how did you feel when you first started to work as criminal justice ?

Eliana,

I went to the police academy many years ago, so I cannot speak as to how things are done now. When I went through, there was a strong focus on instilling in us a feeling that we were invincible - we could handle anything! And also, that we were better than everyone else: the world was divided into two types of people-- cops, and everyone else. So, I came out of the academy fired up and ready to go "play cop." And I did this for nine years before I was in a bad car accident (off duty) that helped me to really see that we are all in this together.

I watched a lot of fresh recruits, and, sadly, there were those who came out of the academy without that feeling of wanting to go out and make traffic stops and do some real police work. Sadly, because they never matured into good police officers. They were really just there because the pay was good.

I also remember feeling scared on my first real good call, and thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" But, with help from the senior officers, that quickly faded.

I have worked briefly in Legal Services as well as an interpreter for clients facing criminal lawsuits. I have felt that this work gives you enormous responsibility. I feel a lot of compassion for people who end up on the wrong side of the law. I feel that it is our duty to help them try to become better and keep others out of harm's way. When I first went for a prison visit as an interpreter, I thought nobody deserves to go to prison. It made me feel very, very sad. But the complexity of feelings should not overthrow logic and respect for the law.

What I feel most strongly about is that people should not face criminal punishment if the are not guilty. We can all do a lot to help our criminal justice system work better.