The criminal justice field is diverse, encompassing various positions and career paths, aiming at ensuring that society has law and order. Some of these entities include the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Each agency has varying roles characterized by specific requirements, challenges, and duties. The paper will explore the roles and duties of the FBI and NIC, how generalities, ambiguity, and vagueness affect their roles, the necessity of credibility, and how people in the two agencies use critical thinking.
The selected agencies for this discussion regarding their roles and duties are the FBI and NIC. In the FBI realm, one unique role is that of the special agent. According to Medeiros (2021), a special agent tackles many criminal activities, such as public corruption, organized crime, cybercrime, and terrorism, with roles like enforcing federal laws, gathering evidence, and conducting investigations. Therefore, the special agents can be likened to an intelligence team tasked with gathering evidence for prosecution, apprehending suspects, executing search warrants, interviewing witnesses, and gathering intelligence. On the other hand, a pivotal role in the NIC is that of the Correctional Program Specialist tasked with rehabilitating offenders and improving correctional facilities by implementing relevant programs (Stack et al., 2022). For example, a correctional program specialist can consider the incarcerated individuals’ needs while designing vocational and educational programs and monitoring how effectively they can reduce recidivism rates. The specialists coordinate with policymakers, community organizations, and correctional staff to ensure the initiatives are implemented successfully.
In criminal justice, roles in the FBI and NIC, like those of the special agents and correctional program specialists, can be impeded by generalities, ambiguity, and vagueness. For example, a special agent can incur wrongful prosecution of suspects, compromise investigations and their integrity, and misinterpret protocols if legal guidelines are ambiguous or the instructions are vague (Leider, 2021). At the same time, a correctional program specialist in the NIC can generalize the incarcerated people’s needs, leading to the development of poor and ineffective rehabilitation programs. In this essence, ineffective rehabilitation policies could fail to remedy the inmate’s requirements and those from diverse backgrounds.
Vagueness, ambiguity, and generalities can impede the criminal justice system’s credibility. All units, including the correctional program specialist and special agent role, must ensure credibility with the collective responsibility of promoting and securing trust from other law enforcement agencies, informants, and witnesses. For instance, if the FBI’s special agent mishandles evidence and provides false information contradicting the witnesses, the investigation and its legitimacy are undermined, consequently impeding fair trial and justice. Similarly, the NIC’s correctional program specialist can acquire support from the community, policymakers, and correctional staff when implementing the rehabilitation programs if he demonstrates credibility. Any lapses like lack of transparency, trustworthiness, and honesty mean the initiatives and their efficacy would be questioned. Therefore, the pursuit of reducing recidivism rates and facilitating offender reintegration would be hindered by a lack of credibility.
The special agent and correctional program specialist role requires the professionals to make proper and informed decisions to navigate complex situations. When combating crime, the special agent can integrate critical thinking by anticipating tactics used by criminal organizations, assessing potential risks, and analyzing the evidence critically (Ho et al., 2022). One can imagine a scenario where a single muddy footprint is the available evidence in a robbery scene. A special agent would require critical thinking by assessing the shoe type, potential entry points, and weather conditions present when the crime happened. Likewise, critical thinking skills are vital for a correctional program specialist, notable in adapting interventions, identifying improvement areas, and evaluating existing programs’ strengths, weaknesses, and efficacy. Since their role is mainly rehabilitation, these specialists can devise and analyze innovative solutions for reducing recidivism rates. In the case of an inmate whose recidivism rates are high, the correctional program specialist can consider initiatives like mental health rehabilitation programs and understand the rationale behind the frequent gang involvement.
From the preceding, various roles and responsibilities are encompassed in the criminal justice sector. The specialists in multiple criminal justice agencies like the FBI and NIC are tasked with upholding the law, maintaining law and order, and ensuring public safety. However, these roles demand credibility, adaptability, ethical conduct, and specialized skills to foster the public and policymaker’s trust. Such can be acquired by integrating critical thinking skills to navigate complex situations while triggering well-being, fairness, and justice.
Ho, H., Ko, R., & Mazerolle, L. (2022). Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) techniques to prevent and control cybercrimes: A focused, systematic review. Computers & Security, 115, 102611. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167404822000104
Leider, R. (2021). The modern common law of crime. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 111(2), 407–499. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7698&context=jclc
Medeiros, N. (2021). Obtaining a Career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=crm_studentpub
Stack, E., Hildebran, C., Leichtling, G., Waddell, E. N., Leahy, J. M., Martin, E., & Korthuis, P. T. (2022). Peer recovery support services across the continuum: In community, hospital, corrections, and treatment and recovery agency settings–A narrative review. Journal of addiction medicine, 16(1), 93-100. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8339174/