Criminology

Recidivism refers to the tendency of criminals repeating criminal behaviors after the correctional approach has been used to deter individual from engaging in criminal activities (Aukerman 78). In more elaborate words, recidivism is equated to a situation where former prisoners are rearrested for the same crime even though they had been previously trained and corrected to fit into the society. From science point of view, recidivism refers to the frequency in which ex-prisoners are detected of committing additional crimes after being released from prison for similar crimes. Recently, recidivism has centered criminology debates due to such incidences skyrocketing daily.

According to Koch (2010), the rates of prisoners recidivism is on rise which puts pressure on state and federal budget for rehabilitation and correction departments. This situation is ironical in the sense that despite the enormous amounts of resources spent each year on rehabilitation and correction of offenders, recidivism rates grows each and every day with Koch (2010) estimating that recidivism incidences  accounting to 70 of total arrests and convictions made. Recidivism is commonly recorded in crimes related to sexual assaults, stealing property and aggression which make individual unable to learn from past mistakes.

Although there are many rehabilitation and correctional programs that are already in place, very few are successful in addressing immediate needs of reforming offenders to gain re-entry to community. Moreover, amongst these many excellent rehabilitation and reentry programs available, very few are genuinely focused on addressing the core and immediate needs of community reentry transition of ex-convicts individual from an offender tax consumer to an ex-offender a tax contributor (Aukerman 77-79).

Evidently, the high rate of recidivism of prisoners is a public concern which sets the agenda for this paper to attempt in evaluating genuine solutions to an American epidemic by reducing prisoner recidivism rates in states. In order to do this with precision, the paper shall evaluate and examine recidivism rate in United State, and the current policy used to correct offenders. These components are important because rehabilitations and correction measures used in prison facilities must focus on enhancing a reduction of recidivism incidences in society.

Causes of Prisoner Recidivism
The prison problems experienced in Colorado are directly linked to recidivism and overcrowding in prison facilities. Crimes committed by parolees not only burden the states overtaxed prison system, but it also creates new victims and compromises the security of public. Since the introduction of more aggressive policing, prosecution and sentencing of offenders in late 1970s, the number of prisoners in America had tremendously increased. In this way, the criminal Justice system played a major role in discouraging prisoners to better their lifestyle to gain reentry to the community (Bushway, Stoll, and Weiman 25).

Chen and Shapiro (2007, p.27), states that majority of ex-convicts are likely to land back to prisons due to unemployment in the sense that the society will pay the circumstances if job opportunities are not made available to ex-prisoners. On this issue, (Koch, 2010) recommends that substantial incentives should be put in place to make hiring of ex-convicts more appealing to potential employers to ensure that offenders do not land back to jail. Moreover, there is little evidence that link harsher confinement conditions having effect on recidivism reduction. However, the movement of a prisoner who was assigned minimum security to maximum security showed that the prisoner was most likely to get rearrested upon the release (Chen and Shapiro 27). 

The issue of prisoner over-representation in Colorado should not be overlooked in the criminal justice system. The causes of crimes are many and are varied to various circumstances. The causes are specifically, low standards of living, poor health and nutrition, poor housing structures, low levels of education and lack of employment opportunities, social and family dysfunction, cultural dislocation, dispossession, substance abuse, despair and high levels of mental illness (Koch 394) are all life circumstances that cause an individual to engage in criminal activities. Unless such massive and multifaceted issues are addressed and resolved, the over-representation of convicts within the criminal justice system of Colorado is likely to continue and the rate will keep on increasing. Agencies such as courts and corrective policies are unable to address these deep rooted issues of prisoner recidivism which have defied some solutions for many years up to date.

Solutions
In attempt to curb recidivism, the Council of State Governments established the politically bipartisan Reentry Policy Council. The policy includes key leaders in communities and state, local and federal governments, state lawmakers, criminal justice policymakers and practitioners. Additionally, this policy council includes workforce development and employment services officials, housing providers and housing system officials, representatives of health, mental health and substance abuse treatment systems, victim advocates, people who have been incarcerated and their families and ministers and others working in faith-based institutions. The aim of the policy is to realize and control prison costs which mean that levels of recidivism are controlled. These are achieved by helping newly ex-convicts establish acceptable lives once they are out of jail. Reentry policies   around the country have been similar or at least somewhat similar to the offender reentry to community policies in other countries (Coley and Barton 252).

In addition, both non-serious and non-violent female prisoners who were imprisoned in women California state prisons were moved to community correctional facilities prior to their release to change environment and avoid overcrowding. On the other hand, male inmates were housed in the new facilities to reduce overcrowding in male prison facilities. The new policy made the inmates housed in facilities that were near their children and families, they were also provided with gender-responsive counseling and services to improve their chances for successful re-entry into the society. The research by Aukerman (2003, p.79) revealed that these measures lowered recidivism rates, improved family reunion by allowing ex-convicts re-entry into the society, facilitated recovery from drug abuse and a significant stabilized women transition to life outside the prison. Thus, families are kept intact by having appropriate pre-incarceration planning and programmes (Aukerman 79).

Intervention for juvenile offenders is significant step in reduction of recidivism rate and the method proofs to be cost effective. The dissemination of intervention policy must win confidence of juvenile offenders and youths whose parents are not involved in the process of justice. Experimental studies are in support of skills-training intervention for reduction of recidivism among juvenile criminals (Blechman, Maurice, Buecker and Helberg 148). The proportions of recidivism rate among the inmates who participated in prison industry  programs during imprisonment is very low  compared  to those who dint participate in the program (Maguire, Flanaga and Thornberry 19). It is evident that the results from the observation that provision of skills training to juvenile offenders achieved tremendous results as opposed to other methods in regard to reduction of recidivism rates. Having prisoners participate in education programmes significantly address possible causes of recidivism which is influenced by lack of skills and education. The most effective policy that has brought change in juvenile criminal justice system is the use of restitution sanction.

The CNN report according to Ravitz (2010) showed that large number of people turned for a job fair designed for convicted individuals which were organized by organizers of the Road to Re-entry Employment Fair. The organization objective was to ensure that individuals with criminal records secured jobs and got reintegrated into society. It emerged out that the number was very high beyond the expectation of fair sponsors, ex-convicts wanted to be productive members of society while the criminal record held them back from securing employments (Koch, 2010). Importantly, employment and decent income has a strong relation by lowering rates of re-offence in the society. It is very important that the legal protection must be provided to ex-convicts in order for them to be employed and accepted by the society (Aukerman 77). Industries such as manufacturing, construction and transport have been distributed to individuals who are willing to accept ex-convicts (Bushway, Stoll and Weiman 95).

Actuarial schemes in regard to sexual violence have been developed in response to the changing legislative in both the United States and Canada. It is argued that the policy is accurate in use of clinical assessments which are associated with recidivism. The increase in epidemic of sexual abuse in the society has made it possible for legislation to increase incapacitation of offenders. The approach is used in designating danger of sexual offenders who requires mental health assessment to predict the risk of future harm to others (Glancy 48).

The business incubation is a revolution and innovative concept which has been established to reduce recidivism within generations. The main objective of business incubation are job creation opportunities in the community, enhancement of entrepreneurship skills, retaining of businesses in the society, development of local industry and diversification of local economy. Most released individuals from prisons are in possession of intellect, business prowess and entrepreneurial skills. Capital and support must be provided to ex-convicts to build successful business firms which will result to good income and job opportunities to other ex-prisoners (Koch, 2010). Following initial private placement financing projects for reentry policy, the parent incubation organization becomes self-funding by retaining a small equity position in each of the incubated enterprises and through an overhead sharing agenda. The portion of total overhead that operate the parent organization and each of the business incubators will be shared equally among ex-convicts population enterprise businesses.This strategy comprises of six major objectives. The first objective is holding of the parent organization accountable to its entire constituency. Second aim is the cultivation of team effort and peer accountability in ex-prisoner population enterprise businesses to practice spending discipline and use of resources prudently. The third aim is that the cost to each business enterprise is expected to decrease as the populations of enterprise businesses grow and develop. Financial incentives must be carefully created, reviewed and approved by the sponsorship of all incubator businesses. Fifth, synergy is created whereby all CEOs have a vested interest on the success of one another and business. Lastly, the entire organization must be self-policing. Among the objectives, the parent incubation organization will build an endowment from the success of its incubated businesses. These in turn provide basis of capitalization growth for a continuing and self-perpetuating business incubation agenda throughout the ex-convict population business enterprise.

Prisoner recidivism can be reduced through the provision of culturally appropriate programmes, the custodial and non-custodial policy. Provision of an effective and culturally appropriate programme is significant to Aboriginal offenders in both custodial and non-custodial environments. The policy reinforces the importance of utilizing the intersection of a native person with the criminal justice system as an opportunity for a beneficial intervention designed to reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

Government policies should intensify social welfare system and civic participation to reduce crimes. Social and cultural contexts are main predictors of recidivism. It is evident that nations with strong social institutions such as community, religion and family experiences low rates of crime and recidivism.  In contrary, where there is low proportions of economic inequality and unemployment are most likely to experience low rates of recidivism, so it is strongly advisable that nations should adopt the policy of equal distribution of resources  and social values (Baumer 50).

One way of facilitating convicts is allowing them to stay near country by encouraging the development of vocational skills is through the provision of work camps. It is evident that work camps seem to be significant traditional forms of incarceration. The policy encourages offenders to work on or near country which results to development of vocational skills, by facilitating engagement in productive work. Work camp provides opportunities to convicts in making a positive contribution to their local community by providing labor in local areas. The programme would enable offenders to live on or near country which contributes to more consistent traditional manner of life, acquiring vocational skills and provision of much needed labor to the community.

It is evident that community based sanctions is effective in reducing recidivism. The response to criminal offence should include sanctions other than the tradition jail term in order for policy to be both effective and cost-effective with aim of long-term change of offender behavior to reduce recidivism. The use of wide range of interventions by involving community service in compliance to sanction proved to be successful. The use of probation as part of intervention reduces number of crime and re-offence. The alternatives policy to incarceration has been established to reduce prisoner recidivism whereby children of prisoners are involved in the program. Some type of community-based sentencing is involved these involve house arrest, halfway houses or day programs at correctional institutions with the mother returning home at night. The survey done on the community-based programs reported reduced recidivism and increased family preservation of values. The policy is effective for women prisoners since community and children are being involved in the process of individual reentry to the society (Coley and Barton 165).

The introduction of penal policy to deal with the convict real world problems is effective in ex-offenders reentry to society. The policy involves formation of small prison group community which comprises of prisoners and prison staff members.  The process is therapeutic, where community is being involved.  Therapeutic process involves the group of   community and prisoners. Prisoners are allowed to narrate their life history and criminal activities with the attention of specialists who are willing to reform and counsel the prisoners. The process is significant for behavior which involves five basic stages namely Recognition, Motivation, Understanding, Insight and Testing.

Availability of education and counseling programs in prisons is significant in reducing prisoner recidivism. Most correctional facilities provide education and counseling programs. Educational systems should provide vocational training, basic adult education, secondary education, special education services, college classes and study-release programs to equip convicts with knowledge and skills needed for the reentry of community (Koch 394). Educational institutions also provided variety of counseling services which are mostly related to alcohol and drug dependency and awareness. Prisons also provided counseling programs to help inmates adjust to the life in community after release. These counseling programs include life skills, community adjustment and employment. The confinement facilities are most likely than community-based facilities to provide counseling programs of all types.

Conclusion
In conclusion, prisons cannot be completely reformed without reduction of recidivism rate. While at the same time recidivism cannot be reduced without creation of more space and programs for prisoners. Giving chance to ex-convicts to secure employment opportunities has benefit to society since recidivism is reduced thus, the funds which could be used in rehabilitation can be diverted to improve other sectors such as health and education. The real action of reducing recidivism resides on creating, designing, delivering and evaluation effective correctional and rehabilitation programmes that are effective.

The current frame for addressing ex-convicts community reentry ineffectively directs political, scientific, and fiscal resources towards the prevention of recidivism. The policy must be reframed by use our resources to uncover the causes of recidivism and further development of primary prevention programs designed to reach a wide range of audience. The society ought to seek to eradicate the self-perpetuating scourge of prisoner recidivism. To make progress on this daring goal, one must be careful  while framing the efforts appropriately by asking and answering the proper question by basing the policies and laws not on moral panic, urban legends,  headlines and easy sound bites but on systemic and comprehensive empirical information about the prevalence and causes prisoner  recidivism . Solutions must be designed   in a way that will take full responsibility for the societal role in allowing the conditions under which ex-convict community reentry can flourish.  Resources are available and knowledge and skills must be developed in formulation the policies which will solve problems of prisoner recidivism.

Despite the flow of criminals into prison, they are expected to be prepared to return to the society and function as productive citizens. Most subsequent studies have found that education and training in prison are significant in reducing prisoner recidivism.  Ex-offenders should be helped to readjust to community life. Re-entry programs are typically short term duration thus just before prisoners are released they should be provided with continuing transition services which are effective in reducing recidivism.

Homeland security is a term used to describe the security efforts of the US federal government against threats of terrorism. The two primary roles the US government has to offer in homeland security are the preservation of freedom and security of the country which also includes the preparation and responsive plans for any hazards, attacks and disasters.

Homeland security has been described as an intensive national effort to avert terrorist attacks within the United States, lessen US susceptibility to any act of terrorism and reduce the damage and manage the recovery plans if terrorist attacks do occur.  This definition has been conventionally viewed as synonymous to the definition of homeland defense. However, homeland defense still has its specific definition distinct to homeland security. In the U.S. Department of Defense June 2005 document entitled Strategy on Homeland Defense and Civil Support, homeland defense has been defined as the protection of United States of Americas sovereignty, territory, local citizens and critical defense infrastructure against external threats and attacks viewed by the Department of Defense and other attacks viewed by the President as detrimental to the sovereignty of the country (Department Subcomponents and Agencies, 2010). With these two distinct but related definitions, homeland security and homeland defense have been separately maintained by two related branch of the US government, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for homeland security and the U.S. Department of Defense for homeland defense. In a lighter sense, the Department of Homeland security is the one responsible for the broad set of legal authorities of every law enforcement organization that have been assigned for the US citizens protection against external attacks while the Department of Defense is the one delegated for the military forces war combating operations related to the external threats against the countrys sovereignty and citizens.

As a national agency, the Department of Homeland Security contains multiple agencies of the federal, state and local governments that are interconnected to reliably maintain and achieve the mission of preservation of sovereignty and national security. The department is mainly divided into three 1) the department components, 2) office of the secretary and 3) advisory panels and committees.

Among the list of the components under the Department of Homeland Security are the Directorate for National Protection and Programs, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United States Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The functions of each department are considered to be distinct from each other- from risk reduction functions and protection of borders, waterways and harbors up to career training of professionals and preparation for hazards and treats to national security.

The Office of the Secretary, on the other hand, is the one responsible for the supervision of activities from local to federal government agencies which all efforts for strengthening the nations borders, intelligence analysis, counter weapons of mass destruction through improvement of technology and intensive response and recovery system are integrated. Under the Office of the Secretary are the Privacy Office, the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of the Counter Narcotics Enforcement (CNE) and the Office of the Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA).

As the last sub-component of the department, the Advisory Panels and Committees Division is responsible for the advices and recommendations for the continual management and improvement of the programs related to homeland security. This division is also in-charge of the coordination between Federal government and private sectors and non-government organizations for the programs in connection with the homeland security.

As the founding purpose of the Department of National Security, counter-terrorism includes detection of explosives and biological weapons for mass destruction, and protection of cyber networks from external threats and attacks. In order to achieve its main goal, the department has designed various systems within the organization. The Homeland Security Advisory System is one of the designed systems of the department which is described as a protective guide measure consists of information about threats, threats major vulnerability evaluation and ensures the proper communication to public officials and its citizens. Another major development in countering terrorism is the use of biometrics for the identification of different people that may pose risk to the country (Stout, 2002).

Gun violence is one of the most heavily politicized issues in the United States of America. Out of all weapons used to perpetrate felonies, guns, particularly handguns are responsible for most of these crimes (National Institute of Justice, 2010). Gun violence increased rapidly in the 1980s but has significantly slowed down from the early 1990s but the levels are still alarming. In the year 2005 alone, over 12000 people lost their lives because of gum violence and almost half a million were victims of crimes committed using a firearm (National Institute of Justice, 2010). The next year in 2006, 68 percent of all murders occurring in the United States were committed using a firearm (National Institute of Justice, 2010). While almost fifty percent of all robbery cases were reportedly accompanied by gun use, 22 percent of all aggravated assaults involved the use of a firearm, with handguns again being the most reported culprits (Selvon, 2009). With these statistics, gun ownership has become a matter that needs to be urgently addressed. But the question is whether barring citizens from owning firearms will offer a solution to this problem.

Even though statistics show that gun violence is diminishing in the United States, opponents of firearms ownership readily argue that the rates are actually increasing. It is important therefore to analyze the dynamics of the entire cycle to determine actually where the problem lies. Most crimes perpetuated using firearms happen most frequently in poor urban neighborhoods which are commonly characterized by small-time juvenile drug dealers wanting to portray a macho outlook and later join the bigger ranks in drug cartels (Jacobs, 2002). Small arms often find a way to proliferate most in Hispanic and African American males living in poorer neighborhoods (Jacobs, 2002).

The rates of homicide in the United States of America are between two and four times above the rates in countries having a similar economic and political system to it (National Institute of Justice, 2010). The rates are almost as high as they are in developing countries suffering from chronic political instability. Looking at the statistics, gun related homicide and violence is highest in urban areas (National Institute of Justice, 2010). For example, statistics obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigations show that in 2005, rates of homicide averaged 6.1 for every 100000 in metropolitan counties and 3.5 in non-metropolitan counties (National Institute of Justice, 2010). Cities in the Unites States with a total population of over a quarter of a million individuals had mean homicide rates of 12.1 per every 10000 in the same study (National Institute of Justice, 2010).

The primary source of information regarding gun ownership in the United States is provided by the General Social Survey. In the year 2004, a study conducted by the GSS found out that 37 percent of all American citizens owned guns (National Institute of Justice, 2010). 25 percent of all adult citizens owned at least one firearm while 40 percent of all households owned one. The total number of guns in private hand was 192 million, out of which 65 million were handguns (National Institute of Justice, 2010). The guns owned by households were used as defense against crimes. Another study conducted indicated that every year, almost 3 million crimes including attempted assault, robbery and rape are thwarted every year in the United States by homeowners who own firearms and in most of the cases even a single shot did not have to be fired (National Institute of Justice, 2010).

Even though several other research exercises have indicated that ownership of guns intensifies the rate or occurrence of crimes, it is actually the landing of unlicensed guns in wrong hands that is responsible for the high rates of gun violence witnessed in the United States today (Huemer, 2003). Public policy in the country regarding the ownership of guns approaches the issue from a perspective of finding ways through which law enforcement bodies and gun regulatory agencies may intervene to solve the gun issue. Intervention may be necessary when a gun is acquired and also in preventing individuals with a criminal record from purchasing firearms and also preventing juveniles from acquiring firearms (Huemer, 2003). Restrictions are also put in place to regulate who may or who may not carry concealed weapons, illegalizing people from bringing guns to crime scenes and stipulating stiff sentences for those who use guns in violent crime.

With more efficient regulation, guns can actually reduce the rate of gun violent in the society (Stein  Johnson, 1999). Firearms are widely used in recreational activities but if placed in the hands of responsible and law abiding citizens, they can be very effective in deterring violent crimes like burglary, rape and carjacking (Huemer, 2003). Since people with recorded crime histories are most likely to use guns to commit criminal offences, their access to firearms should be limited while law abiding citizens should be allowed to own firearms under license for the purpose of self defense. Easing the channel through which convicted felons can gain access to firearms only makes law abiding citizens who happen to be unarmed more vulnerable to armed gangsters (Huemer, 2003).

There have been cases of juveniles gaining access to firearms and using them to commit serious offenses. Additionally, people with unstable psychological characteristics have been known to commit horrendous crimes if they gain access to firearms. A good example is the case of Charles Whitman who fatally shot 14 people and wounded 23 others around the University of Texas on the 1st of august 1966 (Lott, 1998). More recently in 2007, an international student from the Republic of South Korea named Seung Hoi Cho fatally shot 32 people in Virginia Tech University (National Institute of Justice, 2010). This was the deadliest shooting rampage in the modern history of the United States of America.
Gun control opponents secured a significant victory in June 2008 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the proposition that the Second Amendment to the United States constitution does in fact stipulate for strict gun control measures, effectively rejecting the interpretation that such control measures are limited to militias (Selvon, 2009). However, the issue of gun control is not new in American politics. In the year 1934, the House of Congress enacted the first major firearm control that placed regulations on the sale of fully automatic firearms like machineguns (Ludwing  Cook, 2000). Hot on the heels of this act, a new federal law was passed in 1938 requiring all merchants who dealt in guns to be registered and licensed. The 1938 act further prohibited individuals who had at some point in their lives committed violent felonies from owning firearms (Ludwing  Cook, 2000). The Congress did not pass any other gun control acts until the year 1968 when the Gun Control Act was passed to regulate imported firearms and increase the requirements one had to fulfill before being licensed to deal in firearms. This act also expanded the context of people who were not legally allowed to own a firearm to include individuals who at one time were convicted of committing any non-business related felonies, minors (those under the age of 18) mentally unstable or incompetent individuals and those who, with evidence, were at least once used illegal drugs (Ludwing  Cook, 2000).

A Federal Legislative Act was passed in 1986 that stipulated a set of mandatory penalties for all those who would use a firearm to commit a federal offence (Ludwing  Cook, 2000). The use of heavier bullets that are capable of penetrating bullet proof vests like those worn by police officers was also prohibited through this Act (Ludwing  Cook, 2000). But the most effective gun control legislation yet was passed in 1994 by the United States Congress, enforcing a five day waiting period for all those who would apply to purchase firearms (Jacob, 2002). Local law enforcement institutions were also given the mandate to conduct background checks on all people intending to purchase any type of firearm that fits the description of those a civilian can own.

Gun control legislative acts have managed to keep the levels of gun violence down by minimizing the probability of guns landing in the hands of felonies. Even though since the inception of the 1994 gun control act (known as Brady Bill in honor of Brady Bill, President one of Ronald Reagans press aides who was shot and seriously injured in the failed attempt to assassinate the president) only 3 percent of all gun applications have been declined, the penalties imposed on illegal weapon possessors has deterred the proliferation of small arms in the United States (Jacobs, 2002).

Still, gun control activists have maintained that it is way too easy for criminals to acquire guns and use them to perpetuate acts of gun violence (Stein  Johnson, 1999). A worrying trend is the increase in the number of shootings occurring in schools. To curb this violence, parents need to keep all guns, especially loaded guns, away from juveniles. These young people have not matured enough to fully understand the consequences of some of the decisions they make (Selvon, 2009). In addition, there needs to be a deliberate effort to understand students, their special needs and the conflicts they go through while growing up and brood them to develop into responsible and law abiding citizens.

Conclusion
Gun violence is a threat to the safety of people not just in the United States but in most other countries of the world. Whether or not strict control of guns is implemented through legislative acts, the most effective way to counter gun violence is to eliminate or at least minimize the proliferation mainly of small firearms (Lott, 1998). It is an issue requiring the participation of the community, law enforcement authorities, the federal government and international partners in fighting crime. The rate of gun violence is highest in poorer urban neighborhoods, so this would be a perfect avenue of waging the war on illegal arms possession (Lott, 1998). Even if law abiding citizens are barred from possessing firearms while the channels through which small arms proliferate to gangsters and mobsters are still available, the rates of gun violence would still remain the same if they would not escalate. The trade in illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine and crystal meth is one factor contributing to the high prevalence of gun violence since gangs usually illegally arm themselves to protect their interests and their turfs (Jacobs, 2002). These are the guns that end up killing innocent people and robbing banks and other business. The gangs must therefore be crushed if gun violence is to be halted.

Investigators at a crime scene are immediately aware of the need to answer the most pressing questions, which are what crime was committed, by whom, why and how ( HYPERLINK httpwww.amazon.comVernon-J.-GebertheB001HP0M32refntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Geberth, 1996). By applying modern crime detection techniques, the investigators are able to narrow down the suspects. Further interrogation of possible suspects can lead to apprehension of the guilty person.

The first task is to secure the crime scene from any contamination. This usually involves cordoning off the area and calling in the scene of crime specialists to collect as much evidence as possible. In homicides cases, this involves taking detailed pictures of the corpse, the area where the body was found, telling signs of struggle and incriminating blood stains. 

It is only after thorough investigations that it can be established whether the homicide falls under first degree murder, second degree murder or manslaughter. First degree murder is a premeditated act ( HYPERLINK httpwww.amazon.comBarry-A.-J.-FishereB001ITYOQ8refntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Fisher, 2003). The killer plans the act meticulously and decides on the opportune time to execute the person. Second degree murder occurs when an offender causes the death of another person due to provocation or reckless behavior. This classification of homicide can be either intentional or unintentional.
Manslaughter usually refers to those murders described as crimes of passion. The killers in these cases are provoked by circumstances to kill another. Under normal circumstances they would not be violent or anticipate such actions. Examples of such homicides include a spouse killing an unfaithful partner after catching them red handed with their lover. Homicide differs from suicide in that suicide is murder performed by the victim while homicide victims are killed by others.

Coroners need to perform a postmortem to establish the cause of death, the weapon used or the technique employed ( HYPERLINK httpwww.amazon.comVernon-J.-

GebertheB001HP0M32refntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Geberth, V. (1996). DNA evidence has become very important in revealing the identity of the perpetrator while highly sophisticated forensic techniques can identify not only the time of death but the exact weapon used to commit the murder. Hairs and body fluids found on the corpse can identify the murderer through DNA analysis

By mapping the modus operandi of various murders, the investigators are able to determine with a degree of certainty if a particular crime was committed by the same person since most murderers have signatures that identify a murder as their work ( HYPERLINK httpwww.amazon.comBarry-A.-J.-FishereB001ITYOQ8refntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Fisher, 2003). This narrows down the list of suspects and gives the law enforcers a head start in their investigations.

In conclusion, investigations into general crimes and especially homicide cases require diligent work by scene of crime specialists to try and recover all the evidence. The coroner performing the post mortem should be keen on any clues that could lead investigators to the murderer. Modern investigative procedures assist greatly in identifying the offender through the use of DNA analysis and forensic tests.

Based on the fact that the aspect of economy and success is relative in ones culture, it should be understood the indigenous peoples definition of economic stability and success. Some societies have the conception of economy based on the supply they get, thus the produce and consume just what they need. In the present situation, the contemporary society determines the mainstream definition of economy.

With the consciousness of the indigenous people regarding opportunities of achieving economic success, I would say that the system failed the people because it pushes them to cope up with the popular notion of success thru economic determinant. But at the same time, the people also failed the system with which they needed to cope up as part of change. This is a thought based from the different sides of the coin, with which we need to look at the point of view of the contemporary society and culture and that of the indigenous people.

To be able for the indigenous people to cope up with changes in society, their ways of living should go with the social structures around them. In this case, opportunities and value in mainstream economy should be of equal access and provision. One of the ways with which this could be done is for government institutions to provide opportunities for living. This will include an effort of course from the Indigenous people themselves to accept that change is inevitable in a culture provided that the government and mainstream society are sensitive enough about the cultural and societal differences among people.

Considerations on beliefs, customs and characteristics of other people should be made for the society to achieve equality and prosper in any aspect including its economy. In this way, the Indigenous people are empowered by achieving goals and recognizing cultural boundaries and at the same time social structures and institutions are being strengthened.

The fundamental roles of standing crime commissions

Organized and serious crimes do pose a vital risk to the economy of Australia and its way of life.  These groups do operate nationally, in the state and territory and the international borders across private and public sectors. The corruption and crime commission in Australia accepts as well as investigates all allegations of misconduct by the police officers and the public officers including those officers that are employed in the local government. It conducts some educational programs with some state government agencies and also in the community to amplify awareness of all misconducts and how to counter them.

The Australian Crime Commission was actually established when Australian Crime Commission Act was effected in the year 2003. It is basically a merge of the National Crime Authority, the office of the strategic criminal assessment and the Australian Bureau of Criminal intelligence. These combinations do give the whole organization the experience and abilities of intelligence and operations. The National Crime Authority is an Australian law enforcement agency that was established in the year 1984. In 2003 it got superseded by Australian Crime Commission. It is meant to lead the national law enforcement response into an organized crime which could ultimately overcome some jurisdictional barriers of the Australian system of federal. There have been many instances where NCA have been criticized for the misuse of its powers and some lack of effectiveness. The primary objective of the ACC is to strengthen the fight against some nationally important crime in Australia and deals with organized criminal activities. It is therefore imperative to analyze critically the role of the standing crime commissions and how intelligence has played a role in fighting crimes.

Australian governments have in the past tackled the problems to do with corruption and the organized crimes by the establishment of specialist agencies that are investigative with some coercive powers that are usually not available to the conventional forces of police. These agencies which are New South Wales Crime Commission, the National Crime Authority, the Independent Commission against Corruption that is located in New South Wales and the Criminal Justice Commission in Queensland were also given the powers which were actually considered to be essential as conventional police methods failed to address the problems. The National Crime Authority which was established in the year 1984 was as a result of the reports of some numbers of royal commissions on the extent and nature of the organized crimes in Australia. The New South Wales Crime commission had its origin as State Drug Crime Commission in a response to some organized crimes mostly those that were drug related. The Independent Commission against corruption did arose from some allegations of a widespread corruption in New South Wales and Criminal Justice Commission got established following the recommendation of the Inquiry commission into some possible illegal activities and some associated misconduct of the police in Queensland.

Though these crime commissions were actually created by the government, to some extent they are the product of the media. The media reports on corruption and some organized crimes of the royal commissions ensured there was public support for all ongoing bodies which had some special powers in combating the menaces. While the governments establish the crime commissions for similar reasons just as they establish the royal commissions, they do wish to bring matters in the limelight and bring all offenders to the court. However, the resources and powers that does enable the standing crime commissions to collect some vital information on some far reaching and complex activities as well as criminal connections, they are incompatible with the investigation of focused individual offences and their trial.

There are patent tensions that are evident in the scope and emphasis of functions of crime commissions in their inquisitive procedures in their investigations and their gathering powers which are usually balanced by those provisions that do limit the use of that kind of evidence against witnesses. This then leads us to wonder the main role of the standing crime commissions. Basically, the crime commissions do have similar focus and origin and their functions as far as legislation is concerned reveal the emphasis on either bringing light to corrupt practices or the investigations which will usually do assemble some admissible evidence for some criminal prosecution to take place. The community and the governments expectation of the crime commission is to do a thorough job in coming up with some admissible evidence.

The NCA has specific and general functions. The General function of NCA is to encompass the analysis and collection of all criminal information as well as intelligence that relates to all criminal activities and the dissemination to enforcement law agencies. They also conduct some ordinary investigations into crucial criminal activities and cooperate with the stake task force and Commonwealth to see into it that this is done. It also has special functions which are to investigate all matters that do relate to criminal activities and where such matters are only referred by the Minister of a State or the commonwealth. The matters are then referred to an Intergovernmental Committee of the State Ministers and Commonwealth which does consider before approving the reference on whether the ordinary police methods are really effectual. Essentially, the NCAS functions focuses on coordination roles and criminal intelligence.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), principal function is generally a vast type of investigation that does not only pick allegations and complaints but all the circumstances that imply that there were corrupt conducts which encourage, allow or cause occurrence of corruption conducts or one that is related to corruption or one that is about to really occur. It deals with deep far reaching inquiries and not just some subsequent trails. They also do advice, report and do educate on strategies and practices to combat the occurrence.

The Criminal Justice Commissions (CJC) addresses problems of some official corruption ordeals and has got responsibilities that extends beyond their area of administration of criminal justice. Its primary responsibilities however is to acquire enough expertise to report and monitor on administration of the criminal justice system in Queensland. The commission also discharges functions that may not be really discharged by agencies or police in investigations of major or the organized crimes. The Standing crime commissions in order to perform their duties fully, they have been offered some exceptional powers. According to Law Council of Australia, its role is to offer intelligence, criminal databases service and investigations on significant crimes that are of public interest. The have a capacity to even compel persons to produce some document in an aid of further investigations and to answer compelling questions. Their coercive powers are essentially reinforced by offence provisions. The ACT states that it is actually a criminal offence to refute to comply with a document notice, fail in appearing at ACC examination or even fail to answer some questions. Also giving misleading and false evidence to hinder and obstruct their work is an offence. The Joint Standing Committee which works with the criminal commission reports and monitors to the parliament on functions of Corruption Crime Commission. They also inquire and report to the parliament on means by which the corruption practices of prevention can be enhanced in the public sector. Additionally, they carry all the functions that are conferred in the committee under the Corruption and Crime Commission Act 2003 (Ken et al, 2007). 

In Australia, there has been threat from some organized crimes from 1970s. The threat is due to criminal groups for example paedophile networks and the motorcycle gangs, ethnic based crimes and criminal networks. Organized crime is usually characterized by capacity and opportunism to shift the resources swiftly using some apparent lawful enterprise in order to disguise their activities. It can be a major corruption and misconduct by the public officers (Kevin, 2005). Threat of organized crimes got recognized by Australian parliament when it finally passed the Act. Its purpose was to reduce and combat incidences of organized crime.

The crime commission however has failed in this area due to some factors like the fact that it is not permitted to hold investigations of organized crimes and its purpose is to grant powers to police to enable them investigate effectively. Also the definition of what is termed as organized crime in the Act makes it complex to investigate as the exceptional powers can never be evoked (Kevin, 2005). While the traditional policing agencies do deal with some organized crimes, it is usually a vast spectrum of work. Organized crimes do require long term investment and focus. There is however constant pressure to the police to go ahead and apply resources to meet the urgent daily policing needs. The combination of traditional police investigations technique and the use of some exceptional powers have been effectual in facilitating proactive investigations to the organized crimes that have been achieved by the traditional criminal methods of investigation.

Intelligence is also a major factor that that plays a big role in the fighting of crimes. Intelligence information has already had its origins in citizens complaints which acts as a tremendous source of information to the police and can be conceptualized by either tactical or strategic data. Tactical intelligence does provide the police and the prosecutors with some localized information that does enable them to build a criminal case (Robert, 1999 ) Tactical intelligence should complement the strategic data as well as provide the law enforcement with some evidence to establish some probable cause in order for them to engage and act in the crime. The intelligence process does demand some major commitment of personnel and time thus the law enforcement should devote some considerable effort of manpower and time before useful information is offered (Robert, 1999).

Corruption and other misconducts have been an integral issue of discussion for many years. For corruption and other social evils to ebb or better still to reduce there ought to be some commission that is responsible for that. It is lucid that the standing criminal commissions have got vast roles and are doing a tremendous job. They embark on corruption ordeals and all misconduct and see to it that justice is done. Criminal intelligence is also an integral concept to be looked upon and see to it that investigations are thoroughly done. More powers should however be given to the criminal commissions for them to fully carry out their respective roles

Establishment of standing crime commissions has its roots in the uncovering of the extent of organized crime that went undetected or without proper investigation by the traditional law enforcement mechanisms as shown up the Costigan report. In addition, organized criminal gangs and syndicates knew no state or national borders but the Australian law enforcement was disjointed without even the basic ability to share information among the separate branches of government as well as the different agencies and worse yet, information within the same agencies was not well disseminated.

Traditional organs did not have specialized manpower like lawyers, accountants, auditors, IT specialists etc, who are indispensable to stemming such crime nor did the force have the sufficient wherewithal to do the same especially in the face of numerous other traditional offences and crimes. Unlike Royal commissions, the Australian police lacked access to tax records of individuals, and couldnt require individuals to produce documents or answer questions.

Most of these flaws were remedied e.g. by the creation of the Bureau of Crime intelligence which was tasked with enhancing co-ordination between the varied state bodies and agencies and ensuring that intelligence was shared and effectively used (Carter, 2004). Joint task forces between police were as well instituted to help enhance cooperation across states, while some documents could still be obtained through warranted searches as well as passing additional laws to allow for more flexibility on the part of the police.

Even so, it still proved difficult effectively investigate organized crime within the ordinary legal bounds under which suspects were entitled to remain silent. A fundamental right under common law, which forbid police, as well as courts to compel suspects to answer questions or give evidence. In addition, the police could not be invested with coercive powers, owing to the difficulty enforcing the powers as well as the necessary checks and balances that such a move would occasion among etc. This could only be broken through by the introduction of Royal style commissions complete with coercive powers, which could only be practiced by operating outside the ordinary criminal process, a realization that opened the first Standing crime commission, the NCA.

The argument for the formation of a standing crime commission as against the enhancing the ability of the police to better cope with organized crime also served the need to develop a multi disciplinary approach to investigating crime as well as meeting the realization that the police would be overwhelmed by the new cases that need long bouts of investigations given the fact that the police already struggled with conventional crime.

In addition, the costs of setting up and running a separate agency to investigate combat crime would be infinitely less than attempting to equip, train or hire more specialized staff for a large and bloated police force.

The NCA was set up to bolster efforts in reigning in organized crime that could not be fought effectively by the traditional organs for lack of capacity as well as legal constraints. These resulted from the lack of intelligence which made efforts to fight crime narrow, reactive and not anticipative. (Fleming  Wood,  2007). But such sweeping powers to override witness right to silence proved unnecessary for the NCA, a specialized investigative body whose mandate is simply to gather enough valid evidence to facilitate a successful prosecution. This could only be remedied by setting up separate special agencies such as ICAC that could get the truth, irregardless of what was admissible in court and as such help in gathering intelligence about crime.

The NCA was as well accused of misuse of power, ineffectiveness as well as political interference etc which led to its replacement with the ACC, charged with even greater responsibility of streamlining government as well as legislative framework.

Strategic intelligence allows authorities to anticipate crime and thusly get an edge over Criminals and make the process of fighting crime more proactive.

For successful as well as maximum utilization, raw data as well deduced intelligence must be shared among relevant bodies, and at relevant times to allow for the different sources of data to be analyzed and integrated in, order to come up with meaningful information, useful in anticipating crime and potentially preventing it. This should be done without jeopardizing the said information or compromising the final ends of such intelligence gathering. Whether or not information should be shared with the public or otherwise, calls for drawing a line between information and intelligence as well as distinguishing between strategic as well as tactical intelligence.

Tactical information is by its very nature aimed at decision making by relevant authorities as to emerging trends in crime as well as possible ways to combat it and as such sharing such information with the public which includes the criminals would serve to preempt the very purpose of gathering the same information unless such sharing is equally strategic. Tactical intelligence could be shared with the public where appropriate and such sharing is particularly helpful is enlisting the help of the public in arresting offenders, making targets less vulnerable as well as mitigating against the risks involved.

The success of intelligence based approach in fighting crime depends on the effectiveness of the dissemination and integration of the information to those who need it, and keep away from those who must not have it but also the effective use of the intelligence gathered to make the desired objectives.

Introduction of Standing Crime Commissions have made it possible to take advantage of intelligence based modes of dealing with organized crime by allowing such commissions more flexibility in obtaining the intelligence from suspects. Thus thusly, commissions serve an important role in not only assembling enough evidence that can stand up in court e.g. the NCA but other commissions e.g. the ICAC offer valuable intelligence.

In addition, in investigation official of corruption, big time corruption as well as other matters that the police cannot take on, or cannot be trusted to take on owing to the official secrets act, as well as other legal and political constraints, the commissions play a crucial role in bringing perpetrators to book.

These agencies are also advantaged in that they draw their staff from not only the police, but from other specialized professions giving them an edge over the traditional organs. This coupled with it cross jurisdictional reach that these commissions have, which make the more effective.
 
Other roles, tackling public indifference towards the justice system through public education and provision of necessary information to enlist the assistance  of the general public in fighting organized crime, official corruption etc.
 
Investing sweeping powers in these standing crime commissions though crucial had to be regulated and hence the existence of a special parliamentary committee to oversee their work and keep them to the straight and narrow. Cases of abuse of power though still exist and were bound to, to the detriment of civil liberties in the country (Carter, 2004).
 
Though the need to reign in organized crime is doubtless important. But this is hardly a justification for the setting up of myriads of standing crime commissions, most of which with overlapping roles and efficiency.

These agencies too have had to come up against changing environments in which they operate. The initial need to have crime tackled from a multi disciplinary angle did not produce agencies that partnered with the police in the face of crime, but ones that the police have learned to either compete with or envy. Not least because of the large amounts of resources availed to these commissions, sweeping powers as well as their successes in uncovering insidious corruption. The roles of standing crime commissions need to be redefined to avoid overlapping with each other or competing with the traditional roles of the police. This will help cut back on costs of running the police as well as special commissions and minimize inefficiency.

The movie No Country for Old Men is a visually stunning character driven movie directed by the Coen brothers set in Texas in the 1980s. The film follows Llewelyn Moss the main protagonist in the story as he attempts to get away with 2 million dollars from a drug deal gone awry that he had stumbled upon unfortunately for him he is then hunted by Anton Chigurh a hitman hired to recover the money whose actions leave a trail of bodies followed by Sherriff Ed Tom Bell. While being violent in nature the film doesnt depict violence in the way that other films do rather it uses a technique for implied violence wherein instead of showing the act itself through a scene where a character is obviously shot what happens instead is an implied action wherein the camera pans away and refocuses back on the killer with no indication that something occurred except through gestures made by the killer himself.

One factor that is noticeable immediately in the film is the absence of the usual amount of background characters, in most films  there are usually a lot of background characters either loitering about, making noise or just being there to fill in the background in No Country for Old Men there  are few if any background characters, most of the towns even seem like ghost towns this is probably due to the intention of the directors to focus all action on the characters themselves and make the movie more character intensive and character driven. The reason for the title of the film makes sense if you use Sheriff Bell as the focal point. If you were to look at the opening scene of the film he tells us that life used to be really easy compare that with his demeanor throughout the film which is rather laid back and the fact he talks about nonsensical topics with most of the people he interacts with  even when hes trying to get information about the recent spree of murders shows that Bell is used to an easy going way of life. When Bell and his deputy try to enter the room of Moss the deputy asks why Bell doesnt have his gun drawn he says he doesnt need it because hes not going in first. Bell does draw his gun and before he enters the room where Moss has been killed because hes afraid that Chigurh is hiding inside. It is at this moment that Bell realizes that the world of 1980s is too much for him to cope with hence the name of the movie no country for old men.

Scene Analysis
In the opening scenes of the film we see several dead bodies strewn on the ground due to an apparent drug deal gone wrong, most of the dead bodies are Mexican the use of Mexicans in the film to portray the drug industry can be attributed to several factors one is that the growing trade and flow of narcotics into the U.S. comes from Mexico which can account for 70 of all illegal narcotics being shipped into the country, the second reason is the well publicized accounts on the news that the numerous Mexican cartels are fighting each other to control the lucrative supply route of narcotics into the U.S. which is a billion dollar underground industry. The fighting has escalated to such an extent that the dead bodies of numerous cartel members can be found lying out in the open on numerous streets as a warning to the other cartels to back down. It may not be immediately apparent but the film is guilty of the criminal theory of labeling due to its primary use of Mexicans to represent the drug industry, while it may be true that a majority of illegal narcotics shipped into the country are from Mexico it doesnt make much sense that such a large group of Mexicans would be allowed through U.S. border patrols. While it is up to the writers how they wish to portray criminals in the movie not all drug traffickers are Mexican in fact the drug industry employs people of numerous nationalities and ethnic backgrounds the primary use of Mexicans in the movie might encourage a stigma attached to all Mexicans as being criminals even though they are innocent.

Character Analysis
The character of Llewelyn Moss while seemingly a protagonist in the film exhibits actions akin to several theories of criminal behavior for example in the beginning of the film when he stumbles across the bodies of several dead Mexicans common sense usually dictates that a person should call the police in such an instance however the character instead of calling the police took a bag full of money from the scene, presumably for his own gain and fled. Under the theory routine activities by Cohen and Felson a crime would occur if at certain point of time and space a possible offender meets an attractive target who lacks capable guardianship a crime would possibly occur comparable to placing a steak in front of a lion, the lion due to his nature would eat the steak similar to how a possible criminal would see an ideal crime with little possibility of being caught and follows on through with the crime.

 The theory also stipulates that it is a persons daily routines that affect the likelihood that an attractive target would meet a possible criminal where no effective guardianship is around. In this particular instance in the film it is the daily routine of Moss who goes hunting which causes him to stumble upon the opportunity to take the bag full of money and run, he saw the opportunity and took it even though it would be a crime since he would be taking evidence away from a crime scene.

The movie can be considered a peek into how an ordinary person can go from being average to being someone on the run all because of a decision to get rich quickly. The role of Llewelyn Moss can actually  be interpreted as a personification for criminal behavior in general this is due to the fact that when Moss was presented with a chance to get rich quickly instead of calling the police and reporting the incident he instead took advantage of it. This personifies criminal behavior in general because all criminals were once ordinary people however when presented with the opportunity to get rich quickly through the wrong means instead of staying on the right path they chose to follow on through with their desires and like Moss who in the end died due to his ill decision most criminals also do end up paying the price for the ill decisions they commit.

The behavior of Anton Chigurh portrayed by Javier Bardem in the movie can be characterized under the criminal theories of control and constitutional-learning when trying to interpret his actions and the motivations behind them. Under the theory of control the key factor behind the causation of crime is the presence or absence of controlling mechanisms that would otherwise inhibit such behavior in the form of social or familial bonds or a method of internal self control. In the case of Chirgurh in the movie while not being a serial killer under the same category as Hannibal Lector in popular fiction or Ted Kaczynski popularly known as the Unabomber Chigurh shows himself to be a casual methodical killer with a strange psychological fixation to make sure that the soles of his boots are free from blood whenever he murders someone couple that with scenes showing him casually stating to the character Carla Jean Moss that whether she lives or dies is up to the toss of a coin shows that Chigurh can be assumed as an individual who lacks normal methods of control that would stop an average person from committing acts of murder. The assumption that Chigurh lacks certain controlling mechanisms can be deduced from his demeanor throughout the film which is nearly emotionless almost robot like akin to the Terminator in another popular film.

This behavior could be attributed to a lack of social interaction which would explain the nonexistent social bonds which would then cause Chigurh to act the way he did since his thought process was outside what would be considered the normal way of thinking in society. Basing the findings on the theory of control it can be deduced then that the reason Chigurh acted the way he did was due to a distinct lack of social interaction which resulted in a lack of social bonds which meant he lacked the normal methods of control resulting in his predilection towards criminal behavior. Under the theory of constitutional learning criminal and noncriminal behavior has its gains and losses and if the gains resulting from committing a crime for monetary gain outweigh the possible losses then a person will commit a criminal act. In the movie Chigurh is hired as a hitman to retrieve the money and doing so commits numerous acts of murder which is a crime. In committing these acts he is motivated by monetary gain in the form of the reward he will get when he retrieves the money.

Overall Theme Analysis
Violence, murder, drugs, greed and psychopathic villains play major roles in the movie however the overall theme of the movie that ties them all up is the pessimistic belief that there is little if anything at all that anyone can do about these negative aspects of human nature. The character of Bell continuously shows viewers that there is evil in the world and that hoping it will go away just wont be enough. In the film though Bell does not appear as being cynical rather he seems resigned to the fact that there is inherent evil in human beings. This underlying theme in the movie of the inherent evil in mankind can be compared to the theory of control which states that criminal motivation is widespread and that it is only through social or familial bonds that it is kept under control. This view of humanity that can be interpreted from the movie while being fatalistic does make sense to an extent, if you were to boil crime down to its essence it is simply the act of gaining something through a certain means. Humans are a species ruled by our desires and when we desire something we try to obtain it, crime could be interpreted as simple as a persons way of satisfying their inner need to fulfill their desires and that the only way to stop this form of desire is focus on other matters such as bonds of friendship or family.

Take away these distractions and a person simply focuses on fulfilling the desires of his inner nature. Saying that all of humanity is evil may be too extreme rather it can be interpreted that we all have our types of desires that we want fulfilled it is just that some desires go against the norms of society and when it goes against the norms it is considered a crime.

Special courts are bodies that are within the judicial of the government that focus on one area of law or have specially defined powers. A good example of such cases is a drug court. These courts exist for both civil and criminal disputes. Drug courts have the mission of eliminating the abuse of alcohol and other drugs as well as related criminal activity. This essay presents a detailed plan for a research on how effective drug courts are with respect to the impact on the offenders. The intervention focuses on the impact that the treatment plans have on the offenders since these plans are the determinants of the fate of the offender. The treatment plan focuses on each stage of the treatment plan, its importance, the effectiveness, and limitations.

Research questions
How effective are the drug courts with respect to the impact on the offenders Do the drug courts have a positive or negative impact on the offender Is the treatment plan effective What are the various stages of the treatment plan These courts can most probably emerge successful in achieving the set goals if there is maximum cooperation between the stakeholders who include judges, court personnel and the treatment providers. This crime rate is doubtlessly high for one group to handle hence cooperation may provide better results. The treatment plan may perhaps be viewed as the main agenda in trying to correct the past wrongdoings of the offender.

The treatment plan
The drug courts programs are rigorous and the need thorough supervision based on frequent drug testing and appearances in courts. The program entail well structured system of treatment and recovery services. The degree of supervision allows the program to support the recovery process as well as providing room for the supervisors to react quickly in imposing appropriate therapeutic approval or to re-establish criminal proceedings when the key players fail to comply with the program. The treatment program goes through stages before the offender is considered as having complied. Each of the stages lasts for minimum of 90 days. These stages are (Nolan, 2002). The plan outlines the stages of the treatment plan and how they function, but how effective is each stage The plan is characterized by the following stages.

Visits by probation officers
Probation and parole officers investigate and supervise defendants who have not yet been condemned to a term of incarnation. The officers do this job through personal contact with the offenders and their families. The officers meet the offenders at their homes, their places of work or therapy. These officers seek the assistance of other groups and individuals to monitor the behavior of the offender. These groups are community organizations that include religious institutions, neighboring groups, and local people. These groups are requested to report to the officers on the progress of the offender (Hennessy  Pallone). How do these visits help in the offender in becoming a better person

Random drug and alcohol testing
As a requirement of the treatment plan, the drug offenders undergo arbitrary drug and alcohol testing. Receiving treatment in this context requires one to be labeled a drug addict. The offenders are not informed on when the drug test will be carried out and so they have to be prepared for it all the time. This move ensures that the drug offenders resist the temptation of taking drugs since the tests can be carried out any time (Melton  Patrila  Polythress, 2007). This move helps their bodies to function normally even without the influence of the drugs. The medical personnel conducting the test are required to present the reports so that the courts can determine weather the offender is complying with the treatment or not. The random drug testing does help the offenders but to what degree is still a question that remains unanswered.

Appearances at drug courts
The drug offenders are required to make appearances in the drug court as directed by the judiciary. The judge could order the offender to appear in court on a weekly basis. Failure to participate in the treatment program results in a forms trial whereby the judge only reads the police report to determine if the offender committed the offence (Kratocoski, 2004). The judge determines the frequency to which the offender appears in court depending on the degree of drug addiction, offenders who show a higher degree of addiction are required to appear in courts more often than those who appear to be less addicted. The offenders appearance in courts as directed may help the victim in various ways.

Active participation in Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous
These non-profit making organizations of men and women have a drug addiction problem. The organization aims to bring together drug addicts so that they can help each other on the drug addiction. Meetings are held regularly and the drug offender is required to attend this meeting as a requirement for the treatment plan. The offenders share their experiences in the meetings and give encouragement to those who are still struggling with the problem of addiction. Interactions are allowed to take place between individuals in the meetings (Nolan, 2002). Confidentiality and anonymity is emphasized in these organizations. This participation may yield both and negative results, which ones

Compliance with treatment plan
The amount of time spent in the program depends on the court. This is a distinct feature of the drug court. Some drug courts recommend the program for one year, others eighteen months minimum, while others permit program completion after nine months. Offenders deterioration may increase the amount of time they are put in probation period. Most of such responses increase the time that the offender spends in court (Kratocoski, 2004). Allowing the offender to extend their deterioration treatments can have a positive impact on their well-being.

Evaluation design
The research will apply secondary data analysis to investigate how effective the treatment plan has been in bringing about the expected results. The secondary data will be acquired from the organizational records that are expected to provide the needed information on how effective the plan has been over the years. This will save time that would otherwise be spent on collecting data because this research entails collecting secondary data. The assessment design will provide the accurate and higher quality data.

Limitations
It may prove hard to have access to the organizational records depending on the management (Nolan, 2002). The concerned management may fail to authorize the release of such records regardless of the fact that it is for a research purpose. The authorities may also provide inadequate information hence leading to erroneous results.

Conclusion
The drug courts function because of the cooperation of the various stakeholders. The most important aspect of the drug courts is the process that is undertaken to correct the behavior of the offender the treatment plan aims at improving the behavior of the offender through its various stages. The effectiveness of the plan is the matter at hand.

This paper argues strongly the importance of Community policing in the society with a special attention to Australia. The aim of intelligence led policing is to establish a generation of community policing with more knowledge-based policing. By and large, public order policing is still pegged on the perception that mobs are by nature devoid of reason and very harmful. Crowds that have realized the importance of working in harmony with their police officers are responsible self-policed crowds. It is possible to work on a more amicable relationship between police and the crowds such that their relationship is no longer a police-crowd at war situation. The police should focus mainly on strategic responses to crowds events that are geared towards maximizing the objectives of the crowds.
Introduction
There are evolving approaches all over the world in tackling social insecurity. In deed,   the goal of any police force is to ensure the security of every person. Therefore, measures in improving the police industry are very significant since criminals change tactics everyday. However, the police should consider better ways and programs that will enable them reduce crime as well as promoting an amicable co-existence with the public. It is therefore important to have intelligence led policing which will establish a generation of community policing with more knowledge-based policing. The broadest term for capturing the most widespread police reform movement aimed at building community police partnerships is community policing.

As a result there will be a shift toward a problem-oriented approach and strategic use of information as a basis for management and better use of police resources. This study will review the significance of knowledge-based policing and its impact on public safety. Current debates on risk and the risk society, the broadening or narrowing of the police role, globalization and the importance of networks and, governance and regulation will also be considered.

Knowledge-based Policing
The aim of intelligence led policing is to establish a generation of community policing with more knowledge-based policing. In order to expound more on knowledge based policing a review of knowledge-based public order policing will be significant. The dictum that mob practices have no rationality makes it hard to trust a crowd in whatever event they get involved in especially in the public domain. A conglomeration of a large number of crowds is viewed as a threat and an offence in law. Police will be quick in dispatching crowds in the streets due to their perceived potential in carrying out criminal activities. By and large, public order policing is still pegged on the perception that mobs are by nature devoid of reason and very harmful. However, this belief is misguided and serves as a recipe to policing interventions that occasion more violence and malicious inclinations in the crowds (Reicher et al. 2007).

This traditional connotation of mob psychology needs some improvement in that crowds can be turned into opportunities of peace and security. Therefore, policing can turn crowds into more responsible crowds and with fewer inclinations to criminal activities. Crowds that have realized the importance of working in harmony with their police officers are responsible self-policed crowds. A Society that has reached such maturity can enjoy maximum safety of all members and with minimal levels crimes.
In this regard such knowledge-based crowd policing becomes a guide in making crowd events prospects of civil obedience and not civil disobedience therefore reducing intractable conflicts between the police and groups within the society. This radical expression of community policing is captured in the idea of a co-production of safe communities (Bazemore  Griffiths 2003), involving a significant shift in power from the police to community groups in safety enterprises (Barley 1994).

Policing necessarily invites the notion of crowds in a public framework. For example, policing will direct so much on people in the streets or towns other than two or three or four citizens having a chat at a shopping centre. Policing is to a large extent intertwined with the efforts in maintenance of public order. Why then does public order policing major on crowd events (Reicher et al. 2007). In response to Reicher and others, it was mentioned earlier that there is a perceived view of the public as the real cause of disorder in the society. In fact, the use of public order policing is founded on the association of the mob with public disorder.

The connotation in public order policing hinders the possibility of considering police operations as also avenues to criminal activities in the social fabric. Just as how the public is considered a recipe for disorder so should the police. In this regard, little attention is given in the development of strategies, tactics and technologies that can reduce the risks in such a dilemma in deed, the police-crowd dilemma in respect to who is the cause of disorder in the society. If more emphasis is laid upon the crowds as the perpetuators of disorder living out the police, then it will lead to a state with suppressed crowds this can instill hostility in the people and from here the journey of defiance and calls for mass actions begin across the board. This mainly will take place in any sober and affluent democratic society.

The police forget that crowds are always determined to fight for their rights at all times and in all ways not even use of force by the police themselves to them can stop them. Robins (1984) gives a reflection on the scenario of Manchester funs and the teams chairman. The chairman out rightly termed his funs as animals and in turn the funs in the next match responded with chants describing that they hate humans. From this example, it can be noticed that the crowd react angrily, mockingly, and in the opposite direction. This is exactly how crowds respond to the policing measures of the day. If the police force them to be in their homes by evening, they react back by being outside late in the evening if the police forcefully make them carry their identity cards they respond by not carrying their identity cards.  They will do the opposite hence creating serious public disorder.

As indicated earlier long, it is possible to work on a more amicable relationship between police and the crowds such that their relationship is no longer a police-crowd at war situation. As in, the era of crowds running helter skelter whenever a police patrol appears ends ushering in a new era where crowds feel free and even chat with the police and more importantly present the police with proposals on how to improve order in the society. In this regard, the crowds become the eyes of the police. The significance of supportive relationships between police and the communities they give service is that they increase effectiveness in the reduction of crime and disorder. The key factor why the public support the police is because they regard them as legitimate (Hinds et al. 2009).

To deepen further on the concept of knowledge-based public policing, it is significant to note that an individual at some point seizes to identify himselfherself in her cocoon but transfer hisher center of identity to the large collegiality of the people around himher. This fact is what catalyses the mob this is what energizes them in doing whatever they are determined to do together. The movement of the individual person from hisher identity to social identity is the rationale behind the possibility of group behavior (Turner, 1982).

This interaction strengthens the social systems in a state such that every individual person feels obligated in safeguarding the well-being of the other person next to himher. This fire spreads across the social stream where every person sees the value of defending common good. The communities realize that they need one another and have a duty towards one another. This understanding is very vital in the measures put in place in dealing with lawlessness. Policing of whatever kind should base itself on this fundamental fact. Again, this re-emphasizes the observation above that the relationship between police and the crowds can be an amicable one. This makes it possible to have a community policing with knowledge-based policing. This shift is only feasible if it is grounded on this fact, that a crowd can unite and observe common good within the framework of the set laws in the penal code. Recently, it was noted that South Australia Police invited the community to volunteer with information regarding illegal drug meddling in a bid to give a hand in the fight against crime (South Australia Police, 2010).

Knowledge-based policing and Law Enforcement
By and large, the social identities play a significant role in the policing approach applied by the security intelligence. It is worth noting that, whenever a social group is established it is accompanied by beliefs and set of guidelines which govern their operations. Crowds course of action is not merely spontaneous nor does it take place in a vacuum. It is characterized by strict conformity of certain beliefs and regulations within the group (Thompson 1971, Reddy 1977, Davis 1978).

It is also very important to note that crowds operate differently from other groups in a given community. This is because crowds never carry out their operations or deliberations in the open or in a conference room they have no formal modalities in this respect hence their operations remain mysterious. The quest of establishing valid interpretation on the group action becomes more volatile and more complex, more fraught compared to any other situation (Reicher et al. 1984). The most important point here is that it is not easy to predict the appropriate course of action to take in order to lessen the chances of triggering a hostile crowd or better still, collective violence. No wonder why despite the need to nurture a self-policed community, police will tend to dominate in the whole process. Wood et al. note that while community policing programs provide a possible means for mobilizing civic participation in the generation of security, police agencies generally tend to take the lead role in such endeavors (2006). They have held onto modern identities as the central agency, even within multi-agency policing and safety networks.

Turning now to the practice of knowledge-based public policing in the society, here will see how the police can build their operations on the principles of social groups and identities discussed previously. It is of great value if the police take into consideration the identities of the crowds. Here, the police take cognizance of the set of guidelines inherent in these social groups.

The police should focus mainly on strategic responses to crowds events that are geared towards maximizing the objectives of the crowds. Well, this does not mean that police should sympathize with lawlessness or flawed activities, no they must maintain law and order at all times. It is true that some of the mobs intend to engage in illegal activities which the police should never permit but there are those crowds that seek to champion their objectives in a legal and moral approach. By not interfering with this process the police will gain recommendable cooperation from the crowd and even get assistance from the very crowd in dealing with those small groups that carry out illegal activities. However, the police cannot achieve this if they do not understand the conscience of the group. Here, the conscience connotes the belief system of the group.

However and to a large extent, some of the explications above pose practical dilemmas to the police in ensuring that the legal aims of the crowds do not invite illegitimate aims in the same crowd. In Australia, there occurred a climate civil disobedience protest. Citizens across the board convoked at parliament buildings in Canberra calling on the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to settle for nothing else but a strong and legal accord in the forthcoming international climate negotiations to be held at Copenhagen. It was reported that 130 citizens had been arrested by the police and with no charges advanced against them (Takver, 2009). The figure below indicates the public blocking the doors at the parliament houses and refusing to move. It was a mixture of elders, youths and even children.

The police will do a good thing if they let the demonstrations take place but on the other hand, they might fear that demonstrations past the doors of parliament houses may occasion theft, burglaries and disruption and so on and so forth. See now, there is a dilemma between legal aims and illegitimate aims within the same crowd. In this case, it is advisable that the police liaise with the organizers or leaders of such crowds. They can jointly work together and ensure that law and order is maintained in the whole demonstration process.  The police must emphasize that they will not permit any defiant activities and illegitimate course of actions. In this context the crowds will feel respected and will not regard the police presence as an impediment but as an empowerment. Below is a scenario of protests that can force police to act harshly on the public.

This approach by the police to the crowds as illustrated in the above example creates harmony in how both camps perceive each other. The crowds will proudly identify themselves with the police and by the way, making it easy for the police in their task to maintain law and order. The crowds will actually dissuade the rest of the group to maintain law and order. They will not let their colleagues carry out criminal activities as they will denounce them out rightly. This way, no malicious gangs can cohabit in the crowds or better still, the crowds will no longer be a hid-out place where illegal and illegitimate acts are premeditated and executed. The essential thing in such policing is showing respect to the participants and in cases when some carry out illegitimate operations, the police should ensure that it does not invite others to the same. This prudence from the police extends to the tools they use. Luckily, police are rational beings so they can control themselves and besides that, they can make judgments. However, the guns they use or the missiles they use or the bombs they use, cannot make judgments. In other words, whenever a police officer fires a gun, the bullet does not take time to identify who is a criminal or who is not a criminal it lands on both the innocent and the criminal. In this regard, technology used in aiding the police in the policing operations should not be an occasion where they exercise their mandate irrationally. Well, it is dubious to have a bullet that after been fired it stops on the way and goes back to the gun after noticing that it had been directed to the wrong target. The point here, however, is that technology in the policing industry should try to create tools that do not just aim to kill every body.

It is a widely held view that the greatest enemies or threats to the police are the youths. Police policy and practice in regard to young people by and large, re-affirms the assertion that young ones need to be transformed and that the elder ones have the means to transform them, especially by adjusting their cognitive faculties and punishing them as deterrence (Casella 2002). Theoretically, restorative policing plays a major role in dissuading the general public to be involved in the promotion and maintenance of public safety. It is incumbent upon the community to promote reconciliation and co-existence among themselves while police agencies encourage and make it possible for them in this endeavor. By supporting the community in this role, police organizations devote maximum attention and resources to community building that aim at mobilizing and enhance the communitys skills and confidence in informal responses to crime. Restorative policing seems to be the next obvious step in community policing and police reform, it seems.

There are efforts in policy movements of different countries in trying to involve the youths in policing and security governance. This assertion is echoed by Cislowski (2002) when he notes on the use of the term youth citizenship in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. He writes further that youth citizenship is found within educational and local government policy as a way of awakening and mobilizing young people in being actively involved in their everyday lives. The discourse of citizenship puts more weight in the attempt at including young people in plans to prevent violence, risk and crime (Shaw, et al. 2002).

However, though the idea of youth citizenship continues to shape the social and public policy of these communities, doubts still revolve as to whether they are able to articulate on the matters touching on the young peoples destinies. In other words, it is still not easy to delegate public issues to the youths considering that they still are in the stage of self-discovery where there can be no consistency or stability in choices.

The police are quick to respond to crimes where the youths are involved and less where there are other ages like children or elderly people in their middle ages, for instance. In line with this, when women take to the streets hardly will you see police try to prevent them from the demonstrations. In fact, such an instance is brushed-off. Whenever it is a riot by a group of youths, police respond instantly and with all the weapons possible. Below is a scenario of police-youths engagement in France as they rioted against the youth employment contract.

It is almost the case that police exist for the sake of the youths. Or better still police institutions exist to deal with the youths in the society. The overall tone in policing has the youths as the object of study, it seems. While it is true that the young people are more inclined to commit malicious acts considering that they are young, energetic, flexible and swift and above all, in their stage of self-discovery that can lure them in creating havoc in the public safety. Their energy, for instance, can lure them to burglarize a building and even destroy every thing in it their flexibility and swiftness can make them escape the police by making good runs contrary to what their parents or grandparents would do.

Turning back to the principles of youth citizenship above, where the youth are instead made to be the eyes of the community as far as policing and public safety is concerned it can still work when the police institutions take into account the inherent potentialities in the youths. Recall what was mentioned earlier long that the police ought to understand the beliefs and systems governing a particular group or crowd before executing its policing mandate. In still the same way, they ought to understand the mind set and the governing system of the youths. Why not turn their energy, flexibility or swiftness, and their struggle for self-discovery into something useful in promotion of public safety Instead of using their energy to destroy property they can convert it into defense skills that in turn destroy the criminals.

To give even a more comic example, instead of taking advantage of their swiftness and flexibility in escaping the police through good runs, they can use this swiftness and flexibility in chasing after thieves in the community. In deed, this example sounds funny but it tries to drive a very essential point here. That much is not in the physical reaction of the youths to crime, but it is more in changing their attitude. They need to feel that the fight against public disorder is not only for their own good as youths but it is their responsibility. Therefore a heavy police presence in learning institutions like universities or colleges should not seem as if it is against the youths but should be an invitation to them in being agents of public safety. The presence of the police should be a direct invitation to the youths in the contribution of good policing governance and execution.

Policing as such aims also at establishing truth and this is why law enforcers need structures and guidelines just like anybody else. In this regard, evidence-based policing majors its assertions and assumptions on facts and not merely stories with an aim to reduce crime rate in the society. It also structures the thinking processes of the law enforcers hence inculcating in them a more critical approach to social crimes. However, this aspect of channeling operations of the law enforcers to a given structured systems may deter them from fully exercising their mandate. This is also because they are prevented from expressing their views and opinion.

Conclusion
From the onset, we have shown the relationship between the public and the police. We have also strongly emphasized on the need to have a public-police relationship and in deed, a friendly relationship. In this regard, the entire public fraternity should never be regarded as security threats but should be seen as opportunities for safety. This in my opinion is the greatest civilization that a state can attain. Civilization exists in those states where people see the police as friends and not as enemies as this is the widely held perception globally. You will bear me witness that there are people who are always on the run whenever they see a police around them. They run away with no apparent reason and yet they are not criminals. I agree that sometimes police do create this fear and attitude especially in the youths and it does not help. To reiterate, fear of the police does not imply that people are law-abiding rather it is a manifestation of immaturity as citizens. Communities should join the police and as such be 100 involved in the policing endeavors. Communities should be the eyes of the police.

But these assertions as explicated in our study should not imply that community-based policing is a replacement of the role of the police, no it is just the recognition that maintenance of law and order is a collective responsibility where police only play 40 role and the 60 is played by the public. I agree that maximum safety cannot be achieved by the police forces only since they are not super humans, they need the help of other citizens. The notion of knowledge-based policing is essentially the invitation of the entire family of a given community to consider taking part in their safety. They need to be involved since the battle is complex and needs other expertise that can only be attained through their cooperation with the police.