The crime control model

The crime control model

The crime control model focuses on efficient and effective administration of justice through quick (though not hasty) procedures and direct handling of cases from beginning to end. In an informal sense, the crime control model makes the assumption that if the police have respected a person's rights from the investigation of a crime through the arrest process, then there is a strong likelihood that the person is truly (and already) guilty of something. In this case, we find that an agreement is often quickly reached in criminal cases, known as a plea bargain, where the arrested person (known as the defendant) agrees to admit to the crime in exchange for avoiding trial, which resolves the case and the person receives a sentence of punishment.

The philosophy employed by the government in the case of a plea bargain is that the person is guilty of some element of the crime for which they were arrested and charged. In a plea bargain under the crime control model, the defendant agrees to accept responsibility and plead guilty to a crime in exchange for some form of punishment, and the expedient resolution of their case.

The key idea of a plea bargain is that in an agreement between the government and the defendant to have the defendant plead guilty, the defendant is given the chance to plead a lesser charge in exchange for a lesser sentence. Plea bargain agreements typically take place at the arraignment phase of a criminal case where the judge asks the defendant to say if he or she is guilty or not guilty of the charges. Without plea bargains, cases could take years to go through the courts, costing our government far greater dollars and delaying a sense of justice for victims