Author Topic: Guest Series: Michael Hallet  (Read 4296 times)

Metro Jacksonville

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Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« on: April 05, 2012, 03:08:54 AM »
Guest Series: Michael Hallet



In a new series, Metro Jacksonville takes a step back to listen to, promote, and discuss the editorials, personal accounts, and vocal opinions of some of the key players in the preservation and progression of our community. This week, Dr. Michael Hallet, a professor and Chairman of the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of North Florida, explains why big-government criminal justice spending threatens quality of life.



Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-apr-guest-series-michael-hallet

Actionville

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2012, 08:10:40 AM »
The combination of High bonds and overworked Assistant State Attorneys keep so many low level offenders incarcerated for weeks before they can even attempt to resolve their case and get out of jail. This stacks up to what we see in Jax today

dougskiles

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2012, 09:16:16 AM »
Wow.  Eye-opening and disturbing.  Great article, Dr. Hallet.

Here is the quote of the day to me:

Quote
Jacksonville prides itself on being a low tax city even as it loses population (and tax base) to surrounding counties with higher taxes and better services

Tacachale

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2012, 09:37:34 AM »
Dr. Hallet takes a wise approach here: people will finally start caring about this issue when they finally see how much it's costing them.

Very eye-opening stuff.
Do you believe that when the blue jay or another bird sings and the body is trembling, that is a signal that people are coming or something important is about to happen?

Purplebike

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2012, 09:58:23 AM »
Thank you for highlighting this issue; great article. This is an important topic!
"To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character" - Dale Turner

"How fortunate for leaders that men do not think" - Hitler

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Anti redneck

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2012, 06:29:19 PM »
I nearly choked when I read that "Angela Corey was the toughest prosecutor in Florida and JSO was the best police force in the nation". That was just laughable. I have met Angela Corey. She's just a b---h!! Just throwing people in jail that come across your way would be her idea of justice. John Rutherford's time as sheriff has seen a decline with police. I think he's a bad sheriff and I don't know how he got re-elected. I wanted to give Soren Brockdorf a chance. It's a shame what we have running our city.  :-[
« Last Edit: April 05, 2012, 10:57:43 PM by Anti redneck »

Garden guy

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2012, 08:29:21 PM »
And of course our city council runs every time on promises of lower taxes and less oversight...look where thats got us. No money and foxes running the hen house. This is what a good ole southern conservative baptist city does.

ronchamblin

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2012, 08:46:38 PM »
Good article Mr. Hallet.  We all engage the system on one side or the other during our lifetimes, or we know others who have. 

I am no expert in law enforcement or in the justice system, but common sense allows me to suggest that the measure of the quality of any system of justice depends on the degree to which fairness and justice is achieved for both the victim and the accused by those in the justice system.  Given my understanding of some situations I’ve been involved in, and heard of, concerning certain events in our local system of justice, it all too often functions so that justice is not achieved for either the victim or the accused.  Why is this so?  After all, the individuals within the system have the power and control to do as they wish.     
   
Are these failures to achieve justice due to incompetence?  My view is that much of it is due to this unfortunate condition, which in turn is probably due to a lack of much needed training.  I suggest that also it is due to the disease I like to call institutional arrogance, which allows the officer, detective, prosecutor, jailer, or judge to do exactly what they wish to do, so that if they are without integrity and competence, they can, and are likely to, avoid fairness and justice.  These individuals, certainly for a time, have the power over the victim and the accused, so that unless they are persuaded by good training, or by their possession of the rare integrity, they will not be inclined to fairness and justice.

Therefore, we are set with a system, in my view, of mediocrity; with a system wherein there are too many within it who are incompetent, who are too often inclined to allow their temporary power over the victim or the accused to favor their bad side, their prejudice, their arrogance, and thus, to spoil the opportunity for fairness and justice. 

Surely, any system of justice which has the ultimate power, by way of control and potential secrecy and deception regarding the victim, and by way of incarceration and judicial force regarding the accused, can arrive in due time at a condition of fairness and justice.  Where is integrity? Where is true competence?  Where is fairness?  Where is justice?  Where is the ideal? 

Some will say that no system is perfect, and that our law enforcement is doing quite well, along with our judicial and incarceration system.  I say that there is the  idea of perfection, and that our systems lie too far from it. 

I must add that the consequences of unfairness and injustice toward the victims or the accused, is that of bitterness, of the desire for revenge, and in the making of an enemy where there would have been none, where there would have been a friend, one who would be more inclined to the road to recovery, to a productive life.

« Last Edit: April 05, 2012, 08:56:53 PM by ronchamblin »

ronchamblin

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2012, 08:30:01 AM »
My purpose in my last post about Dr. Hallet’s article was to illustrate, from by limited perspective, a scenario of mediocrity in our system of law enforcement and our system of justice.  But to clarify, I must say that both are large organizations, so that we should not be surprised to discover that within both are segments of mediocrity, individuals who by some luck have gained employment within one or the other, but who, by their solid deficiencies in attitude or capabilities, should not be in either.

But with emphasis, and in fairness to the JSO and our court system, I must say that there are, there must be, individuals within both who perform to the highest standards, who approach the idea of perfection, who raise the image of both systems, while the mediocrities within, tarnish it.  In my view, the quality of each system rises and falls as a result of the degree of caution in selecting to hire, and in the effectiveness of continued training given to all.  A lack of training in attitude and skills can allow the individual who could otherwise perform close to perfection, to perform at a low mediocrity. 

The scenario is much like any company which has many employees.  It is the task of management to train the employees to affect good performance and engagement with customers.  The smaller the company, the more impact each employee has on its survival.  But whereas the private company will fail when infected with too many mediocrities, thereby removing if from the environment according to laws similar to those expressed by Mr. Darwin, the public entity, such as a police force or a court / legal system, will continue to offer a diseased and ineffective, even an abusive, and certainly an unfair, system, remaining over years as a scourge to the people it is supposed to serve; and this, until the pressure of awareness, integrity, and honesty overcomes it. 

Adam W

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2012, 07:39:37 AM »
I thought the point of the article was that building jails isn't going to solve the problem and that the only way to really address the issue is to address the causes of crime.

The link between criminality and poverty is obvious. Working with jail employees to address their customer service skills is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

ronchamblin

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2012, 09:30:42 AM »
I thought the point of the article was that building jails isn't going to solve the problem and that the only way to really address the issue is to address the causes of crime.

The link between criminality and poverty is obvious. Working with jail employees to address their customer service skills is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Absolutely Adam Whiskey.  That was the point of the article.  Good point.  I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Hallett's opinions, so much so that I couldn't feel confident with further elaboration, wishing only to applaud them.  Not having the discipline to remain silent however, and feeling within me the pressure to think, I splurged, carelessly offering my opinions about my perception of the subtle but effective power held by those in law enforcement and in the judicial system, and the occasional abuse of it from some who wield it; and this hoping that this slight drift from the specific subject offered by Dr. Hallet might avoid shocking most on MJ.

But yes, believe me, I am well aware of the link between crime and poverty.  In fact, you don't want to get me started on this, as I will overload the MJ server to approach a crash.  Of course, my two posts relate to much more than jail employees.  In fact, that segment in the system was my least focus.  My focus was the treatment of victims of crimes, and equally, the treatment of those charged and tangled in the court system.  Within these environments, there is an excess of arrogance, incompetence, prejudice, and indifference to fairness and justice.  Training?  Better selecting in hiring? Monitoring of performance and behavior of employees by their superiors, and the monitoring of the superiors by their superiors – on to the top?  Emphasis on excellence and accountability? 

But, thanks for the caution about my tendency to drift, to talk too much about things which, although specifally absent in the original post, are only somewhat related.  I will be more attentive to what I say in the future.


Adam W

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2012, 09:46:00 AM »
I thought the point of the article was that building jails isn't going to solve the problem and that the only way to really address the issue is to address the causes of crime.

The link between criminality and poverty is obvious. Working with jail employees to address their customer service skills is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Absolutely Adam Whiskey.  That was the point of the article.  Good point.  I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Hallett's opinions, so much so that I couldn't feel confident with further elaboration, wishing only to applaud them.  Not having the discipline to remain silent however, and feeling within me the pressure to think, I splurged, carelessly offering my opinions about my perception of the subtle but effective power held by those in law enforcement and in the judicial system, and the occasional abuse of it from some who wield it; and this hoping that this slight drift from the specific subject offered by Dr. Hallet might avoid shocking most on MJ.

But yes, believe me, I am well aware of the link between crime and poverty.  In fact, you don't want to get me started on this, as I will overload the MJ server to approach a crash.  Of course, my two posts relate to much more than jail employees.  In fact, that segment in the system was my least focus.  My focus was the treatment of victims of crimes, and equally, the treatment of those charged and tangled in the court system.  Within these environments, there is an excess of arrogance, incompetence, prejudice, and indifference to fairness and justice.  Training?  Better selecting in hiring? Monitoring of performance and behavior of employees by their superiors, and the monitoring of the superiors by their superiors – on to the top?  Emphasis on excellence and accountability? 

But, thanks for the caution about my tendency to drift, to talk too much about things which, although specifally absent in the original post, are only somewhat related.  I will be more attentive to what I say in the future.

Fair enough, Ron. I clearly misjudged your response. Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt :)


ronchamblin

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2012, 09:47:31 AM »
Thanks Adam Whiskey.  :)

berezenco

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Re: Guest Series: Michael Hallet, Professor of Criminology
« Reply #13 on: August 06, 2012, 05:38:46 AM »
I so agree with what he says, Michael Hallet really has a good insight of what is happening to this country. He really is a master in criminology and would vote him as president if he would ever consider running for office.