What I Learned In The Criminal Justice System

This year I took Intro to Law & Justice where I learned many things revolving around law enforcement and public safety. For example, learned about things from the beginning of the law justice system to what to do in emergency situations. This class has helped me gain knowledge of what to do in many situation when in predicaments with the law and a state of emergency. Three main things that we learned were the history of Law and Justice System, the Code of Ethics, and the Administration of Justice. With this knowledge in these areas, I was able to fully understand how certain things in law enforcement and public safety works and hope to learn more in the next phase of Law and Justice. To begin with, one of the first things we learned was

underwent four major historical periods of law enforcements. The first period was the Political Era. In this era, Police agencies established a united police force. In addition, they developed a system called the spoils system where the focus was to prevent crime and maintain order through foot control. The second period was the Reform Era. The Reform Era occurred in the early 20th century and resulted in the middle and upper class citizens’ concern with corruption. The citizens wanted to remove law enforcement from politics and introduced modern technology. As a result, police administrative boards were established to reduce local political control over police. The third period was the Professional Era from the 1920’s to 1970’s. In this era, August Vollmer, a chief of Police in California, instituted universal training for police officers. In fact, he helped develop the School of Criminology at University of California at Berkley. Another person that helped this era was O.W. Wilson. He advocated for more technology in law enforcements and one man patrol was the most effective for crime fighting. The fourth and final period was the Community Era. This era was from 1970’s to now. In this era, there was an increase of number of patrol officers in neighborhood but it had little effect on crime. The era suggested that police officers should spend more time outside their patrol car and should spend more time on the street helping citizens. This lesson helped me

We learned that the mission of police was to fight crime, serve and protect, and promote safety. Their job is to work for the citizens with the power they receive with the job. They have the power to arrest, mediate, use force and the decision of life or death. They have this power to make sure to maintain public safety wherever they go as long as it is in their jurisdiction. Police power is meant to dominate others that pose a threat to society and it implies that there may be resistance to overcome if used. Police power only exist because it is used to provide protection and is part of the quid pro quo. In fact, the “Social Contract Theory” which explains that people give up complete freedom for guaranteed protection from police. However, police abuse this power making it limited to what is needed for protection. Some police ethics are derived from the U.S.