CRLJ 121

INTRODUCTION TO
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
FINALS MODULE 6

INTRODUCTION

                For centuries, jails and prisons were places to hold people before they were
punished for convicted offenders. People were locked up until they could be executed,
pilloried, or subjected to other forms of barbaric suffering. Today, the corrections pillar
undertakes the information and rehabilitation of offenders for their eventual absorption
into the social and economic streams of the community, through institutional or
community-based programs. It is therefore incumbent for correctional administration not
only to watch over, as in custodial manner, those serving time but to manage the
potential manpower it can offer through the requirements of social concerns.

It is also the unique feature of the Philippine Criminal Justice System to have the
Community as its fifth pillar.  The community in this context refers to the elements that
are mobilized and energized to help authorities in effectively addressing the law and
order concern of the citizenry. Its massive membership has vital responsibilities in terms
of crime control, maintenance of order and the like.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the unit, the students should be able to:

a. Explain the main purpose of corrections and sentencing.

b. Identify different programs under community based-correction.
c. Discuss the role of the Community in the administration of CJS.

REFERENCES

 Shirley Domingo, Criminal Justice System, Rex Book Store, Inc., 2013
 Porferio C. Madelo Jr., Ph. D., Criminal Justice System-Basic Concepts and
Approaches, Rex Book Store, Inc., 2013
 Atty. Ramil G. Gabao, Ph. D., Philippine Criminal Justice System, Chapter House
Publishing Inc., 2013

LEARNING LESSONS
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LESSON 1 CORRECTION: FOURTH PILLAR OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM
CORRECTIONS

 The branch of criminal justice charged with the responsibility for the custody,
supervision and rehabilitation of the convicted persons.

Two approaches of correction:

1. Institutional correction
2. Non-institutional correction

Agencies of the Gov’t charged with correctional responsibility:

1. Bureau of Correction (BuCor)
2. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)
3. Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP)
4. Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)
5. Provincial and Sub-provincial Jails
6. Department of Social Welfare and Development

Why is Correction the weakest pillar of the Criminal Justice System?

 Correction is the weakest pillar of the criminal justice system because of its
failure to reform and rehabilitate offenders and prevent them from returning to a
criminal life.

Penalty- refers to the consequences that follow the transgression of laws. It is the
judicial punishment for crime or violation of law.

Imprisonment- refers to the state or condition of being constrained, restrained, or

incarcerated in confined room or building. It is actually a form of conventional
punishment of criminal offenders.

The purpose or objectives of modern correction

1. Retribution- under the Philippine penal law, the basis of criminal liability is
human freewill and the purpose of punishment is retribution. Incarceration or
imprisonment is carried out and justified by the senate as penalty for the law
violated. Imprisonment is expected to make life unpleasant for the people who, by
their crimes, made others’ lives unpleasant.

2. Deterrence- the state wants to protect the society by reducing crime and
isolating and segregating criminals through imprisonment. Prison is expected to
reform convicts and effectively deters or discourages others from becoming
criminals and thereby effectively reduces crime rates as a result.

3. Isolation- segregations criminals from society are aimed at preventing the

occurrence of crime and protecting the public from harm, which criminals may inflict.

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 4. Reformation- this involves the use of punitive and disciplinary measures such as
solitary confinement, to modify or reform criminal behavior whose conduct and
deportment is not totally responding to rehabilitation programs.

5. Rehabilitation- is based on the premise that through correctional intervention

(educational and vocational training and psychotherapeutic programs) an offender
maybe changed. This punishment is also known as individualized treatment.

6. Reintegration- the effort of correction to change criminal behavior should result

in a situation and ability on the part of the penitent offender to return to society in
some productive and meaningful capacity in a free community.

Objectives and Functions

1. To confine persons who are convicted by the courts to serve a sentence in the
national prisons.

2. To prevent prisoners from committing crimes while in custody

3. To provide humane treatment by affording them basic needs in the prison facility
and prohibiting cruel methods of punishment.

4. To provide a variety of rehabilitation program designed to change the prisoner’s

pattern of criminal or anti-social behavior

5. To engage in agro-industrial projects for the purpose of developing prison lands

and resources into productive bases or profit centers, developing and employing
inmate manpower skills and labor, providing prisoner’s a source of income and
reducing the bureau’s yearly appropriated funds.

6. To perform other function that maybe directed by the Secretary of Justice.

Seven Correctional Facilities in the Philippines (under the Bucor)

1. New Bilibid Prison- Muntinlupa

2. San Ramon prison and Penal Farm- Zamboanga Del Sur
3. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm- Palawan
4. Correctional Institution for Women- Mandaluyong City
5. Leyte Regional Prison- Abuyog Leyte
6. Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm- Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro
7. Davao Prison and Penal Farm- Tagum, Davao Del Norte

Procedures of Admission in Correctional Institution

1. Receiving of Convicted Person-The new prisoner is received at the Reception

and Diagnostic Center (RDC). The new prisoner usually comes from a provincial or
city jail where he was immediately committed upon conviction by the court and
escorted by a platoon during his transfer to the national prison.

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 2. Checking of Commitment Papers- The receiving officer checks the commitment
papers if they are in order. That is, if they contain the signature of the judge or of the
clerk of court and the seal of the court.

3. Identification-The prisoner identity is established through the picture and the

fingerprint appearing in the commitment order. This is to ensure that the person
being committed is the same as the person being named in the commitment order.

4. Searching-This step involves the frisking of the prisoner and searching his
personal things. Weapons and other items classified as contraband are deposited
with the trust fund under recording receipt.

5. Briefing and Orientation/ Assignment of Quarters- The prisoner will be briefed

and oriented on the rules and regulations of the institution before he is assigned to
the RDC or quarantine unit.

BUREUA OF JAIL MANAGEMENT AND PENOLOGY

 The bureau of Jail Management and Penology is created under sec. 10 of R.A
6975 as amended by R.A 9263. The BJMP exercised supervision and control
over all the city and municipal jails.

Types of Jails

1. Lock-up- a security facility for the temporary detention of persons held for
investigation or awaiting preliminary investigation. A security facility, common in
police stations or precinct in urban areas for temporary detaining those persons
being held for investigation.

2. Ordinary Jail- Houses both offenders awaiting court action and those serving
short sentence usually up to three years. The type of jail commonly found in
every municipality or city where juvenile offenders and the mentally insane
people are usually detained while their transfer to other institution are pending.

Categories of Inmates

1. Sentence Prisoner (Prisoner)- Convicted with final judgement

2. Detention Prisoner (Detainee) – Inmate who is undergoing investigation trial or
awaiting trial.

Classification of Sentence Prisoner

1. Insular or National Prisoner- a person who is sentenced to serve a prison

sentence of three years and one day to death.
2. Provincial prisoner- a person who is sentenced to serve a prison sentence of
six months and one day to three years.
3. City Prisoner- a person who is sentenced to serve a prison sentence of one day
to three years.
4. Municipal prisoner- a person who is sentenced to serve a prison sentence of
one day to six months.

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Distinction of Jails from Prisons

Jail Prison

A short term detention for those convicted A place of long term confinement for those
of crime or detained for a short duration convicted of serious crimes, the sentence
which is below 3 years sentence. is above 3 years.

under DILG under DOJ

managed by BJMP managed by BuCor

created under RA 6975 or The DILG Act of created under the Reorganization Act of
1990 1907 otherwise known as The Prison
Law

headed by the Director of BJMP headed by Dir. of Prison

District Jail is headed by a Warden Penal farm is headed by a Supt.

LESSON 2 COMMUNITY: FIFTH PILLAR OF CRIMINAL

JUSTICE SYSTEM
Roles of the community:

a. Identifying offenders
b. Giving data about the illegal activities and cohorts of the criminals
c. Volunteering as witness
d. Adopting precautionary measures to diminish crime.

Community policing- it is solution based and community driven which occurs when the
police and law abiding citizens work together.

The 3P’s of Community Policing

1. People
 To be effective, policing practices need to be explained and understood by both
the department and the community they serve. It is important to leverage the
experience and perspectives of the department’s personnel and the community
to engage in better policing strategies and problem-solving.

 The Importance of Leadership: Organizational transformation is a pillar

of community policing. Leaders need to model the behavior of the change
that they seek and ensure they place people who share this mission in
high-visibility roles.

 Definition of Success: Departments must define their overall strategies

and goals, and determine the resources available to achieve them. Writing
a formal and comprehensive strategic plan, Mission, Vision and Values
statement, and department-wide community policing plan are the first
steps to accomplishing their goals.

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2. IPolicies

 After a well-thought out and appropriate policy has been developed, departments
must communicate and train their personnel on the goals and expectations of
such policies to make them operational.

Pillars of Procedural Justice

1. Fairness: Policies must be reasonable and approach the solution with the
perspective of all those involved.
2. Voice: Both internal and external stakeholders must be able to provide input and
review policies.
3. Transparency: There must be transparency surrounding the end goal, and
stakeholders must be told why feedback was or was not incorporated into the
policy.
4. Impartiality: Policies must apply to all internal personnel regardless of rank,
assignment or any other factors, and must apply to all members of the
community regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity or any other factors.

 Clear and Consistent Communication and Training: If personnel are

trained on the policy during roll-call, supervisors should inspect the briefings
to ensure the message is communicated consistently from the top down and
reflects any revisions.

 Up-to-Date Policies: A department should consider having a policy

coordinator or unit to ensure policies are up-to-date with legal changes and
other updates.

3. Processes

 To ensure sustainability, the department’s leadership must appropriately plan,

properly execute, clearly communicate, consistently apply and review its
processes.

 Accountability:  can be facilitated through the review of compliments and

complaints, and soliciting feedback from community members.

 Evaluation of Compliance: An individual’s failure to comply with a process

may be intentional or unintentional. If it was an intentional failure, the
employee is responsible and their supervisor needs to take corrective action.
If it was unintentional, leadership is responsible because the policy or process
may be misunderstood, unclear, unrealistic, unachievable or poorly designed.

Peace and Order Councils (POCs)- at the national, regional, provincial, and
city/municipal levels were reorganized and revitalized “to ensure more comprehensive
and effective coordination of government efforts and the active participation of the
citizenry relative to the national campaign against criminality and insurgency.”

 At the national level, the Secretary of the Department of National Defense and
Vice Chairman of the National Police Commission as Vice Chairman and
Secretary-General, respectively.

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People’s Law Enforcement Board(PLEB)- a body created in every city/municipality to
decide citizen’s complaints on cases filed against erring officers and members of the
Philippine National Police.

 Police community relations (PCR)

 Sum total of the dealing of the police officers with the people they serve and
whose goodwill and cooperation they seek to ensure the greatest possible
efficiency in public service

TYPES OF POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

1.     Public Information Program

 Designed to bridge the communication gap between the police and the public.
Forms of Media used:
a) Personal Media- Consists of face-to-face communication, such as meetings,
rallies, delivering speeches and house-to-house visitation.
b) Mass Media- Includes printed matter and audio-visual communications.

2.     Public Relations Program

 Designed to maintain harmony and mutual support between the police and the
community.
 Designed to “sell” the police to the public.
 Public Relations Officer shall issue press releases from time to time regarding
police activities which are public concern, build good image and evaluate public
opinion and attitude.

3.     Civic Action Program

 Designed to maintain and encourage community development.

 Civic Action Officer shall encourage and actively participate in
athletic competitions to promote youth development, initiate fund-raising
campaigns for juvenile delinquents, alert to safeguard the community against
loss and damages to the properties and possible death, in the events of calamity,
render possible assistance and discourage them from engaging in uneconomic
activities.

4.     Psychological Program

 Designed to condition both friendly and hostile public, ensuring the facilitation of
the attainment of police objectives.