Criminal Justice Policy Process

Criminal Justice Policy

Introduction

To begin with the discussion, it is very important to understand the criminal justice policy (CJP). Criminology is defined as the study of controlling crime and providing with the justice. The American government is very keen to provide protections to its citizens. For this reason, they need help from the criminology department, who are experts in understanding the nature of the crime and their research can be very useful in developing and shaping the responsibilities to be carried out. The criminal justice policy consists of all the rules and regulations and the authorized initials that are responsible for covering the policy. The policy not only provides with some insights about the activities but also highlights the importance of the context that is used within the policy.

The Key Actors in CJP

They key actors are those, which influence the process system. The key actors that play very important role in the criminal justice policy process includes the Courts, media, president and the executive bureaucracy, political parties, trust groups and the political consultants. The role of the judges in interpreting the law is very important in this aspect. Courts are the one that holds publics interests, the trust of the public on the judicial system is very necessary in this regard (Karim Ismaili. 2011). So the judiciary has to look after the civilian rights and the policy and decisions should be transparent for all. Political expertise is used when the ideas are required to include important points into the policy. Political consultants are paid for this job. This is the reason that those who have greater economic resources, they enjoy the policy advantage. Political parties play very crucial role in policy making. Most of the time they do efforts in order to appoint their party member on the election seat for the policy making decisions.

Media fills the communication gap between the government and the public. That is why media plays a very influential role in policy outcomes. Media has the direct relation with the public. If they deliver half of the information that can create a chaos, and people can interpret different story, which can be completely different as compared to the real scenario. So, media holds the key role in the policy making (Arthur H. Garison, 2009). The president has the right to approve or disapprove the policy legislation whereas, the bureaucracy can play very vital role in this regard. Their suggestions and inputs are considered very important, and can have an impact on the criminal policy making laws. The courts are directly related to the criminal dealing organizations, like armed forces etc. So, the best input can be provided by having the consensus with these legal departments.

Steps involved in the process

There is contribution of criminologists in making of the process, but some other disciplines like, political sciences and public administration has also played its part. The policy making steps that is discussed here is depicted as quasi-scientific enterprise, in which the steps are clearly stated and ...