The Canadian Criminal Justice System

Since the beginning of society, humans have had a system of justice. Many were based on religion and were incredibly violent. Modern systems are trying to correct criminal deviance while keeping a proper degree of equity throughout the court process. The criminal justice system is constantly undergoing evolution, so are its advantages and disadvantages. Police officers may not have always been called such, but the roles have always been the same and that is to uphold the law. Police officers are at the faces of the criminal justice system. They are what the public eye refers to as their protectors and a figure to make criticisms at. The police must be incredibly careful when making decisions as one small mistake could cost them the trust of the public. Law enforcement is the first line of the criminal justice system and the best way to improve the system is to take their opinions into consideration.

The jury system is a strong aspect of the criminal justice system. Crime is an offence against society and in the jury system, you have people from society that review the case and its evidence in a separate room, who then decide whether the individual is guilty or not (Schniederjans & Hollcroft, 2005, p. 2). The police, military, lawyers and judges are usually less likely to be considered for a part in a jury whether their occupation is former or current. A reason for this is the bias law enforcement presents in a case. A police officer may have been in a similar situation which can unconsciously influence decisions. Therefore, the justice system does not want figures who have influence over the system to be a deciding factor in a case. The ideal candidates for a jury are the average sane white- and blue-collar workers from a range of life experiences to provide impartial results (Schniederjans & Hollcroft, 2005, p. 2).

Compensation for police officers is a weakness in the system. For physical injuries, it is easier to claim compensation, but the challenge occurs when proving mental disability. It is particularly difficult to receive compensation since emotional stress is a major part of the day-to-day job. “Emotional labour refers to managing emotions so that appropriate behaviours, such as facial expressions and body language, are shown to the public” (Patterson, 2009, p. 2). Due to the increased likelihood of the police officer’s exposure to traumatic events, they are more likely to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Productivity goals are an unnecessary part of the judicial system. With crime rates decreasing (Tonry, 2014, p. 3), different departments through different jurisdictions push for police to give out a certain amount of tickets per period. A news article from CBC found that Calgary police had a minimum of a 20 tickets per month quota, and were threatened with disciplinary action if these goals were not met (CBC, 2002). The police union states that a ticket quota exists but is not written anywhere. Al Koenig who is the president of the Police Association says according to the total amount of traffic tickets, it accounts for $22 million of the city budget (CBC, 2002). This is pushing law enforcement not to hand tickets by the evidence presented but by how many tickets they need to have by the end of the month, allowing for bias to interfere with due process.

The Canadian criminal justice system variates between being retributive and a restorative system. Retributive justice has a focus on establishing blame and guilt while restorative justice focuses on rehabilitating offenders (Griffiths, 2019, p. 248). The type of justice variates depending on the circumstance of the presented case. For theft and some cases of assault are assessed through restorative justice and more violent crimes are gauged through retributive justice (Anonymous, personal communication, November 12, 2019). This wide range of precedents allows for crime to be treated equally between all offenders while sentencing. Police assist with rehabilitating young offenders and have them take responsibility for their decisions. They provide opportunities for contact amongst offenders and victims, enabling criminals to understand the impact of their actions and how to fix them.

The police force utilizes either proactive or reactive tools, responding to situations when things go wrong and using their presence as general deterrence. Most people rarely encounter a police officer unless committing a crime. Proactive policing in high crime neighbourhoods presents a continuous danger as tension builds. Neighbourhood habitats that are involved in gangs perceive proactive policing as a threat to their territory, creating stress for law enforcement. Police are usually the first to respond to the scene and are there to deescalate and account for the safety of all present (Waby, 2016, p. 41-42). This profession is no place to be squeamish around blood and injuries as they are responsible for helping the victims. This includes crowd control in public situations and sometimes even the victims themselves who are trying to protect the accused proving difficult in situations where the victim is injured yet is aggressive. Officers have little room for error as many of the situations that they deal with can be life or death (Waby, 2016, p. 42-43).

Racial bias in modern policing has been an issue for as long as policing has existed. Many studies have attempted to draw answers from benchmarking methods conducted using statistics for police officers and racial groups, yet definitive conclusions have not yet been made. The reason for this is that “because the racial/ethnic profile of the drivers to which an officer or group of officers is exposed is not exactly the same as the racial/ethnic profile of the drivers to which the matched officers or matched group of officers are exposed” (Fridell, 2004, p. 167). Another issue with this research method is how information for both parties is provided by the police (Fridell, 2004, p. 167). For example, in figure 8.1 of By the numbers: A guide for analyzing race data from vehicle stops Officer 4 is arresting more minorities than Officer 7 but this does not equate to Officer 7 not arresting based on race. The subjects could be arrested based on racial prejudice. This lack of results does not put an end to accusations of racial bias coming from the public or the department itself, adding to the stress put on public relations. Hiring a more diverse police force is the best administration can do to provide an impartial service.

According to The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice by Jeffery Reiman, the criminal justice system is biased towards people of low socioeconomic status. Reiman states that crimes committed by the poor are punished to a greater extent, giving harsher and longer times to serve compared to criminals in big business. It is easier for the police to arrest people of lower socioeconomic status as they do not have the same access to powerful legal teams as people of a higher status do. This leads to a higher amount of poor people being incarcerated as it becomes easier to convict. As a result, a higher amount of people are taken in based on petty crimes such as stealing. Businesses committing tax fraud, illegal practices and crimes that have effect people’s jobs are harder to collect evidence to convict anyone of a crime and with a highly experienced, well paid legal team it makes the case incredibly harder.

Overburden is a major issue for police officers. Law enforcement stationed in rural areas are more susceptible to stress due to the lack of support, equipment and difficult work. Occupational stress injuries are common side effects in this professional field (Griffiths, 2019, p. 91). PTSD is an extreme variant of stress that affects officers involved in traumatic events such as murders or major incidents such as multi victim accidents (Griffiths, 2019, p. 91). Stress injuries affect everyone involved in an officer’s life. The police have many ways to manage stress however not all of them are beneficial as many indulge in drug addiction or alcoholism (Griffiths, 2019, p.91). There are many programs provided by police departments in order to help cope with mental and physical health issues. Programs such as intervention teams and support groups that had police officers suffering from similar conditions helping each other overcome issues.

The criminal justice system reflects the publics’ view on the severity of criminal acts. Since the police are the start of the process to go through the justice system, they are highly trained to assess crimes based on the law and not on personal opinions no matter the race, gender, or economic class. For this system to improve the Canadian criminal justice system must reflect upon the reason for the implementation of the system in the beginning. Citizens wanted an impartial and effective government to fight criminal behaviours and defend the public. In order to preserve the strength of the most important part of the justice system, the government must take not only physical but mental health issues into account and provide proper benefits and compensation.