The criminal justice system is made up of three major components which work together to promote public safety. The role played by the police in the criminal justice system goes beyond just providing protection and safety to the public. One of the significant functions of the police is to conduct investigations and apprehend all suspects to various acts of crimes. This is a very significant role as it is the primary step in responding to crimes by the criminal justice system since the rest of the components cannot respond to criminal acts unless they are discovered by the police. Therefore, they have a critical responsibility of deciding whether to arrest, conduct investigations or give warnings to criminal offenders. In addition to physical arrest of criminal suspects, the police have to facilitate the arrest by providing information to the prosecutor which should present a strong case based on the relation between the two basic requirements of making an arrest which are mental stability and the actual commitment of a crime (ADB. 2006, p. 1). Failure to facilitation of arrest by police may subject them to civil suits especially when the prosecutor drops the charges due to a weak case.
In order for an arrest on certain acts of behavior to be determined, the prosecutor has to present evidence against the suspect before a court of law. Besides providing evidence in court, the prosecutor may as well get involved in conducting investigations where the cases involved are complex and severe. However, not all cases presented before a court of law are processed through to trial as the judges determines whether the cases are probable depending on the age of the suspect, the complexity of the crime and other factors. If the evidence presented cannot be adequate enough for the judge to believe that the suspect actually did commit the crime, the case is dismissed. However, if the evidence is adequate, then the judge presents the case to a grand jury which determines whether the accused should be brought to trial or not (Drakeford, ND, p. 1).
The correctional facilities aim at punishing criminal offenders. This is because punishment is believed to be a way of deterring other people from committing criminal acts. Another significant function of corrections is to protect the society from such criminal behaviors. Additionally, criminal offenders are put through correctional faculties to provide rehabilitation services to them in order to allow them to reflect on their lives and give them the chance to live positively with society members once they get out. Similarly, correctional services provide educational programs based on vocational skills for the offenders and this gives them competitive employment opportunities. The significance of these employment opportunities for criminal offenders is that they will be preoccupied with work hence chances of committing criminal acts again would be low. There are various correctional programs within the criminal justice system. For instance, a probation period may be given in place of imprisonment or before prison time. Imprisonment is another program in the correctional system where a convicted criminal is detained in a prison for a specified period of time (Crime and criminal law, 2011, p. 1). In other cases, parole may be given to criminal offenders after their jail term is completed. Community detention services and bailing services are also part of the correctional facilities provided by the criminal justice system.
Reference List
ADB. (2006). Strengthening the criminal justice system. Web.
Crime and criminal law. (2011). Criminal justice system – structural and theoretical components of the criminal justice system. Web.
Drakeford, W. (ND). History of the criminal justice system. Web.