A.C. 3.1- agencies in social control

what are the agencies of social control

• Police

• CPS

• Judiciary

• Prisons

• National Probation Service

• Charities and Pressure Groups

What were the 5 aspects of Sir Robert Peele’s philosphy of Policing?

• basic mission of the police is to prevent crime

• polices ability to perform is based on publics cooperation

• use of physical force should be last resort

• polices duty is to impartially serve the law

• police are public and public are police

where are peel’s principles embedded in

Police Code of Ethics - stresses police are public servants

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers, what are the aims of the policing

• keep the peace + maintain order

• protect life + property

• prevent, detect and investigate crime

• bring offenders to justice

PACE 1984

give police the legal power to stop. question, search, arrest, detain, interview a mem

What are the Sources of the Police Funding

• 2/3 from central government

• 1/3 from local council tax

• small ammount from charging for services - e.g. policing a football match

how much did the police’s funding fall by between 2010 and 2018?

19%

fall of 20,000 in police numbers

How many police forces are there in England + Wales?

39 regional police forces

How many police forces are there in Scotland + Northern Ireland?

One Police forces

what are the general duties of most police?

patrolling a particular area

working with the local community

responding to public call for assistance

securing crime scenes

5 examples of specialist police departments

• unarmed policing

• special constables

• police community support officers

• police and crime commissioners

why are most police unarmed

physical force should be last resort

what are special constables + what they do?

unpaid, part time volunteers who undergo the same training and have the same legal powers as paid police

what are police community support officers + what

have more limited powers

often deal with anti social behaviors on the street

can ask police officer to arrest a person

what are the police and crime commissioners and what do they do?

elected representatives of the people of the area covered by police force

• give the locsl population a voice in policing by being directly accountable to electorate

• aim is to cut crime + ensure efficient policing

• set local force’s priorities + budget

what is the CPS?

• CPS is the main public prosecutor in England + Wales

• took over the prosecuting role from the police due to risks of bias allowing police to investigate + prosecute

• CPS prosecutes all serious cases but police only minor offences

What is the Role of the CPS?

• advises the police in their investigation about lines of inquiry + evidence needed

• independently asses the evidence submitted by police

• decides whether to procedure + its charges

• prepares for prosecution case + presenting in court

• assists, informs, supports victims

what are the values of the CPS

• independency + fairness

• honesty + openness

• treating everyone with respect

• behaving professionally + striving for excellence

• equality + inclusion

where does the funding for the CPS come from?

• CPS’s income comes from gov

• CPS recovers some of its costs when court awards costs against defendant

• recovers from confiscation of assets from criminals

• in 2018, the budget was cut by ¼ and staff count dropped by 1/3

what types of criminality + offenders to the CPS deal with

• takes responsibility for all serious cases except minor cases

whats the local + national reach of CPS

• National body throughout England + Wales with 14 regional teams prosecuting local cases

• CPS Direct is a virtual ‘15th’ area, providing decisions to police nationwide, 24/7, 365 days

what are the two test that the CPS must apply when deciding to prosecute a case?

• evidential test

• public interest test

whats the evidential test

• prosecutors must first decide whether there is enough evidence for a realistic prospect on convicting the suspect

• must decide whether evidence is admissible, reliable and credible

• if the evidential test fails, prosecution wont go ahead

whats the public intrest test

• prosecutors must then decide whether the prosecution is in the public’s intrest

• must consider 7 question regarding the case:

  • how serious is offence

  • suspects’ level of blame

  • what harm has victim suffered

  • suspect’s age + maturity

  • impact of offence on community

  • is prosecution proportionate response

  • do information sources require protecting

whats the threshold test

if there not enough evidence for an immediate prosecution then may be still charged under certain circumstances

• must be reasonable grounds to believe suspect is guilty + enough further evidence can be obtained later

• offence is serious enough to justify immediate charging + too risky for bail

what is the judiciary

all the judges in the country’s courts

3,000 court judges

what are the principles which lay down the standard for judges’ ethical conduct?

• judicial independence ( free from government interference in decisions)

• impartiality

• integrity

• propriety ( uphold morals)

• ensuring equal treatment

• competence

what are the 2 oaths that judges swear by on appointment

• the oath of allegiance (loyalty) to the queen, her heirs + successors

• the judicial oath - to treat people equally with impartially and according to law

what are the aims + objectives of the judiciary

basic role is to interpret + apply the law to the cases that come to the courts

• crown court - judge must manage trial ensuring fairness to all parties and explaining legal issues to jury, summing up evidence and finding the defendant guilty or not

• appeal court- make ruling on appeals from lower courts. may involving a judicial precedent which abide in future decisions of lower courts

what is the working prctice of the Judiciary

Judges are protected in their role so they can do their job properly. for that reason:

• they can’t be easily removed from their position except by a petition to the queen passed by HoC + HoL

• Guaranteed salary means their pay can’t be reduced to pressure or punish them.

what types of criminality + offenders do Judiciary deal with

deal with all types if offence + offenders except for minor ones which are dealt in magistrates court or dealt with a fine

whats the national + local reach of judicary

• the supreme court has nationwide judication + settles point of law at national importance

• around 90 crowns courts around the country to handle local cases

whats prison’s philosphy

HM Prison + Probation Services is the government agency responsible for the UK’s prisons

it describes its purpose as preventing victims by changing lives of offender

what are the main aims of the prison services

• to protect the public from harm

• the help people who have been convicted of offences to rehab

• hold prisoners securely + implement the sentences + orders of court

whats prison’s funding

• paid for by the government out of general taxation

• the budget in 2018 was 16% lower than what it was in 2010

  • resulted in cuts to staffing

  • 15% fall in staff

• in 2020, almost 1/3 of staff has less than 3 years experience

what is the working practice of prisons

• in 2019, there was a total of 121 prisons, holding around 80,000 prisoners at once

• 106 were public sector prions and 15 were privately run

what types of criminality + offenders to prisons deal with

deals with higher risk offenders who are deemed unsuitable to serve sentence in community

range of seriousness from murder to theft

need to be takes out of circulation

whats the national and local reach of prisons

• often nationally organized with prisons situated throughout UK

• when sentenced to prison they are first placed in local prisons and given security classification based on risk assessments

what happens if attempted escaped are made in prisons

• placed on an ‘escape list’

• must be handcuffed and wear bright yellow clothing when being moved

• must change cells frequently

• clothes + some personal properties removed when locked up for night

what are incendivities + earned privilage’s

rewards that prisoners can earn to keep to rules

• 3 levels which are basic, standard and enhaced

  everyone stars off on standard and move down for misbehavior to basic and move up for good behavior to enhanced

whats the National Probation service’s philosophy

describes it core values + ethical principles as:

• belief that offenders can change for the better and become responsible members of society

• belief in dignity + worth of individual

• commitment to social injustice, social inclusion, equality and diversity

what are the aims and objectives of the national probation services?

• priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offender by tackling root cause

who are the two types of client that the porbation service supervise

• offenders serving a sentence in the community due to a community order from court

• offenders who have been released early on license from prison

who funds the national probation service

• National probation service is part of HM prison + probation services which has a overal budget of £4.6 billion shared between prison + prbation

• provided by the government from tax

Community rehabilitation contracts

• private businesses that has a contract with the Ministry of Justice to provide probation services

• they were paid for meeting rehabilitation target agreed in contracts

• found that 19 of 21 CRCs missed target for reducing recidivisms and some were supervising remotely by telephone

• in 2018 a report found that upto £343 million has been spent on CRCs without clear benefits and so gov decided to end it all

what time of criminals and offenders do the national prison service deal with

• around 250,000 offenders are on probation at any one time

• they are deemed safe enough to serve their sentence in community

whats the national + local reach of the national prbation service

is a national service working same standard throughout country but delivering service regionally + locally

whats the national probation service responsible for

• preparing pre-sentence reports for the court to help them select appropriate sentence

• assessing prisoners to prepare them for their release on license back into community

• helping offenders serve sentence in community to meet requirements ordered by courts

whats a charity

organisation set up to provide help to those in need

whats a pressure group?

organisation that campaign to achieve change

how is NACRO a charity and pressure group?

• Pressure group - change government policies which affect ex offenders

• charities - provides help for ex offenders

what is NACRO

stands for National Association for the Care and Resentment of Offenders

• founded in 1966

• describes itself as a social injustice charity seeking to change lives, strengthen communities and prevent crimes

what services do NACRO offer

• housing - houses over 3,000 tenants in its own properties and provide bail accommodation

• education - in 2018, 4900 studies through NACRO’s educational program

• resettlement advice - provides support on employment, education and housing

• outreach projects to keep youth from offending

what does NACRO campaign for ?

campaigns to change the laws + polices affecting ex - offenders such as:

• the campaign to reform the rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974 and criminal record checks

• supporter of ban the box campaign

  • aims to enable people with convictions to compete for jobs by removing the tick box on criminal conviction on job forms

how is NACRO funded

• has income of around £50m a year

• funding comes from public donations, government grants and contracts for providing services for ex offenders

who are the types of criminality and offenders NACRO deals with

works with a range of ex offenders including those released from jail

also works with young people at risk offending

whats the national and local reach of NACRO

national organization with local activities and projects in around 50 different parts of England + Wales

has large full time staff and many unpaid volunteers