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Criminal Justice, Power, and Community Safety, Most insightful learning,…
Criminal Justice, Power, and Community Safety
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Wk2: Police, discretion and safety
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What safety means to me
Safety, to me, means that one is protected from any immediate violence. It also means that they feel respected and heard and are able to exist in public spaces without fear.
Police presence could potentially be reassuring. However, it can also foster insecure environments for racialised/marginalised or mentally unwell people.
Through surveillance, coercion, unequal treatment
As such, safety can also be found in family, community, healthcare, education, reliable public services and not just police.
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My most significant insight was how justice isn't simply an outcome that a judge delivers in court. It is a socially constructed system influenced by everyone in society. The police decide who the relevant parties 'legally' are. Corrections decide how and what punishments are pursued in each case. They also look at how safety is prioritised at utmost. My previous understanding that came from the media I consumed gave me a very linear perspective. However, now mapping it (and has shown me that legality does not automatically guarantee justice. The outcomes also have to be fair, looking at treating victims and accused equitably and ensuring no further harm occurs.
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I connected Week 1's question about who possesses the power to actually define justice with police gatekeeping in Week 2. It also linked with the judgement of credibility in Week 3. Labels like "victim" and "offender" were thus enforced by humans and their decisions rather than a neutral process. Secondly, the meaning of safety links both Weeks 2 and 4. The use of force and incarceration may create immediate control and safety but it can undermine both in the long term (especially when mental illness or other disadvantages are used as mechanisms of coercion). I think both weeks go to show that better healthcare, housing, dignity, community connection (conditions that may lead to crime) may be more effective in preventing crime.