Discuss the concept of community participation in terms of the criminal justice system

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There is little argument that citizen participation in the criminal justice system is crucial to its effectiveness. Never before in this country has each individual citizens been so aware of crime and its personal costs. Citizens are also more aware that they must participate in their own protection and be responsible for their own actions. Community participation encompasses a wide range of citizen involvement. No longer is the aroused citizen content to permit the professionals to solve the problems of the police, courts, and corrections. Groups of citizens have organized to monitor the performance components of the criminal justice system. Judging from recent political elections, "law and order" has become a visible issue that few office holders or office seekers can afford to ignore. Yet, sometimes a criminal justice agency seems reluctant to be willing to accept outside help from members or groups from the community. Perhaps this is due to a natural suspicion of outsiders on the part of any organization. Yet, this should not deter individuals or groups from seeking to participate in criminal justice activities. The text note that there are two types of community participation: regulatory and supportive. In regulatory participation members of the community regulate components of the criminal justice system. In supportive participation, the community supplements and complements operations of the system. However, no matter what type of community participation occurs, both the citizen and the criminal justice agency have the potential to benefit and our lives will be better for it.