The Criminal Justice Policy the Last 20 Years - Essay Example

The Criminal Justice Policy the Last 20 Years The criminal justice policy has lots of loopholes in all nations of the world. This has caused fear to both government and its corresponding citizens in diverse nations of the world. A lasting solution to the challenges facing our criminal justice systems can still be found. The policy makers-the politicians, practitioners, researchers and the administrators of criminal justice should apply the evaluation approach to enhance accountability and effectiveness of the criminal justice system.

The fear can critically be evaluated from different perspectives. In many circumstances, this system has failed to hold offenders accountable, reduce crime, help the victims or even operate with efficiency (Ismaill, 2011, 152-9). The system has many ‘black box’ dealings which contribute too little evidence on the procedures of implementing the policies. Moreover, it has led to problems associated with risks, for instance, increase in crime rates, the victimization on community policing, continuing injustices and the inefficiencies in regards to its operation with information or evidence with less credibility.

The criminal justice system has many failure points due to limited trainings provided for criminal justice officials, practitioners, the various agencies in which it operates and to the researchers (Mears, 2010, 61-9). Evaluation research would help the policy makers in making decisions on whether to design, adopt, reject or improve a given criminal justice policy. The criminal justice system policies are costly. The politicians are lack appropriate research evaluation strategies and thus could spend billions of dollars in policies that may not be needed by the people or just policies which may not operate as expected (Ismaill, 2011, 152-9).

A policy based on research evaluation is a solid start for accountability of the system and reliance on strategies based on evidence (Mears, 2010, 61-9). This also forms a firm foundation for cost-effectiveness in the administration of justice, enables the offenders to be helpful members in the society, enhances the prevalence of justice, and helps in assisting the victims of injustice and the communities impacted on by criminal acts. The public and the policy makers always demand a criminal justice system which is credible, accountable and cost-effective.

The number of offenders has significantly risen over the last twenty years (Mears, 2010, 61-9). The emergence of popular crime policies and laws such as war on drugs, immigration laws, terrorist laws, sentencing guidelines, three strike laws, capital punishment, sex offender laws among others. Additionally, the adoption of specialized courts, the mushrooming of super-maximum security prisons and faith-based prisoner re-entry programs has also cropped up. This has impacted negatively on the cost of justice administrations and on the welfare of the society in general.

The policies adopted in the criminal justice systems may not be efficient due to the inadequate research evaluations conducted by our politicians both in the developed and the developing worlds. The public lives in fear as they perceive and experience the effects of increase in crimes. Increase in crime causes insecurity and thus negatively affects the performance of businesses. Similarly, the politicians are afraid of the criminal justice policies since they doubt the kind of policies they adopt (Ismaill, 2011, 152-9).

A lot of taxpayers’ money could be spent on designing inefficient and ineffective criminal justice policies. In conclusion, a cost-effective, accountable and efficient criminal justice policy is one which is premised on training and research evaluation of all the stakeholders.BibliographyMears, D. P. (2010). American criminal justice policy: an evaluation approach to increasing accountability and effectiveness. New York, Cambridge University Press.American Society of Criminology, Frost, N.

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