Posted: September 7th, 2024

Decision Making in Criminal Justice Agencies

Decision Making in Criminal Justice Agencies
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Decision Making in Criminal Justice Agencies
Today, leadership in organizations is difficult due to society rapid changes, globalization, complexity, and ambiguity. Good leadership and management in an organization determine organization’s performance. The criminal justice organizations/agencies are faced with various leadership challenges, such as enacting policies and procedures and decision making (Viglione, 2017). The paper is a discussion of critical issue of decision making faced by criminal justice organization/agency.
Decision making is one of the major issues affecting leaders in criminal justice agencies. Poor decision making is a matter of life and death affecting agencies internal operations and the community. Decision making in criminal justice agencies may be formal or informal, especially in public criminal agencies (Severson, 2019). The Decision-making process in criminal justice agencies is beyond learning and applying professional rules and procedures. Decision making is based on discretion, which involves making decisions without application of formal rules.
Decisions are made in every processe followed in the criminal justice system, for instance, during the investigation, arrest, prosecution, indictment, arraignment, pre-trial detention, plea bargaining, trial, sentencing, appeal and punishment (Viglione, 2017). For example, a police officer may decide whether to arrest a suspect or not and where to apply force. Additionally, prosecutors may decide on whether to make changes or apply bargaining power. Nevertheless, judges may decide on whether to accept the charges and sentencing and lastly, decisions can be made on whether to release inmates or not.

The primary goal of criminal justice agency in decision making is to reduce crime which depends on application of policies, principles and estimation of risks. Crime impact both the offender, victim and the community, therefore decisions made regarding various issues affect the welfare and the status of the community (Severson, 2019). For instance, growth in crime cultures, disruption of daily community activities, negative public perception of the justice system and changes in community norms and values.
Key decision-makers in criminal justice organizations includes the prosecutors, judges, parole officers, state legislators, law enforcement officers, victim advocates, community representatives and court administrators (Shields, 2020). The stakeholders are both from the agency and outside the agency; for instance, community representatives and county managers are external stakeholders working with the agency in the decision-making process.
Some of the factors that lead to poor decision making involve working under stressful conditions, exposure to stressful events and psychological trap. Five psychological issues affecting criminal justice agency leaders includes;
Framing involves making decisions without critical evaluation of the problem where the situation is only evaluated through one lens; for instance, harm reduction and neglecting public safety (Shields, 2020). Observing a situation through one lens affects the overall judgment hence affecting the individual and the community, for instance, prosecutors making decisions without consulting the victim or taking bribe. Leaders in the criminal justice system can make wrong decisions as a consequence of framing.
Selective perception: Leaders in the criminal justice system can decide what to focus on and what to neglect. For instance, some leaders make choices to cover up a victim or avoid time waste, especially if the case does not benefit the leader monetarily (Severson, 2019). The decisions may as well affect final judgment extending the effect to the community.
Emotions: Anger, excitement, sadness or fear can affect decision making and lead to wrongful judgment. Leaders are not supposed to make decisions driven by emotions according to leadership skills and qualities (Viglione, 2017). For instance, investigative officers may decide to apply a force that is unnecessary, leading to loss of life and negative public perception.
Information overload: The criminal justice agency may be experiencing workload and burden due to too much work (Shields, 2020). The workload can make a leader lack time and resources to handle a situation hence leading to wrong decision making.
Overconfidence: Overconfidence is a common problem faced by most criminal justice leaders, especially prosecutors and judges. Overconfidence leads to neglecting important information and ignorance hence leading to poor judgment.
Making wrong decisions comes with several consequences impacting the agency and the community. Wrong decisions lead to a post-traumatic stress disorder, negative public scrutiny, loss of money from the agency and loss of life of an innocent person in the system.
Monetary loss: Loss of money is one of the major impacts of leaders’ wrong decisions on justice agencies. Leaders can invest in cases that may lead to loss of finances, or the jurisdiction may lose money after hiring expensive lawyers. Before investing in a case or a project, the agency should first consider the consequences and chances of loss.
Loss of life: People lose lives every day, including suspects and convicts (Viglione, 2017). Wrong decision making can lead to individual lifetime imprisonment, leading to death before the jail term is over. Additionally, wrong decisions may affect an individual psychological state leading to trauma or cases of a heart attack.
Public scrutiny and bad perception of the justice system are a common impact of wrong decision making (Shields, 2020). The criminal justice system decisions affect the public, where various decisions such as conviction of a popular criminal may affect the public causing conflict.
Post-traumatic stress disorder: Stress and depression affect both the defendant and the leader. Leaders fall into stress due to guilt, while stress can affect the defendant after unjust sentencing such as life imprisonment to minor cases.
The criminal justice agencies/organizations should develop a framework for evidence-based decisions making to assist in making decisions, enhance collaboration between leaders and manage the agency based on the approach (Viglione, 2017). The judgment of stakeholders and professionals in criminal justice agencies is enhanced by considering evidence-based knowledge. The evidence-based factor enables leaders to consider the consequences of decisions and the totality of circumstances when making decisions (Shields, 2020). Besides, leaders of criminal justice agencies should make decisions based on prevention of crime by applying twenty-four percent of professional experience and nine percent of personal belief and intuition. Personal beliefs should not outweigh professional experience and skills to avoid making wrong decisions. To make the professional judgment, stakeholders should; take into account evidence-based knowledge and the circumstances of the situation, document the evidence-based information and explanations in case of exceptions. The stakeholder should also consider policies and outcomes of policy application in the situation.
Leaders should respect every interaction in the criminal justice system as an opportunity to reduce harm. Stakeholders in the agency should have positive interactions that can have a positive impact on decision making (Viglione, 2017). Also, interaction with victims and offenders in the agency enhances fair judgment making the judgment satisfactory. Every leader in the agency should determine the potential of stakeholders in influencing the final decision. Agency leaders should enable stakeholders to apply their knowledge and skills, share information and interchange the systems, and enhance interests and policies’ compatibility.
Agencies achieve better results when collaborating with subsystems, such as the collaboration between court administration and investigative department or prison administration (Shields, 2020). Collaboration enhances better decision making through consultation and teamwork. For instance, judges should collaborate with prison managers to solve prison overcrowding issues and conduct revision of policies and procedures of sentencing.
Leaders should make decisions based on analysis, collection, and use of information to enhance the decisions’ effectiveness. Continuous learning enables leaders to assist stakeholders in identifying measures and approaches to apply for desired results (Viglione, 2017). Making decisions based on the three doctrines enable leaders to achieve quality results and engage in quality control. The agency should also communicate its achievement and policies to the public to create trust between the agency and the public. The agency should apply the evidence-based model in implementing the principle (Viglione, 2017). The implementation process involves developing an evidence-based decision making vision, creating a plan used to implement the strategies and practices supporting evidence-based decision making. Additionally, implement the framework and, lastly, review the framework for refinement.
Alternatively, leaders in criminal justice agencies need to undergo training, such as scenario-based training, to enhance effective decision making. The training process should include tips leaders can apply while making critical decisions (Viglione, 2017). The training should consider the physical, emotional, and mental well-being and health of the leader and make rational decisions. Some of the tips include,
Evaluating situations from different angles and perspectives to provide several solutions. Evaluating a situation enables the leader to make rational decisions and choices after a vivid examination and looking into many solutions (Viglione, 2017). Evaluating a decision enables the leader to identify threats and non-threats which assist in making logical decisions.
Visualizing the outcome of a solution is important for leaders before making any decisions. Some decisions may lead to loss of life, while others affect individuals for the rest of their lives, considering the repercussions that assist leaders in making the right choices to avoid regrets in the future.
Leaders should be aware of emotions towards a certain situation (Severson, 2019). It is natural and normal to have emotions as human beings, but accepting and controlling emotions is the most important thing.
Developing effective communication skills is important and reduce the chances of making wrong decisions. Sometimes, leaders don’t make wrong choices, but how they communicate the information and how the information is perceived by the receiver makes the difference (Severson, 2019). Learning both verbal and non-verbal cues reduces the chances of poor judgment.
The framework is effective in decision making but has underlined challenges, for instance, not applicable to all cases and used for different purposes (Shields, 2020). The framework is applied to serious and cases with valid and weighty shreds of evidence. Cases that end up in sanction, such as rehabilitation of the offender, incapacitation do not require the framework’s application. Cases aiming to reduce the level of crime and involve punishment to reduce future recidivism must apply the decision-based framework.
Collaboration between different stakeholders varies from one jurisdiction to another. Most agencies consist of leaders with the power to create change without consultation or need for collaboration (Severson, 2019). For instance, prosecutors tend to make personal choices about various cases based on personal interest or the court’s interest.
Management of low-level cases affects the application of the evidence-based framework. Some cases are minor and petty consuming agency’s time and resources. The minor cases end up not taken seriously to avoid consumption of money and time. Additionally, repetitive cases and frequent criminals receive less attention from the justice system where the cases are dealt with immediately (Shields, 2020). The criminal justice agencies receive hundreds and thousands of cases a day; hence decisions have to b made due to selective perception and work overload.
The challenges faced in the criminal justice agencies affect the application of the remedies towards wrong decisions making (Severson, 2019). For instance, shortage of labor, the high volume of cases, and lack of time affect activities such as conducting training from leaders and stakeholders. Nevertheless, some areas, especially minority communities, lack knowledge and awareness of principles and policies underlining decision making.
Visualizing the case outcome does not apply to all cases because cases are different affecting and impact different hence affecting the decision made (Severson, 2019). For instance, judges making a decision concerning a case involving a mass killer. The judge might decide to offer a three-strike punishment regardless of the offender’s chance to reform.
The criminal justice agency leadership is not effective unless leaders empower and integrate stakeholders in making decisions. Empowerment of stakeholders enhances effective decision making enhanced by collaboration and application of professional skills, experiences and personal beliefs. Not every leader can make the risk of making decisions; consequences of making wrong decisions affect the community and the individual.
Decision making in criminal justice agencies takes place in all criminal processes from arrest to sentencing. Wrong decisions affect public perception, cause post-traumatic stress disorder and. The criminal justice agencies should develop a framework for evidence-based decision making and use of data, which enhances sound decision making, engagement of stakeholders in the decision making process and preventing crime. Additionally, leaders should undergo training to develop skills in critical areas that consider the leader’s mental physical and emotional fitness.

References
Severson, K. (2019). Organizational stress in community corrections and the impact of ineffective leadership.
Shields, C. M. (2020). Transformative leadership. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Viglione, J. (2017). Street-level decision making: Acceptability, feasibility, and use of evidence-based practices in adult probation. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(10), 1356-1381.

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