A Brief Note On Criminal Justice And Services - 2693 Words

Onika Searchwell Victim Law and Services March 24, 2015 Summary Within the past couples of decades much scrutiny has been the topic of domestic violence. The role of police discretion has been emphasized by researchers and the effects that arrest have on recidivism rates. Arrest rates are high and prosecution rates are low due to the arrest policies that have been put into place. An uncooperative witness can result in low rates of prosecution due to a victim deciding not to go through with pressing charges against the offender. When it comes down to domestic violence cases they mainly rely on the victim’s testimony. Prosecutors are forced to dismiss charges against the offender if the victim does not cooperate. The sole purpose of†¦show more content†¦In order for prosecutors to have a better understanding of how multiple factors may influence the decision of the victim, this is done by multivariate analysis. There have been some suggestions that characteristics and the willingness of a witness to cooperate is a large factor. Phys ical, emotional, financial well-being and the past that they may have had with the justice system can affect a victim’s decision to cooperate. There are three major reasons for a victim not wanting to cooperate, 1) some victims find the justice system to be very confusing, 2) the court process is very tedious, and 3) fearfulness of the victim during the waiting time of a court date. . Due to all of these major issues within the system, there was finally a solution which was the creation of K-Court. Research Setting Winning convictions for victims of domestic violence was the reason K-Court was designed. K-Court began April 1, 1997 and has been tracked to March 31, 1998, within that time period there has been a total amount of 474 cases. Collected data that was victim, offender, and offense characteristics related would be investigated by K-Court and also police stations. When K-Court attempted to hold interviews with victims, only a small amount of 15% showed. Prosecutors have guidelines on how to conduct their prosecution, this is maintained by the Crown Policy Manual (CPM), which is provided by The Ministry of the