Criminal Justice System Process

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The Criminal Justice System Process

What is the criminal justice system? The criminal justice system is an intricate system that processes crimes and the people who committed them based on laws at national, state, and local levels. The groups of people that form the justice systems are law enforcement, courts, and corrections. They each work for their own boss and they all work at different levels; however, all three groups work locally. Each group has their own job, but the overall purpose is to keep the community in order. “The first response to crime may come from individuals, families, associations, businesses, educational institutions, media, or other people who witnessed the crime” (Naughton and Victor 2008, p. 2). Police rely a great deal on the public to report any suspicious activity or crimes that they witness. It is in the public’s best interest to report so the community is safer, but agencies work alongside them to make the community better.
After a call has been made to the police and they have arrived onto the scene, the officer assesses the situation. They may make an arrest if it is clear a law has been broken, the suspect is clearly identified, or someone is a threat to the community. Once the arrest is made, the person who committed the crime is taken to prison and is processed into the system to the prosecutor.
The prosecutor looks at all information and decides if the case should be prosecuted to court. If so, the criminal will appear in court; otherwise, “the accused is released” (Naughton and Victor 2008, p. 2).
Pretrials are often used in the court. They look at the accused’s history and possibly give release with certain conditions. Why did the accused do what they did? That’s the purpose for a preliminary hearing. Arrangements are
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Victor. 2008. “What Is the Sequence of Events in the Criminal
Justice System?.” Pp. 2-7 in Annual Editions: Criminal Justice. New York, NY: