Abuse of power is described as economic crime, public corruption, white-collar crime, occupational, and governmental or corporate deviance. Three forms of abuse involve financial, sexual, and physical. This type of crime exists in almost all industries, even in the justice system, where it is least expected. The misconduct can involve police officers, judges, and prosecutors. The process involves the leaders who are expected to protect the citizens from taking advantage of them by carrying out corrupt activities. A nation must have a well-informed system that can handle matters related to ensuring that people are well-treated and served their rights. This paper explains how imperative behavior and recommendations to resolve the issues have intruded upon the criminal justice system.
The abuse of power is a relative concept both in space and time. The law varies equally from one nation to another due to diverse ideologies, cultures, economic systems, and political regimes. Issues considered as abuse change constantly according to economic, social, or political evolution that must occur due to time and technological influences (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2019). Emphasis is placed on the differences between socialist and capitalist nations, to be precise. Countries have mixed financial prudence that is different from one another. Therefore, the variances lead to partisan freedom and political subordination.
Power abuse is characterized by the purposes of unlawfulness and how it seeks to achieve. Some power holders might cite typical cases and use their power to prevent criminal sanctions or imposition of legal control to justify their uncouth behaviors. This occurs mainly at the higher levels of political and socio-economic structures. Sometimes those in power might halt or suspend proceedings against criminals in high positions, for instance, political leaders responsible for conventional offences or simple law breaches. This act is illegal and unlawful, hurting those innocent people who eventually lack justice from the individuals they trust most (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2019). These instances have made most of the population lose confidence in the justice system because only the affluent benefit from it.
Unlawful activities are typically carried out via illegitimate and illicit means. The process may extend from conviction to constraint, from threats to torture, from corruption to coercion, and from fraud to murder. Abuse of power, according to researchers, can happen through carelessness or negligence by those who hold powerful positions (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2019). It can also occur when there is an omission of an essential factor in an issue, refusal, reluctance to act at the right time, or failure to perform.
The power has limits, but it is a crime when exercised beyond its legal and normative boundaries. However, specific rules are widely known that assign fairly precise confines to authority. For instance, as proclaimed by the United Nations, human rights represent a notion that its European version has law enforcement (Blaustein et al., 2018). They transcend national leaders and demonstrate a theoretical rampart for the citizens in the country.
Currently, discrimination has become the order of the day in many nations. Regarding justice-seeking issues, the vulnerable group has been most affected, particularly the poor and people of color. These persons receive unfair treatment from the justice system whenever they find themselves there. The process is unjust, from the arrest to sentencing to the release. The structure is supposed to be the fairest, but that is not the case. Prosecutors, judges, police officers, and the Directors of Crime Investigations get involved in corruption matters to manipulate the offence, thus providing injustice to the defenseless individuals (Douglas, 2018). Although the criminal justice system allows all wrongdoers, including law enforcers among others, to face charges, they bend the regulations and escape their punishment due to the powers they have given an opportunity. It is unfair for the leaders to commit a crime and not go through discipline because this encourages others to engage in unlawful activities, thus, building a negative impression on the subordinates.
The criminal justice system has been designed to care for the citizens of a country. Its crucial function is to keep injustice away from themselves, neighbors, and total strangers. It is unfortunate that within the institution of justice, the officials, including police officers and prosecutors, are also involved in the corruption business. Although they ought to perform their duties with unbiased decision-making, some take the lead in illegal activity. The misuse of power jeopardizes the lives of vulnerable groups unable to sustain themselves and their families (Huemer, 2021). That is why poorer people find themselves in jail than the affluent population.
According to research, prosecutors break the law by engaging in misconduct relative to their functions. They may choose to offer evidence that is unreliable to the court. False information might be presented, thus altering the entire process of investigation and judgement. This let a criminal to escape punishment or lead an innocent person to jail. The prosecutors may keep exculpatory marks either hidden from the defense (Hermanto & Riyadi, 2020). Sometimes they may encourage witnesses to lie on the stand bribe for the truth to be altered. They also carry out prosecutorial bluffing, thus causing mistrust in the whole process. Unfortunately, it is difficult for them to face disciplinary actions since they are the ones to determine the innocent and the guilty by the end of the day. The process hurts ordinary people who cannot afford to pay for their justice.
The prosecutors have powers in their position because they are instrumental in accelerating mass incarceration in some countries, particularly the United States. They can flood the jails with prisoners worsening racial inequality. They advocate for exorbitant bail amounts since they are the ones to determine if defendants can put up a bond and the amount to be paid. Sometimes they support unreasonably high bail amounts, harming the other party (Hermanto & Riyadi, 2020). They essentially create debtor’s prison and result in letting potentially acquitted individuals sit in jail due to non-payment of bail for their freedom.
The prosecuting attorneys are mandated to push for harsher charges, allowing discriminatory people to impose unfair, short sentences at will. They might force a judge to punish the guilty more than they did not deserve. They have a plea-bargaining power that makes them influence the final verdict (Hermanto & Riyadi, 2020). They force them to plead guilty to lesser charges rather than risking exceptionally more stakes by accepting to go to trial even if they are innocent. The issue is serious because many cases are currently resolved through plea bargaining.
Police officers also demonstrate misuse of power during the arrest of a suspect. The officers know that the person arrested remains innocent until proven guilty through a criminal investigation process. The research outcome may render that person harmless, and therefore no need to harass them at that stage. Due to discrimination factors or other issues, the police insult people unreasonably. During the arrest, some individuals face severe torture from the team that ought to protect them. Others are hurt to the extent of becoming disabled even before they face their final verdict. In some instances, police officers kill innocent people, and the cases are never followed because they are delicate. Someone can be killed due to impunity encroaching on societal values and morals. These killers go unpunished by the law because they can silence those who point fingers at them illegally.
Police officers can manipulate a case to fit their will. The direction of a criminal investigation process favors those who seem affluent and can use their financial influence to alter some evidence. In other cases, the poor face untruthfulness and unfair charges because they lack monies to bribe the case handlers. This is typically achieved through various ways involving a lack of visitation to the crime scene to collect indications or delaying investigation to lose tangible evidence (Huemer, 2021). The police officers, in other incidents, erase all pieces of evidence that they might have if they receive good monies from one of the parties. They may fail to provide eyewitnesses in events where the victim died, thus being unable to deliver justice to the family or survivors.
Exercise of authority illegally is also demonstrated during the recruitment and hiring process. While acquiring new members in the criminal justice system, some of the leaders who are involved accept bribes from people who need the jobs. Research indicates that, the favor can be in different forms depending on what one can afford. Females face sexual harassment from male recruiters, and if they fail to consider their request, they lack the chance to join the offices (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2019). Men have the challenge of pleasing their forthcoming bosses if they do not have finances that can be offered to them to buy the vacancies.
The positions end up being filled by people who do not qualify professionally, thus deteriorating the performance capacity of the entire system. In other cases, the recruiters pick their family members who are incompetent and eventually affect the general operations. Similarly, the same criteria are applied during the firing process even when an individual has misbehaved or is not performing as per the organization’s expectations (Walklate & Fitz-Gibbon, 2019). Therefore, it has become a challenge to receive justice within the structure because the entire system involves dishonest persons who must demonstrate truthfulness, thus affecting the whole judgement process.
However, some recommendations are found from the research and can help the system. It is only fair for a judge in a court of law to provide a truthful verdict following the evidence provided. Unfortunately, the same people expected to give justice are the same individuals denying victims their rights. The prosecutors and the police officers rarely face the consequences for their misconduct. Regular training programs should be conducted to educate police officers and prosecutors on the importance of acting professionally in crime incidences. A healthy society can only be built if the criminals are judged fairly and the innocent are free to live (Branson et al., 2017). If the wrongdoers are set free, there is a chance that criminal activities can increase, putting the entire community in danger, including the law enforcers.
The recruitment team should involve individuals from different communities. Blacks and white people must be considered because this reduces the chances of racial discrimination. The roles should be shared with parties based on their competencies rather than depending on the relationship they might have. The criminal justice crew should demonstrate respect, connection, repair, responsibility, and reintegration within themselves (Joyce-Wojtas & Keenan, 2016). These factors limit their power to misbehave and force them to work according to the policies provided. It is advisable to incorporate other investigative bodies to assist in criminal investigations where the process involves relatives or one of their bosses. This is because they are likely to manipulate the case in their favor. It is unfortunate when one person has to be punished for an offence committed by someone else.
In conclusion, abuse of power by prosecutors and police officers undermines the credibility of the criminal justice system. It also can impede the judicial process, thus creating mistrust in society. Misuse of authority causes irreparable harm to the victims and can lead to distress or make the party vandalized lose the meaning of life. It is inhumane to deny justice to vulnerable people because one received illegal favors to alter the direction of eventualities. Severe punishment should be implemented to ensure that any person involved in the criminal investigation does not accept any form of bribe. Ethical approaches are required to provide that the process is transparent and that there are no opportunities for corruption. Respect and self-discipline can help individuals avoid any materialistic or sexual advancement in exchange for justice denial to another person. Every criminal should bear the consequences to ensure that good morals are practised within society.
References
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Branson, C. E., Baetz, C. L., Horwitz, S. M., & Hoagwood, K. E. (2017). Trauma-informed juvenile justice systems: A systematic review of definitions and core components. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(6), 635. Web.
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Hermanto, A. B., & Riyadi, B. S. (2020). Constitutional law on the discretionary of prosecutor’s power against abuse of power implications of corruption culture in the prosecutor’s office Republic of Indonesia. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 9, 763-772. Web.
Huemer, M. (2021). Abuse of power. In Justice before the Law (pp. 169-226). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Web.
Joyce-Wojtas, N., & Keenan, M. (2016). Is restorative justice for sexual crime compatible with various criminal justice systems? Contemporary Justice Review, 19(1), 43-68. Web.
Walklate, S., & Fitz-Gibbon, K. (2019). The criminalisation of coercive control: The power of law? International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 8(4), 94. Web.