duties, include the work of detectives in CID, fraud and drugs squad, and special branch. Found in most police forces: other units may include covert operations, surveillance teams, traffic and mounted police, air support, river police. They use unarmed policing, generally, special constables (undergo same training and have same legal powers), police community support officers have more limited powers, often dealing with anti-social behaviour on the streets and police and crime commissioners (elected representatives of the people of the area covered, set local forces policing priorities and budget).

Question 6

CPS - aims and objectives

Answer 6

Set up in 1986 under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, took over prosecuting role from the police because there was risk of bias in allowing the police to both investigate and prosecute case. Police still prosecute minor cases but the CPS advise the police in their investigations and lines of enquiry, independently assess the evidence submitted to it by the police and keep cases under continuous review, decides whether to prosecute and if so, what charges should be brought, prepares the prosecution case and presents it in court, using its own layers and self- employed specialists, it assists, informs and supports victims and prosecution witnesses.

Question 7

CPS - philosophy and values

Answer 7

Independence and fairness, honesty and openness, treating everyone with respect, behaving professionally and striving for excellence and equality and inclusion.

Question 8

CPS - funding

Answer 8

Most comes from government, with a budget of around half a billion pounds per year, in addition the CPS recovers some of its costs when the courts award costs against defendants, as well as recovered assets confiscated from criminals. CPS has suffered significant funding cuts, in 2018, head of CPS reported that its budget had fallen by 25% and it had lost a 1/3 of its staff.

Question 9

CPS - working practices

Answer 9

Except for very minor offences, CPS deals with full range of offences and criminals, deals with serious cases. CPS is a national body throughout England and Wales, with 14 regional area teams prosecuting cases locally, each headed by a Chief Crown prosecutor and works closely with local police forces and other criminal justice partners. CPS direct is virtual 15th area provides decisions to police nationwide, all day and year. Head of CPS is Max Hill.

Question 10

CPS - decisions to prosecute

Answer 10

The evidential test (satisfied with amount of evidence for a realistic prospect of convicting the suspect, decide if evidence is admissible, reliable and credible). The public interest test (ask particular questions regarding the public, like how serious, harm to victim, age) and the threshold test (reasonable enough grounds to believe suspect is guilty and that further evidence can be obtained or it is serious enough for immediate charging, too risky for bail).

Question 11

Judiciary - philosophy

Answer 11

Lay down standards for judges’ ethical conduct. Judicial independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, ensuring equal treatment and competence. Judges swear oath: oath of allegiance and judicial oath (treat people equally, with impartiality and according to law).

Question 12

Judiciary - aims and objectives

Answer 12

To interpret and apply the law to the cases that come before it in courts: Crown court: judge must manage the trial, ensuring fairness to all parties, explain legal issues and procedures to members of the jury, summing up the evidence and passing sentences. In appeal courts: judges make rulings on the appeals and that come before from lower courts, creating precedents.

Question 13

Judiciary - funding

Answer 13

Based on advice of an independent body: Senior Salaries Review body, makes recommendations to Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor on how much judges should be paid. For example in 2020 the most senior judge, the Lord Chief Justice received £262,000 while district judges earned £112,000. Judges are well paid in most peoples standards, some senior lawyers can earn more than judges: some experiences barrister working in commercial law earn in excess of £1m.

Question 14

Judiciary - working practices

Answer 14

Importance of maintaining their independence so they can uphold law and defend rights of citizens; they have security of tenure (cannot be removed from office expect by a petition to the Queen passed by both Houses of Parliament, their salary is guaranteed. Deals with all types of offence and offender, except for least serious cases, which is dealt by magistrates or by police. National and local reach, at senior level, supreme court has nationwide jurisdiction and settles points of law and national importance, judges working in lower courts handle local cases.

Question 15

Prisons - philosophy

Answer 15

‘Preventing victims by changing the lives of offenders’.

Question 16

Prisons - aims and objectives

Answer 16

Protect the public from harm, help people who have been convicted of offences to rehabilitate so they can contribute positively to society and hold prisoners securely and implement the sentences and orders of the courts.

Question 17

Prisons - funding

Answer 17

Paid for by the government out of general taxation, in 2018 the total budget for prisons was approximately £3 billion -16% lower than in 2010, resulted in cuts to staffing levels, with a 15% fall in number of prison officers between 2010 and 2018. By 2020 almost 1/3 of staff had less than 3 years experience. Average cost of keeping a prisoner in public sector prisons in 2019 was £41,136 per year.

Question 18

Prisons - working practices

Answer 18

In 2019, there was total of 121 prisons, holding around 80,000 prisoners at any one time, 106 were public sector prisons and 15 were private prisons run by Sodexo, G4S and Serco. G4S was stripped of its contract for HMP Birmingham and back to public sector following Britains worst prison riot in 2016.

Question 19

Prisons - types of criminality and offender

Answer 19

Deals with high risk offenders who are deemed unsuitable to serve sentence in community. Range of seriousness of offence varies.

Question 20

Prisons - national and local reach

Answer 20

Nationally organized with prisons situated throughout the UK, when sentenced to prison, an offender is placed in a local prison and given a security classification based on risk assessment. Category A, B, C and D.

Question 21

Prisons - attempted escapes

Answer 21

Those who have will be placed on ‘escape list’, must be handcuffed and wear bright yellow clothing when being moved, change cells frequently and some of personal property removed from their cell before being locked in for the night.

Question 22

Prisons - activities and routines

Answer 22

Criticised for lack of opportunities for education, training and work experience. In 2020, the chief inspector of prisons said that half the prisons inspected had too few programmes of useful activity. Under 2/5 were assessed as delivering ‘good’ activities, may be due to cuts in number of prison officers.

Question 23

Prisons - incentives and earned privileges

Answer 23

Rewards for obeying rules, three IEP levels: basic, standard and enhanced; on arrival prisoners are placed on a standard level may be downgraded and upgraded according to their privileges and behavour.

Question 24

Prisons - incentives and earned privileges

Answer 24

Rewards for obeying rules, three IEP levels: basic, standard and enhanced; on arrival prisoners are placed on a standard level may be downgraded and upgraded according to their privileges and behavior.

Question 25

National probation service - philosophy

Answer 25

Core values and ethical principles: belief that offenders can change for the better and become responsible members of society, belief in the worth and dignity of the individual and a commitment to social justice, social inclusion, equality and diversity.

Question 26

National probation service - aims and objectives

Answer 26

‘Statutory criminal justice service that supervises high-risk offenders released into the community and provides statutory support to victims of serious sexual or violent crime’, priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders, tacking the causes of offending and enabling them to turn their lives around.

Question 27

National probation service - types of offender and crime

Answer 27

Offenders serving a sentence in the community and offenders who have been released on license from prison.

Question 28

National probation service - partnerships

Answer 28

NPS works in partnership to manage offenders with a range of organisations: courts, police, local council and partners in private and voluntary sectors. CRC’s.

Question 29

National probation service - funding

Answer 29

In 2018, it had an overall budget of £4.6 billion, shared between prisons and probation, provided by government and general taxation.

Question 30

National probation service - CRC’s

Answer 30

19 of the 21 CRC’s missed their targets for reducing re-offending and some were even supervising offenders remotely by phone. Report in 2018: £342 million had been spent on CRC’s without clear benefits, by 2020, Ministry of Justice had spent over £500m more than expected on CRC’s. All private sector contracts were ended in 2020.

Question 31

National probation service - working practices

Answer 31

At around any one time, around 250,000 offenders are on probation. NPS is a national service working to same standards throughout the country, delivering the service regionally and locally: preparing pre-sentence reports for courts, managing approved premises for offenders whose sentences include a residence requirement, assessing prisoners for their release on license, helping offenders serve sentences in the community to meet requirements and communicating wellbeing of the offenders victims.

Question 32

Charities and pressure groups (Nacro) - philosophy, aims and objectives

Answer 32

Social justice charity seeking to change lives, strengthen communities and prevent crime, aims to overcome stereotyped view of ex-prisoner, provides service: housing, education, resettlement advice and outreach projects.

Question 33

Charities and pressure groups (Nacro) - campaigns

Answer 33

To change laws and policies affecting ex-offenders, such as campaign to reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and criminal records checks, enabling people with convictions to compete for jobs by removing the tick-box on job application forms.

Question 34

Charities and pressure groups (Nacro) - funding

Answer 34

Has an income of around £50m a year, comes from public donations, government grants and contracts for providing services.

Question 35

Charities and pressure groups (Nacro) - working practices

Answer 35

Works with a range of ex-offenders, including those release from prison, works with young people at risk of offending, those excluded from mainstream school, concerned with needs of disadvantaged young people and adults, a national organisation with local activities and projects in around 50 different parts of England and Wales, large full-time staff and many unpaid volunteers.