Arguments to the Police Chiefs
As a prosecutor, I would argue, firstly, that immediate screening of cases just after an arrest has taken place is important in preserving evidence that the prosecution may rely on at trial to secure a conviction. Secondly, I would argue that prompt screening of cases helps the law enforcement officers and the police chiefs to ensure that there is a follow up on cases while memory is still fresh and information is available. Moreover, such screening is important in that it helps in situations where shoddy, incompetent or faulty investigations have been conducted that are not likely to enable the police chiefs to ensure the suspects are successfully prosecuted for their crimes.
The case screening process also enables the law enforcement officers and police chiefs to make an informed decision as to whether or not to proceed with a criminal case against the suspect b in court. It also enables them to come to a conclusion as to whether the case can be concluded or settled by alternative means such as through nolle proseque or private prosecution, discharge, composition or discharge all together. This normally ensures that the police chiefs and the officers working under them ensure that the due process rights of a suspect are not undermined which may be relied upon by them on trial and defeat the prosecution’s case on points of technicality ( Ariffin, Mokodompit, Charles, Yamashita, Miura, Teramura & Takasu,n.d).
According to Waldron, Quarles, McElreath, Waldron and Milstein (2009), immediate screening of cases enables the relevant police and other law enforcement authorities to vet or review the evidence available before the case can be referred to court for determination or trial (p. 86). This, the authors argue, ensures that public policy and interests are protected by prosecuting only those cases where there is probability of a conviction being secured and hence avoid prosecuting poorly investigated cases that would be an abuse of the court’s process and resources. This also ensures ultimately that the ends of justice are met since poorly screened cases or lack thereof is likely to result in wrongful conviction of otherwise innocent individuals or even actual suspects being discharged for crimes they ought to be punished for. It also helps in proper case management.
Moreover, it is important to carry out case screening in order to prevent or reduce backlog of cases that overload courts when trivial cases are kept out of the court case lists. This also helps to decongest prisons by reducing the number of people going to jail while they ought not to be in the first place or alternative punishment or fine could have been administered by the police after screening. Through case screening, the law enforcement officers, police chiefs and the prosecutors are able to determine or know whether there is a witness to the alleged crime, whether the suspect is adequately described and named, whether the suspect can easily be identified or located and whether physical evidence, motive and modus operndi are present.
Arguments by the Law Enforcement Officials
On the other hand, law enforcement officials may also make a variety of arguments about the necessity of screening cases after arrest. To start with, some police officers may argue that the screening process may be too bureaucratic and thus complicate the work of the law enforcement officers for no apparent reason. Moreover, it may also be argued by the law enforcement officers that screening cases the workload on police officers and hence make it cumbersome for them to do their job (Cordner, 2013). Further, the screening process may be argued by the law enforcement as representing a usurpation of the role of courts to sift through evidence to determine its weight, admissibility and relevance to be used in any given case. The law enforcement officers may also make the argument that screening of cases may take unnecessary long and hence lead to lose of crucial evidence that could be used against the suspect or the arrested person.
References
Ariffin, A.B., Mokodompit, T.S., Charles, M.M., Yamashita, T., Miura, T., Teramura, K., & Takasu, S. (n.d). Effective case screening by prosecutors or other competent agencies. Retrieved March 2, 2016, from http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pdf/RS_No60/No60_22RC_Group3.pdf
Cordner, G.W. (2013). Police administration. London & New York: Routledge.
Waldron, R.J., Quarles, C.L., McElreath, D.H., Waldron, M.E., & Milstein, D.E. (2009). The criminal justice system: An introduction. New York: CRC Press.
