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TOWARD GREATER FORMAL LEGAL RIGHTS WITHIN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM The struggle to gain guarantees and protections from the government has motivated reformers and dissidents throughout history. Legal rights serve as a remedy for injustice and abuse as well as a basis for independent and autonomous action. A number of movements seeking liberation, empowerment, equality, […]

THE ADULT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM VERSUS THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM This chapter examines what might happen in cases that the police have solved by arresting an adult. As the fate of the accused person is determined by the criminal justice system, victims will interact with prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, juries, and—if the defendant is convicted—corrections

Measuring Progress Toward a Victim-Oriented Police Department The adoption of a community policing approach by many departments symbolizes a commitment to granting residents a larger say in guiding the opera- tions and policies of a branch of local government that is supposed to protect and serve them. Com- munity policing also has opened the door

Investigating Complaints and Solving Crimes Victims who report crimes expect their local police and sheriff’s departments to launch investigations that successfully culminate with the apprehension of suspects and the seizure of solid evidence point- ing to their guilt (Brandl and Horvath, 1991). The FBI’s annual UCR calculates and publishes average clearance rates for each of

Challenging the Victims Version of Events When people fill out a complaint form in a police station, they want their versions of what transpired to be accepted. From a detective’s point of view, however, it is a necessary part of the job to maintain V I C T IMS AND THE P OL I C

Handling Victims with Care People who bring their problems to a police station expect procedural justice. They want officers and detectives to listen to them without bias as they explain their situation. They anticipate that the police will be sensitive and polite, treat them with 188 CH APT ER 6 Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All

VICTIMS AND THE POLICE Law enforcement agencies are the first representa- tives of the criminal justice system that victims encounter in the immediate aftermath of crimes. If their cases are not solved with an arrest, then police officers in metropolitan areas and sheriff’s deputies in rural areas will be the only criminal justice professionals with

SUSAN HERMAN, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME (1999) In the year 2000, Americans were victims of millions of crimes. Behind each of these numbers is a terrible trauma, a story of suffering and a story of lost security. Yet the needs of victims are often an afterthought in our criminal justice

JAMES REILLY, DIRECTOR OF THE VICTIM/WITNESS ASSISTANCE PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION (1981, P. 8) Crimes that terrorize take many forms, from aggravated assault to petty thievery. But one crime goes largely unno- ticed. It is a crime against which there is no protection. It is committed daily across our nation. It is

WHAT DO VICTIMS WANT: PUNISHMENT? TREATMENT? RESTITUTION? Why should victims bring their problems to the attention of a law enforcement agency that func- tions as the intake valve or first component of the legal system? What motivates them when they ask the police to set the crime justice process into motion? What kinds of results