Crime Control Model of Corrections

Packer's Crime Control Model

Packer developed the crime control model during the 1960s, when crime was rising and the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren had made several decisions that protected the rights of defendants, such as the exclusionary rule, the right to counsel, the Miranda warning, the expansion of post-conviction review, and other due process rights. Critics claimed that the courts were handcuffing the criminal justice system and that guilty defendants went free because of technicalities. Critics believed that crime would decrease only by focusing on deterrence and retribution, which are the main sentencing philosophies underlying the crime control model.

The crime control model proposes several values focusing on the efficiency of the criminal justice [Page 95]system. First, the most important goal of the criminal justice system is crime suppression. If crime is not suppressed, public order will break down, and if the law is not enforced efficiently, people will disregard the law. Efficient in this context means that criminals must be arrested and prosecuted as quickly as possible. Efficiency is the most important factor because the more time goes by the less likely a conviction. In order to accomplish this goal, Packer advocated for expanding the powers of the police by removing procedures that make it more difficult to establish the guilt of the suspect. Furthermore, policy makers who believe in the crime control model advocate for the greater use of plea bargaining, because it quickly disposes of cases and punishes offenders. About 90 percent of criminal cases are settled via plea bargaining.

Second, to be efficient, the criminal justice system should operate as an assembly-line conveyer belt, moving cases quickly from one stage to the next. This is accomplished through a system that relies on informality and uniformity. Packer sees formal processes meant to protect the due process rights of suspects as “clutter.” For instance, court proceedings such as the examination and cross-examination of witnesses constitute an inefficient and costly way to determine the guilt of an offender. They are inefficient and unnecessary, because the police are fully capable of establishing guilt. There must also be uniformity in handling cases, because the large number of criminal cases can be handled only if there are routine procedures to be followed by everyone. Packer's assembly-line conveyor belt consists of seven steps, starting with pre-arrest investigation and ending with disposition. After the conviction of the offender the case is over, because people who are innocent will be screened out during the process. Thus, there is no need for a post-conviction appellate process.

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