The criminal justice system in the U.S. is riddled with flaws. Flaws which need to be addressed so to have better law-abiding communities. The three issues which I will address in this post are the difficulty formerly incarcerated people have with re-integrating into communities, racial biases in criminal justice, and police brutality.
In my previous post Problems 1, I wrote about the challenges formerly incarcerated people have as they attempt to integrate back into their communities. These challenges are both social and economic. They are looked down upon socially. They have a difficult time finding housing and employment. An incentive program to hire ex-convicts already exists. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a Federal tax credit available to employers for hiring persons from certain groups who struggle to find employment. These include ex-felons. However, these individuals continue to struggle. I believe a better solution are programs that aid ex-offenders in re-integrating into communities. For example the WorkNet program in Hawaii. WorkNet is a non-profit corporation which provides “vocational and risk profile assessment, substance abuse assessment services, cognitive skills training, employment training, community re-entry transition services, ID and document restoration, housing and job placement services” for ex-offenders. WorkNet’s recidivism rate is about 9% as compared to the 50% recidivism rate in Hawaii.
The racial biases that exist in the criminal justice system is a difficult problem to address. This is because it is difficult to determine the cause of this issue. In my previous post I wrote “1 in 17 Anglo men is expected to serve time in prison during his lifetime, compared with 1 in 6 Hispanic men and 1 in 3 African-American men.” However is this issue rooted in policing or in prosecuting? I believe the first step is to address racial discrimination in policing as it is the most obvious connection between the criminal justice system and the community or people. There has been a general consensus that the cause of these racial biases are “implicit” or “unconscious.” Police officers need training which make them aware of these implicit biases. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office offers a curriculum which does not only provide training for police officers but also for supervisors. Superiors are taught how to identify racially biased personnel and how to properly respond to racially biased personnel. In short we need better training and more accountability.
Police brutality is a very important issue. Not only does is unjust but it also damages the police’s relationship with the public. There may be two causes for this issue: improper training of police officers or the overworking of police officers. The Police Training Officer (PTO) program was developed in collaboration with the US Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). It encourages preventative techniques in policing rather than reactive. I believe preventative techniques are essential in effective policing.
Sources:
http://www.worknetinc.org/
http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/ex-cons-make-great-employees/
http://www.calea.org/calea-update-magazine/issue-101/police-training-officer-pto-program
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/February_2009/biased_policing.htm
The issue of reintegrating formerly incarcerated people into society is one that is very often overlooked by law enforcement officials. These persons have been in a secluded place, out of touch from civilization and current events, and understandably find it difficult fitting in once they are released. Just as you mentioned the WorkNet program, Milk Not Jails is another example of an organization that harbors no bias or judgment in hiring ex-felons and believes that they can and should be rehabilitated after imprisonment. There are many other organizations with a similar aim, but, in my opinion, the government should also be involved in fixing this problem. These organizations are trying to fill the void that the government should fulfill in terms of caring for these individuals after their incarceration. The government should care about how these people can contribute to society, especially since most of those who are released end up going back to jail in later years. If they would encourage their rehabilitation, we could break this seemingly endless cycle and we would imprison less people as a result.