The criminal justice system is part of every level of government, including local, state, and federal governments. The agencies associated with these levels can work together or work separately. In this book, we have dedicated at least one chapter to explore each of the three main components of the criminal justice system. They include police, courts, and corrections. This section will briefly introduce the police, courts, and correctional systems and how they often function with each other. Subsequent chapters will further focus on how they each operate as entities.

Police

The first point of contact with the criminal justice system for most individuals is the police or law enforcement. We refer to them as first responders as they will often be the first on the scene to any 911 call. They are the individuals who enforce laws, respond to calls, and apprehend offenders. Other times, police may witness a crime while on patrol. They make initial contact, investigate crimes, arrest suspects, and transport them to the local jail. It is not the job of law enforcement to determine guilt or innocence, hand down punishments, or implement the punishment (Fuller, 2019). Police officers are called on to make split-second life-or-death decisions in addition to understanding the law in detail. In figure 1.3 you will see officers during some unusual downtime between calls for service.

Courts

The second phase of the criminal justice system is the courts. In U.S. courts, you will find judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and juries. The primary role of the courts is to determine whether a suspected offender should be charged with a crime. If so, the court will also decide what charges should exist, decide if the suspect is guilty, and impose punishment if necessary. The convicted person or party may choose to appeal to a higher court to try to overturn their conviction. The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the American court system, and they make the final decision on cases before them. The Court is not required to hear every case, and it only takes a few cases each year (United States Department of Justice, n.d.). An image of the U.S. Supreme Court can be seen in figure 1.4.

Corrections

Once a defendant has been found guilty, the correctional system helps carry out the punishment ordered by the court. The defendant may be ordered to pay financial restitution or a fine. In other cases, an offender could be sentenced to a period of incarceration in jail or prison.

Offenders who are sentenced to less than one year will serve their sentence in a local jail, but longer sentences will serve time in prison and may be held in a cell as pictured in figure 1.5. However, offenders can also be sentenced to community-based supervision, such as probation. An essential part of corrections is helping former offenders with reentry into society. Proper re-entry may involve parole, community-based supervision, employment, education, and other necessary rehabilitation activities (Rashwan, 2021).

Licenses and Attributions for The Police, Courts, and Corrections

Open Content, Shared Previously

Figure 1.3. “Two more friendly Chicago Police officers” by yooperann is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Figure 1.4. The U.S. Supreme Court by Joe Ravi is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

“The Police, Courts, and Corrections” is adapted from “1.7. The Three C’s: Cops, Courts, and Corrections” by Shanell Sanchez in SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System by Alison S. Burke, David Carter, Brian Fedorek, Tiffany Morey, Lore Rutz-Burri, and Shanell Sanchez, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Modified by Sam Arungwa and revised by Roxie Supplee, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, for brevity and new images.

Open Content, Shared Previously

Figure 1.5. Image from “Inmate Admission & Orientation Handbook” by the Federal Bureau of Prisons is in the Public Domain.