ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the criminal justice system has had a linear structure, starting with police or law enforcement activities and leading to prosecutor/court actions and finally to correctional and probation/parole processes in its efforts to control crime and process offenders. Each of these three criminal justice components acted as an independent entity and offenders were processed from police to courts to corrections, without overlap in responsibilities. Crime prevention was not a primary criminal justice function, but was left to social service and community organizations and neighborhood groups.
