Question

Why is there sometimes conflict and tension between the police, prosecutors, and corrections? Why is there often tension and conflict between state, federal, and local authorities? What are some of the costs of this tension and conflict? Without making major changes in the system, what do you think could be done to lessen this tension and conflict?

Answer 1

The answer is:

Prosecutors and police departments work closely with corrections. There are several reasons why there is tension between police, prosecutors and corrections.  For example when a prosecutor has to bring charges against the police for abuse of power, as we've seen in New York and Ferguson.  Here's the issue, prosecutors are usually the ones who decide whether officers are indicted. If they bring the charges, or they influence a grand jury to do so they can make their relationship with the police rather uncomfortable. Prosecutors work with the police every day. This can create some conflict.  

  With such issues, a final decision is possible only in the form of a compromise. Even when we talk about federal, state and local autorities, in such cases a keynote speaker may be able to influence the three different parties to reach an agreement without making major structural changes. In marketing we would refer to this speaker as a KOL or Key Opinion Leader, a thought leader is able to lessen the cost of tensions when disagreeing on a topic. If this doesn’t work, then making major changes to the system is required to reach a compromise.