The Criminal Justice Funnel, Essay Example

This is a model for criminal justice whose operation resembles a funnel (Wide at the top and narrow at the bottom). This implies that there are many cases at the beginning of the process of criminal justice but these cases decrease in number as cases are removed from the process by decision makers .Some of the cases are referred for counseling or treatment while others are dismissed. In simple terms the criminal justice funnel can be explained by the phrase “Defendants and suspects are more than inmates.  (CliffsNotes.com)

The model is displayed as being model that whittles down and the bulk reduces as the cases progress through the system of judicial adjudication. The decrease in numbers is not merely through discharge but also through the other avenues of judicial dispensation such as probation as well as discharge on grounds of lack of evidence or acquittal.

The fact that there are there is a fifty percent split between the cases that were reported and those that were actually reported. This signifies to a wider extent either the existence of lackadaisical approach as far as policing is concerned where the police are not at hand to detect and apprehend offenders. Similarly, the victims of these criminal offences did not take any steps to report such offences committed against them.

Arrest of criminals involves the holding these criminals for until they are arraigned in court for the offences that they are suspected of having committed. For the law enforcers to move in and arrest suspected criminals, they need sufficient evidence to give them comfort that they have a basis on which they can prosecute the suspected criminal. The need for solid evidence before any arrests are made partially explains the reason why only 200 of the reported 500 criminal cases were reported.

The criminal justice model is not a realistic model of justice in the society because it does not address contextual factors applied to various criminal activities. This is in view of the fact that not all the crimes that are committed easily detected at the time they are committed. There are also other crimes where the victims are not at hand. This includes such crimes as drug trafficking where only the offenders are arrested but the consumers are not easily indentified and if they are, they are handled separately. In addition it has failed to address new and emerging forms of crime such as cyber crime online bullying and other forms of web based crimes which the victims and the villains might not even be in the same legal jurisdiction (Meithei 2009)

References

CliffsNotes.com. The Process of Criminal Justice. 31 Jul 2009
<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/topicArticleId-10065,articleId-9909.html>.

Miethe T.D (2009) Crime and its Social Context, Retrieved on August 1, 2009 from <http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=_4wTiaBRclIC&dq=characteristics+that+predispose+one+to+victim+of+social+crime&source=gbs_navlinks_s> Pg 69-70.