By Nicole Cain, Faculty Member, Criminal Justice at American Military University
The criminal justice system is a set of institutions and processes designed to serve three main functions:
- Identify and arrest criminals who violate the law
- Prosecute them
- Manage their punishment
Police officers are responsible for the first element of the criminal justice system: identifying and arresting criminals. Police officers achieve these goals through proactive policing, responding to calls for service, and investigating criminal activity. As a part of criminal investigations, police review crime scenes, interview victims and witnesses, collect and analyzing evidence, as well as interrogate potential suspects. Interrogating suspects is a specialized skill that requires officers to be highly trained. After all, the role of an interrogator is to induce a person to provide statements that are often not in his or her own best interest.
Full Story: The use of deception during police interrogations
