3.1✅

• social control involves getting people to conform to society's norms and laws
• there are a range of agencies involved in maintaining social control = some are sponsored + controlled by the government e.g. Police, The CPS, the judiciary, prisons + probation service
• other agencies take place outside of government control e.g. voluntary organisations for example charities and pressure groups = there are also many that privately run prisons
• Police-Philosophy:

  ->the philosophy of the police was summed up by Sir Robert Peel where he founded the Metropolitan Police (the first modern professional police force in Britain) 

  -> peel believed that:

  • the basic mission of the police is to prevent crime + disorder
  • the use of physical force is a last resort 
  • the police are the public + the public are the police = the police are just citizens in uniform who are paid to do full-time what all citizens must do this being upholding the law
  • peels principles are embedded in the Police Code of Ethics: where it is believed that police have to maintain respect + support for the public in order to perform their duty 
• Police-Aims + Objectives:

  • keep the peace + maintain order 
  • protect life + property
  • bring offenders to justice 
  • prevent, detect + investigate crime 

  -> most of the powers given to the police were given under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
• Police-Funding:

  -> 2020/21 the total police budget was £15.2 billion: which comes from these 3 sources:

  • around 2/3: central government 
  • rest come from local council tax
  • small amount: charging for services e.g. policing football matches 

  -> the police’s funding fell by 19% between 2010-2018, leading to a fall in police numbers

  -> so by 2020 there were 123,000 police officers in England + Wales 
• Police-Working Practices:

  • the UK has 39 regional police forces in England + 4 in Wales 
  • 1 police force for Scotland + 1 for Northern Ireland 

  -> the police deal w/ nearly all types of offences + offenders

  -> some specialist law enforcement agencies deal w/ certain crimes + criminals 

  -> e.g. HM Revenue + Customs deals w/ tax evasion + tax fraud 
• Police-Working Practices:

  • many police forces have general duties e.g. patrolling an area, working w/ the local community, gathering evidence, responding to public calls 

  -> there are departments w/ specialist duties e.g. the work of detectives in the criminal investigations department (CID), fraud + drugs squads + Special Branch = they are found in most police forces 

  -> some other police forces have other specialist units e.g. surveillance teams, air support, river police, dog handler units 

  -> operating nationally: child exploitation + online protection (CEOP) or SO15 which is a counter terrorism command 

  • unarmed policing: many police in Britain are unarmed, reflecting Peel’s philosophy that force is a last resort in upholding the law 
  • special constables: unpaid, part-time volunteers who undergo the same training + have the same legal powers as paid officers 
• CPS-Aims + Objectives:

  -> main public prosecutor in England + Wales, it was set up in 1986 under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985

  -> they took over the prosecuting role from the police as there was risk of bias in allowing police to both investigate and+ prosecute cases 

  -> their roles are to:

  • advise the police in their investigations about lines of inquiry + the evidence needed to build a case
  • deciding whether to prosecute + if so what charges will be brought 
  • assisting, informing + supporting victims + prosecution witnesses
  • preparing the prosecution case + presenting it in court 
• CPS-Philosophy + Values:

  -> CPS states that these values underpin their work:

  • honesty + openness
  • treating everyone w/ respect 
  • equality + inclusion: to inspire greater confidence in the CPS from victims + witnesses
  • behaving professionally + striving for excellence 
• CPS-Funding:

  • a lot of the CPS’s income comes from the government w/ a budget of around 1/2 a billion pounds a year 
  • they recover some of their costs when the courts award costs against defendants + recovering assets that have been confiscated from criminals 
  • they have dealt with/ significant funding cuts 
  • in 2018, the head of the CPS at the time has reported that the budget fell from 25% + they lost 1/3 of their staff leading to concerns on if they are able to perform their roles effectively 
• CPS-Working Practices:

  • types of criminality + offender: except for some very minor offences, they deal w/ a full range of offences + criminals, they take the responsibility for all the serious cases 
  • national + local reach: CPS is a national body throughout England + Wales, each is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor + works closely w/ local police forces + other criminal justice partners 
  • CPS Direct: they provide charging decisions to police nationwide 24/7, 365 days a year 
• CPS-Decisions to prosecute:

  -> at the heart of the CPS’s working practices: the Code for Crown Prosecutor!

  -> the code sets out 2 tests that prosecutors must apply when deciding whether to prosecute a case 

  • the evidential test 
  • the public interest test 
• CPS-Evidential Test:

  -> prosecutors need to be satisfied that there is enough evidence for a realistic prospect of convicting the suspect 

  -> they have the decide if the evidence is admissible (allowed), reliable + credible (believable)

  -> if not = it then fails the evidential test + the prosecution must not go ahead 
• CPS-Public Interest Test:

  -> prosecutors then have to decide whether the prosecution is in the public interest 

  -> if it is they then need to consider 7 important questions, although not every single question will be relevant to every case

  -> some of the questions they may ask are:

  • how serious is the offence?
  • the suspects age + maturity 
  • what harm has the victim suffered?
• CPS-Threshold Test:

  -> even if there is not enough evidence currently available for immediate prosecution 

  -> a suspect can still be charged under certain circumstances 

  -> in these cases the CPS must apply the Threshold Test 

  • there needs to be reasonable grounds that the suspect is guilty + that there will be enough evidence obtained later to secure this conviction 
  • the offence is serious enough to justify immediate charging, as it would be too risky to let them off on bail, any decision to charge needs to be kept under review
• Judiciary:

  -> they consist of all the judges in the country’s courts, there are over 3,000 court judges 
• Judiciary-Philosophy:

  -> the philosophy of the judiciary is summed up in 6 principles in the Guide to Judicial Conduct, where it illustrates the standards for judges’ ethical conduct they are:

  • judicial independence
  • impartiality 
  • integrity
  • propriety 
  • ensuring equal treatment 
  • competence 
• Judiciary:

  -> when they are appointed judges also need to swear 2 different oaths:

  • the oath of allegiance: (loyalty) to the monarch, heirs + successors 
  • judicial oath: treat people equally w/ impartiality + according to the law 
• Judiciary-Aims + Objectives:

  -> the basic role of the judiciary is to interpret + apply the law to the cases that come before it in the courts 

  • the Crown Court: judges must manage the trial, ensuring fairness to all parties, explaining legal issues + procedures, summing up the evidence etc.
  • in the appeal courts (the Court of Appeal + the Supreme Court): judges make rulings on the appeals that come before them from the lower courts in hierarchy, could involve creating precedents through the principle of judicial precedent which then will bind the future decision of the lower courts 
• Judiciary-Funding:

  • the pay of the judiciary is based on the advice of an independent body = the Senior Salaries Review Body = where they make recommendations to the Prime Minister + the Lord Chancellor on how much judges should be paid 
  • e.g. 2020 = the most senior judge, the Lord Chief Justice received £262,000, whereas district judges earned £112,000
  • judges are well paid by most people’s standards, some senior lawyers can earn far more than judges 
• Judiciary-Working Practices:

  -> the position of judges reflects the importance of maintaining their independence so that they can uphold the rule of law + defend the rights of citizens, due to this:

  • they have security of tenure: where they can’t be removed from office except by a petition to the Queen passed by both Houses of Parliament 
  • their salary is guaranteed

  -> they are organised in a clear hierarchy 

  -> divided into superior judges who sit in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal + High Court

  -> whereas inferior judges sit in the Crown Court, sometimes the magistrates’ court
• Judiciary-Working Practices:

  -> judges deal w/ all types of offence + offender except for the least serious cases (dealt w/ by magistrates) or cautions + fixed penalty notices issues by the police 

  -> at the most senior level: the Supreme Court has nationwide jurisdiction + settles points of law of national importance

  -> judges working in lower (inferior) courts such as the 90 or so Crown Court venues around the country handle local cases
• Prisons-Philosophy:

  • HM Prison + Probation Service (HMPPS) is the government agency responsible for the UK’s prisons, describing its purpose as ‘preventing victims by changing the lives of offenders’
• Prisons-Aims + Objectives:

  -> the prison service has 3 main aims:

  • protect the public from harm 
  • help people who have been convicted of offences to rehabilitate so they can contribute positively to society 
  • to hold prisoners securely + implement the sentences + orders of the courts 
• Prisons-Funding:

  -> prisons are paid for by the government out of general taxation 

  -> 2018 = total budget for prisons was around £3 billion = 16% lower than in 2010

  -> then resulting in staff cuts w/ a 15% fall in the number of prison officers between 2010-2018

  -> a lot of experienced officers left the service so by 2020 = almost 1/3 of staff had less than 3 years experience 

  -> cost of keeping a prisoner in 2019 = £41,136 a year or £42,591 = private prisons 
• Prisons-Working Practices:

  -> prison service deals w/ higher risk offenders who are unsuitable to serve their sentence in the community 

  -> although the range of seriousness of offence varies greatly from murder to theft 

  -> prison service is nationally organised w/ prisons all around the UK

  -> when sentenced to prison the offender will first be given a place at a local prison + then given a security classification based on their risk assessment + potentially moved to somewhere more appropriate:

  • category A = high security (highly dangerous to the public, murder, rape etc.) = example: Manchester 
  • category D = low security (can be trusted not to escape) = example: Ford 

  -> attempted escapes: prisoners who have tried escaping are put on the ‘escape list’ + have to be handcuffed + wear bright yellow clothing when being moved, they have to regularly change cells + have some personal belongings removed from their cell before bed 
• Prisons-Working Practices:

  • even though the prison service aims to rehabilitate prisoners they have also been criticised for their lack of opportunities for education, training + work experience 
  • 2020: the chief inspector stated that prisons said that 1/2 of prisons inspected had too few programmes of useful activity 
  • one reason for the reduction of useful activities is that the cuts in prison officers meant that there were fewer available to supervise prisoners undertaking activities
  • incentives + earned privileges are rewards that prisons can earn by keeping to the rules: theres 3 IEP levels = basic, standard + enhanced, when joining prison they only get the minimum (e.g. limited numbers of letters or visits)
  • w/ good behaviour: they can then be moved to the enhanced level where they get additional privileges such as TV’s in their cells, although different prisons have varying privileges  
• NPS-Philosophy:

  -> the NPS describes its core values + ethical principles as:

  • the belief that offenders can change for the better + become responsible members of society 
  • belief in the worth + dignity of the individual 
  • a commitment to social justice, social inclusion, equality + diversity 
• NPS-Aims + Objectives:

  -> their priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders by tackling the causes of their offending + enabling them to turn their lives around 

  -> they supervise 2 types of client:

  • offenders serving a sentence in the community: instead of prison e.g. through a Community Order by the court, up to 300 hours of unpaid work, curfews, or group programmes (anger management)
  • offenders who have been released on licence from prison: before the end of their sentence e.g. prisoners serving 12 months of more usually can released on licence half way through their sentence, although this licence has requirements such as undergoing drug treatment + being supervised by the probation service 
• NPS-Aims + Objectives:

  -> partnerships: they work in partnership to manage offenders w/ a range of organisations e.g. courts, police, private sectors etc, until 2020 they had 21 private sector community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) such as Sodexo Justice Services 

  -> CRCs provided probation services for low + medium risk offenders 
• NPS-Funding:

  • they are part of the HM Prison + Probation Service (HMPPS) + in 2018 they had an overall budget of £4.6 billion shared between prisons + probation
  • this budget was provided by the government + comes from general taxation 
  • the government ended all private sectors contracts for probation work in 2020 + reorganised the service on a regional basis, from 2022 it will be organised into 12 regions (Wales + 11 English regions)
• NPS-Working Practices:

  ->at any one time, around 250,000 offenders are on probation, they are deemed safe enough to serve their sentence in the community 

  -> the NPS is a national service, delivering the service regionally + locally, they are responsible for:

  • assessing prisoners to prepare them for their release on licence back into the community, at that point they come under NPS supervision 
  • they help offenders serve sentences in the community to meet requirements ordered by the courts 
  • prepare pre-sentence reports for the courts = to help find the most appropriate sentence for the offender 
• Charities + Pressure Groups:

  -> they are voluntary organisations that are independent of government control 

  -> aim: to promote interests + welfare of the people they are concerned w/ such as ex-offenders or victims of crime 

  -> charities: set up to provide help to those in need 

  -> pressure groups: organisations that campaign to achieve change 

  -> Nacro provides help to ex-offenders + at the same time campaigns as a pressure group to change government policies that affect them 
• Charities + Pressure Groups-Nacro:

  -> stands for the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, it was founded in 1966
• Nacro-Philosophy, Aims + Objectives:

  > they describe themselves as a social justice charity seeking to change lives, strengthen communities + prevent crime 

  -> aiming to overcome the stereotyped view of the ex-prisoner, providing many services:

  • housing: they house over 3,000 tenants in its own properties + also providing bail accommodation + support services 
  • education: 2018 = 4,900 people studies through Nacro’s education services 
  • resettlement advice: they provide support + advice about employment, education + accommodation to people w/ criminal records + to the professionals working w/ them 
  • outreach projects: to keep young people from offen
• Nacro-Campaigns:

  -> Nacro campaigns to change laws + policies affecting ex-offenders 

  -> Ban the Box campaign: aims to enable people w/ convictions to compete for jobs by removing the tick box on criminal convictions that appear unnecessarily on many job application forms 
• Nacro-Funding + Working Practices:

  • Nacro has an income of around £50m a year, funding comes from public donations, government grants + contracts for providing services for ex-offenders and others
  • Nacro works w/ many ex-offenders including those released from prison, they also work w/ young people at risk of offending etc.
  • Nacro is a national organisation w/ local activities + projects in around 50 different parts of England + Wales, large full time staff + a lot of unpaid volunteers