CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

As long as there have been people, there has been crime. The history of crime is in many ways

the history of humanity. There is hardly any society which is without the problem of crime.

According to Durkheim (1897),as cited inSiddique (2004), a society composed of persons with

angelic qualities would not be free from violations of the norms of the society. Therefore, crime

is present in every society.

According to Tappan (1960),crime is an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law,

committed without defense or justification, and sanctioned by the law as felony or misdemeanor.

Similarly,Sutherland (1978), crime is a symptom of social disorganization. Therefore, crime can

be said to be an act which a particular group regards as sufficiently harmful to its fundamental

interests, to justify legal action to restrain the violator. Since concern about crime is not a recent

phenomenon, it is indeed of no surprise that enormous energy has been directedto the goal of

effective crime control.

Based on the inevitability of crime in the society, varieties of responses to crime like the family,

schools, organized religions, the media, the law and the criminal justice system are institutions of

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social control. Various governments have put in place agencies whose mission is to identify and

apprehend criminal suspects, providing them with fair hearing on the charges brought against

them, and through the course of trials if found guilty as charged, furnishing them with fair and

effective correctional treatment. These processes itself is referred to as the Criminal Justice

System.

According to Larry and Joseph (2008), Criminal Justice System can be defined as agencies put in

place by the government charged with enforcing the law, adjudicating crime, and correcting

criminal conduct. According toDambazau (2007),the Criminal Justice System is a legal entity,

the interrelationships of criminal justice elements comprising of the police, courts and the

prisons.

The Nigerian police as an agent of the Criminal Justice System, are the biggest, most visible and

important sub-system of the Criminal Justice System. The police provide the entry point into the

criminal justice system either through crime reports from the public or its own discovery.

According to Dambazau (2007), the police organization is the main institution which provides

regular direct contact with the public, a situation that makes it unique among the other

component of the Criminal Justice System. The role of the police is unique in that, the decision

of the policeman on the street is as important as the existence of the Criminal Justice System.

According to Dambazau (2007), the policeman is the gatekeeper of the Criminal Justice System

as he decides who goes into the system, and his decision has wider implications from the other

system components. The police man lubricates the system through the process of arrest, which is

essentially their input into the Criminal Justice System.

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In the administration of justice, the courts take over from where the police stop. According to

Igbo (1999), the court performs a vital function in the administration of criminal justice; they

interpret and enforce laws that have been enacted by the legislature for the maintenance of law

and order in the society. When a suspect has been found guilty of violating a particular criminal

law, the court decides whether to caution and discharge, impose a monetary fine or to sentence

the suspect to a term of imprisonment. However, whatever the court d