#linkageblindness

Blog #6

This is blog six of six which will highlight the issue of linkage Blindness within each aspect of the criminal justice system.

What is linkage Blindness?

Linkage Blindness refers to the inability to analyze and link important information with and among various agencies found within the criminal justice system. In today’s society there is a complex system of laws and institutions that are separate from each other; hence, difficulties usually arise as it relates to sharing/ linking information. This will then result in linkage blindness which may lead to the failure of the various agencies/ arms of justice.

Linkage Blindness in Law Enforcement, Court & Corrections 

Linkage blindness affects the law enforcement arm of the criminal justice by system by preventing law enforcement officials from obtaining all records of criminal activity about the suspect. This will then lead to inadequate information which may negatively affect the case moving forward. Linkage Blindness can occur in the court system when going through trial procedures, if contact is not made with other agencies that may have mutually beneficial information about the case. Linkage blindness can affect the court system by  preventing them from obtaining relevant information that may help to determine the actual severity of the case and the correct punishment. 

How to Reduce Linkage Blindness?

In order to reduce linkage blindness, efforts must be made to obtain all relevant criminal information about the suspect. Police officers must communicate current cases to other agencies whether state or federal to again access to private information that may be used to speed up the process and solve the crime. 

Linkage blindness can be reduced if communication is increased and if all criminal justice agencies play a role in the adjudication process. By communicating with other agencies and linking information, you may gain additional information that may change the outcome of the case.

In cases where linkage blindness is present, one may resolve it by ensuring that all the relevant agencies, have analyzed all the facts and linked all the information that will aid in the proper method of punishment for this individual. By doing so, we will be able to ensure that there is nothing left unaccounted for that could change the outcome of the offender’s punishment.

Linkage blindness is a common issue of miscommunication that can affect our justice system negatively; therefore, it is essentially that we try to reduce linkage blindness in law enforcement, corrections and all other areas within the criminal justice system, so that various agencies may benefit from important information and be able to solve numerous cases. 

Educate Yourself, Get Involved! Stay Tuned for More- Zorian Clarke

Reference

What is Linkage Blindness?

This happens when administrators and investigators will not admit or do not know that a serial killer is in their midst.

Linkage Blindness is one of the major weaknesses of our structural defenses in Jamaica against crime and our ability to control it. The exchange of useful information/data among the different police departments within the fourteenth (14) parishes is very poor and it is affecting the nation as a whole. This issue simply defines the lack of sharing and or coordinating information as well as the lack of adequate interaction by local law enforcement agencies.

This lack of sharing is prevalent in Jamaica with law enforcement officers and their agencies. As it is a contributing factor to the high crime rates within the country and this supports the Jamaican slang " see n blind, hear n deaf." An example of linkage blindness or a situation that can help to better define the issue is if a Police officer or a detective/investigator is unable to relate a crime to another because of various factors/reasons. This could be a result of a police officer distributing valuable information that could assist an officer to pin a suspect to the crime. Additionally, not only police officers, but community members can also contribute to the issue by housing criminals.

Linkage Blindness is still an ongoing issue in Jamaica so there is yet to be a solution to fix this because it is doing more bad than good. As a pending Law enforcement practitioner my recommendation to aid this issue is for a digital documentation system to be implemented. This will allow for each station to have access to certain information/data. By doing so will eliminate the whole linkage blindness issue and the work of the officer will become less tedious as well as the crime rates will decrease.

Ethically blind basically means that persons of good behavior or of high integrity behave in a way that is not in their nature.  

People tend to behave unethically without even realizing it at times. Numerous times police officers and even citizens decide choose to be ethically blind in some situations.  Alot of time persons may know information on particular person of interest and they choose to be silent on the matter. “sniches get stiches” Being ethical blind to situation can cause a person with high integrity to deviate from the ethical value they set for them selve or what they have to follow.