CJA304 Effective Communication In Criminal Justice Settings

Police officers are faced each day with a variety of situation in which they must deal; therefore we should ask ourselves the following questions: Should police officers enforce the law equally in all situations? In what situations should police officers be allowed to not enforce the law? What types of situations would they be required to fully enforce the law? Why does police discretion exist? What are its strengths and weaknesses? And what is the relationship between police discretion and police ethics?

“Testimonials during court hearings are performed under oath, hence the statements of an individual being examined are assumed to be true and no other statement should be falsified or forged. When the officer does not pronounce the truth in court, he or she is still capable of providing a reason for his deception, based on a substitute arrangement, such as when he or she is operating as a witness to the prosecution and is not considered as the defendant in a court case. However, it is also required that the officer is conscious of the rules of the court system that he or she has sworn to tell the truth during examination” (Chevigny , 1969).

Police officers have played a major role in society by protecting us from crime. Their responsibilities include not only preserving the peace, preventing criminal acts, enforcing the law, investigating crimes, and arresting those who violate the law but also directing traffic, community relations work, and controlling crowds at public events.

While being a police officer, you have guidelines and rules that you need to follow just as if you worked as a chef or even a sales associate you have rules

It is my opinion that police training is very specific focusing on situational containment which involves quickly and forcefully apprehending criminal suspects. Although police training does include aspects of communication, the general intent is to establish authority over the person in question. This is done by communicating the impression of overwhelming force and aggression. I would contend that these two factors are the main principles of police training, whether it be verbal or physical interaction with the suspect. This approach is understandable for the law enforcement profession is fraught with danger and the

Turning to the case of Guy Paul Morin, one will see that the witness account played a great deal in the conviction of Morin. Mr. X falsely testified against Morin because he did not like Morin. The crown also used evidence from undercover officers where statements of Morin were recorded on a 60 minute tape recorder, which the officers believed to be 90 minutes. This made the case interesting because the crown used this instance for saying that Morin confessed to the crime after 60 minutes. This showed false accusation that was made both by the police officers and crown attorneys.

Eyewitness misidentification can pose a serious threat in forensic evidence. Eye witness testimony can easily be tampered with due to words or phrases used. Bias is a major issue in identification especially if the police officer uses suggestive tones to portray whom they believe is the suspect. Some witnesses will change their opinion when they hear new information of the suspect. A study has shown that words can play a major impact in the witness' mind and cause them to recall false information. False information can also stem from human memory, age, distance, and how long it took before a witness could recall the information. It has been shown that due to the confidence that a witness may have, it could impact the court systems' reliability on the witness; however, there are several solutions that can be done to prevent misidentification in the court of law. Some examples that can be done are blind administration, lineup composition, instructions, confidence statements, and

The police officer is the first person to deal with any case. They are usually the one who arrest the suspects or investigating each crime. They work directly with the

Police officers in a crime prone region and in areas with extreme rowdy criminal behavior may develop some degree of dislike for the law breakers and their approach to dealing with the criminals may be brutal. In such situations, the police officers enforcing law and order act based on their emotions rather than their professional expectations.

Communication issues are also a challenge for criminal justice agencies. There are two communication barriers one is individual and the other is organizational. Individual communication issues are that a person’s own interpretation of a message may not be what is meant. An organization’s culture can be a barrier in communicating with another organization. The court system, police and corrections have different jargon that is used within their culture. This sometimes makes communication difficult between the organizations as well as with the public. To handle these challenges a leader must be an affective communicator (Duelin, 2010).

When I was younger and people would ask me, "what does your father do for a living," I'd smile from ear to ear and answer, "my daddy is a policeman!" I was so comfortable telling the world that my dad is a police officer, that he stops bad guys... Now not so much. Being a teenager around this time, I am obviously involved in social media. Where people just slander police officers. I soon realized that no one really likes police based on the actions of a few individuals. I am her to inform really whoever is willing to listen, that they're wrong about policemen.

"For example, in police-civilian interactions, members of the public tend to see the uniform and the badge rather than the individual behind them. However, studies show that police officers who are willing to take the time to show kindness, understanding and consideration when interacting with others--especially those who may be distrustful--will likely foster a more positive atmosphere" (Barker et al., 2008). This type of respectfulness goes a long way when officers are doing community service. For example, when officers participate in programs like D.A.R.E, they must show kindnesses when effectively communicating with groups of student and parents. In addition, they can also hold more community meetings. In order to accomplish this, local police in a community would do well to hold regular meetings in to talk about prevalent crimes and how to prevent them. Police officers need to be honest and clear, as well as kind, usually when they communicate with victims, as well as when communicating with those who break the law. Police officers need to be part of the community, and communication helps them achieve this.

Without having a criminal justice system there would be no order. Being in the law enforcement field, if it's being a police officer, probation officer, or even a correctional officer it is essential that everyone communicates with everyone. By colloaborating with each other it ensures that everyone is on the same page when it comes to things. Working together this way helps to create the same justice that we have for our victims but in our communities as well. In order for the criminal justice system to function effectively all three components of the criminal justice system is an essential part.

Communication is important to most professions and human relations in general. When it comes to a career in the Criminal Justice field, you must have great communication skills. Possessing these skills can keep you out of bad situations, and might even save your life. Communication can be verbal or non-verbal and to be able to do your job well, you need to know how to overcome potential communication barriers.

When you approach someone during an incident, explain to them why you perform actions, and answer their questions. Engaging the public in conversation helps to make the officer a part of the community and helps gain the confidence of the public and improves the image of the police in the community.