3.1- roles of agencies in social control Flashcards
What are the 6 agencies in social control
- police
- judiciary system
- national probation service
- crown prosecution service
- prisons
- charities and pressure groups
What is the philosophies of the police
- metro police was founded by sir Robert peel in 1929
- physical force is last resort
- code of ethics followed to ensure respect of public
Funding of police
- council tax payers
- government
- in 2018 the budget was £12 bil, which was significant less than prev years
- decrease in funding= decrease of police officers in position
Aims/objectives of police
- maintain law and order
- protect life/property
- Keep peace in community
- bring offenders justice
- prevent/investigate crime
What legal powers can the police use to help meet their aims/objectives
Detain, arrest and question powers under PACE 1984
Working practice of the police
- police operate across the uk
- have specialist forces (British transport police, boarder force)
- deal with all types of offences (some exceptions e.g. HM revenue and customs deal with fraud)
- duties- patrolling, detain offenders, investigate crime
What are some specialist duties with in police
CID
Drug squad
Dog handler
Counter terrorism
Types of roles of police officers
- unarmed- force last resort
- specialist constables- unpaid volunteers
- PCSO- target antisocial behaviour
- police crime commissioners- elected reps of people in area to liaise with police
Whats the philosophy of the judiciary system
- guild to judicial conduct 2016- guide ethical/professional conduct
- e.g. judicial independence- not influenced, impartial to both sides, equality, honesty
- swear under oath to be loyal to royal family (oath of allegiance)
- uphold code of conduct (judicial oath)
Funding of judiciary
Senior salaries recommend how much should be awarded (in 2018- £275k was pay for most senior judges)
Aims/objectives of judiciary
- crown court- ensure fairness, explain legal issues, offer info to jury, summarise evidence, determine sentence
- appeal- rule on appeals that come from lower courts, decisions sometimes lead to new precedents
Working practice of judiciary
Judge Uphold rule of law
Have security of tenure- can only be removed from prison through petition to royal family
Guaranteed salary
Organised by type (superior judge in high/supreme/appeal, inferior in crown)
Deal with all offences- not those dealt with by police
Philosophy of national probation service
- operate under belief that its possible for offenders to change
- emphasise value of offenders
- equality, diversity and social justice
Aims and objective of probation service
- protect public through rehab of offenders
- support/reintegrate back into society
- help them tackle barriers/cause of offending
- supervise offenders a serving community sentence
- supervise those released on license (ensure conditions met e.g. curfew, group attendance)
Funding of probation service
- same funding that’s given to HM prison/probation service
- private companies contracted to offer rehab on behalf of ministry of justice
Working practice of probation service
- 250k offenders can be on probation in uk at once
- services offered locally
- pre prepare pre sentence reports to aid sentencing
- manage approved premises (supervised accommodation)
- prepare/assess offenders for release
- prioritise wellbeing of offenders in prison for more than 12m
Philosophy of CPS
Values that underpin CPS= honesty, openness, respect, professionalism
Demonstrate equality
Improve public confidence
Prosecute without bias
Aims/objectives of CPS
CPS set up in 1986- took over prosecuting from police to eliminate bias
- advise police on investigations/decisions to prosecute
- prepare/present prosecution case
- support v and witness
Funding of CPS
- half a billion a year funded from goverment
- some cases court costs are recovered from d
- some confiscated assets from investigation recovered by courts
- decrease in funding - concerns about how CPS will continue to operate (25% decrease in 2018)
Working practice of CPS
- responsible for all serious cases
- operate across England and wales- 14 regional teams
- to prosecute cps follow code for crown practice:
Evidential test- is it admissible/enough
Public interest test- is its in public interest to persecute, look at seriousness/level of blame/impact on community
Threshold test- if there’s reasoable grounds to suspect guilt and evidence likely to be gathered they can prosecute
Philosophy of prisons
- under responsibility of HM prison/probation services- helps prisons prevent future victims (change lives of offenders and their decisions)
Aims and objectives of prisons
- protect public
- rehabilitate convicted offenders
- hold prisoners in secure unit while carrying out sentence
Funding of prisons
- paid for by government who use money from taxes
- in 2018 funding decreased (total budget was £3 billion (led to lower prison offenders which impacted availability of education courses
- cost of keeping prisoner in prison between 2017-2018 was £37,500 a year
Working practice of prison
- house offenders not suited to community sentence
- when sentenced, placed in local prison whilst their categories by crime
- category A- high security, danger to society
- C- high risk, untrustworthy but not likely to escape
- prisoner attempts escape- placed on escape list, heavily handcuffed, visible uniform, more frequent cell movement
- expected to provide work/education opportunities
- use system of incentives- token economy
What are charities and pressure groups
- voluntary organisations, independant from government
- charities- help those in need
- pressure groups- organise campaigns for change
- both- NACRO (national association for care and rehab of offenders)
Funding of NACRO
- public donations
- government support
- contracts
- £50 million a year
Working practice of NACRO
- work with ex offenders, young people at risk of criminality, disadvantaged communities
- national organisation across England and wales
- ran by unpaid volunteers
Philosophy of NACRO
- aim to change views towards ex offenders
- offer education/outreach projects- help young people at risk of criminality, give resettlement advice (housing and employment), provide houses (in 2018 provided 2.5k people with accommodation to support leave of prison)
- campaigns to change laws/policies that affect ex offenders (ban the box campaign- remove requirement of seeing previous criminal convicts ions on all job applications)
