Restorative Cautioning/Diversion by Police

Formal warnings to offenders with restorative conditions imposed

The three different levels of Restorative Justice

From the article by the Sentinel: Level One is for minor offences or non-criminal incidents like anti-social behaviour, which can be dealt with immediately by the officer at the scene. All Staffordshire officers are being trained in this area.

Kidderminster magistrate concerned about cases dealt with outside court

from the article by William Tomaney in The Shuttle: In the area covered by West Merica Police - Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin - 3,594 community resolutions were handed out in 2010/11, compared to 2,167 in 2009/10. Chairman of the bench at Kidderminster Magistrates Court, Jill Gramann, said magistrates thought the figure was too high.

Restorative Justice in the Greater Manchester Police

from the report by Baxter, Schoeman and Goffin called Innovation in justice: New delivery models and better outcomes: ....The first of the five aims, to reduce crime, is an area where GMP has had significant success in recent years. A key part of the crime reduction strategy is to “make more use of Restorative Justice to give victims the opportunity to challenge offenders and make them understand the consequences of their behaviour”. In a criminal Justice context, victims are given the chance to tell offenders the real impact of their crime, to get answers and to get an apology. This helps offenders understand the real impact of what they’ve done and holds them to account for it while also helping victims to get on with their lives. To some extent, RJ runs counter to the culture that developed within police forces in response to central government targets because it can adversely affect the statistics traditionally used to assess police performance. Performance was measured against targets such as the numbers of sanctioned detections (where an offender is charged, cautioned, reported for summons, reprimanded, the offence is taken into consideration or where a fixed penalty notice is issued), the numbers of stop and search events and numbers of arrests. The last of these central government policing targets was removed in 2010.

Pioneer justice scheme is working in Norfolk

From the article by Peter Walsh: Norfolk Constabulary is committed to becoming part of the first truly restorative county in the country by 2015 and has been singled out as a force which actively promotes restorative justice by bringing victims and offenders together to discuss an outcome without it having to go through the court system. More than 17,000 people have been through the restorative justice process since November 2007 with a total of 4,611 interventions.

Restorative approaches can make a difference in the relationship between local government bodies and the communities they serve

from the article by Carey Cake and Kirsten Cooper in British Politics and Policy and LSE: ....Since November 2007 over 9,000 people have been through the RJ process. Of those: 89% of participants were satisfied with the outcome 87% of participants feel RJ is effective in dealing with crime and ASB 93% of participants would recommend RJ 93% of participants are satisfied with their treatment 83% of participants are confident in the police and partners ability to deal with crime and ASB having been exposed to RJ

Exercising Discretion: The Gateway to Justice

A study by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate on cautions, penalty notices for disorder and restorative justice In 2009, 38 per cent of the 1.29 million offences ‘solved’ by police were dealt with outside of the court system. We found that the use of out-of-court disposals has evolved in a piecemeal and largely uncontrolled way. An earlier public survey conducted on behalf of HMIC confirmed general public support for giving first-time offenders a second chance – which out-of-court options certainly offer; but this public support ebbs away when they are used for persistent offenders. Our work also suggested that victim satisfaction is high when offenders take part in RJ approaches. RJ, used appropriately, may also reduce re-offending.

Restorative justice vs perfomance targets....

from UKPOLICEONLINE Discussion Forum: Hello all, My force are introducing restorative justice as an alternative to court, and this will primarily be aimed at young offenders. Restorative justice has received a mixed reception and was hoping forum members could share their thoughts and experiences from their own forces. I think its a good idea, and a move away from chasing performance targets has got to be a good think, or are performance targets still applied?? any thoughts gratefully received. Read the interesting responses....

Lancashire's restorative justice scheme criticised

from Sam Chadderton's article in the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen: The use of restorative justice is ‘inconsistent’ across Lancashire police, according to a report. The tactic often involves offenders coming face to face with their victims and apologising or making amends either instead of, or as well as, a more formal punishment.

Highbridge park shooting resolved with 'restorative justice'

from Burnham-On-Sea.com: The teenager accused of shooting a boy in the face with a BB gun in a Highbridge park last weekend has been dealt with by means of restorative justice, police said on Thursday (May 27th). The youngster was called into Burnham police station where he met his 10 year-old victim to discuss Saturday's incident in Apex Park near Mallard Place, which was exclusively first reported on Burnham-On-Sea.com here.

North Wales Police chief to step up restorative justice

from BBC News: The new chief constable of North Wales Police is stepping up a system of restorative justice where offenders apologise to their victims. Mark Polin says he believes the strategy can play an important role in crime reduction. It is also seen as a way for first-time offenders to alter their behaviour without receiving a criminal record.

North Wales Police chief to step up restorative justice

from BBC News: The new chief constable of North Wales Police is stepping up a system of restorative justice where offenders apologise to their victims. Mark Polin says he believes the strategy can play an important role in crime reduction. It is also seen as a way for first-time offenders to alter their behaviour without receiving a criminal record.

West Yorkshire Police try an unusual Christmas card

from the press release: A ten year old girl's letter is the focal point of this year's Bradford District Christmas burglary campaign. The letter was written to the man who burgled her home and left her scared to return or go out in the area. Amy Winteridge wrote down her feelings so that they could be read out at a meeting her Mum had with the man who had burgled them as part of West Yorkshire Probation Service's restorative justice process. On reading the letter the man was visibly moved by what Amy had to say. The letter is now the centre of a special Christmas card which will be sent out to known burglars across the Bradford District. It's hoped that it will make some of them think about their actions and how they affect children in the homes they target. The card will be hand delivered to a lot of the criminals and former criminals by Officers from Neighbourhood Policing Teams to give that extra personal reminder that the Police will be watching them in the run up to Christmas.

Common sense justice is a £1M hit in Derbyshire, UK

from the article on derbyshire.co.uk: Police have hailed as a huge success a new "common sense" approach to minor offences which has saved £1m and met with the approval of 95% of victims. Restorative justice gives the victim a say in how an offender is dealt with. Young vandals who cause damage can be forced to repair it and apologise to the property owner, and minor assaults can be dealt with by attackers agreeing to pay compensation to their victims. In each case, the situation is resolved without court action, saving thousands of hours of police time and preventing youngsters from getting criminal records. Police say that since the scheme was introduced in Derbyshire in April, more than 1,600 crimes have been dealt with using the new powers....

Police give backing to new apology system

From the article by Sarah Bould in Easwood and Kimberly Advertiser: Many more minor crimes in Nottinghamshire are being dealt with by the criminals saying 'sorry', to their victims. Police hope the move will free up officers so they have more time to patrol the streets. The 'restorative justice' initiative aims to deal swiftly with minor crimes, without the case going to court and has seen criminals being made to apologise or compensate their victims.

Police Chief backs justice reform

The chief constable of Scotland's second largest police force has backed plans to scrap short prison sentences in favour of community punishments.

Conservative think tank in Britain calls for restorative justice act

From Restorative Justice Consortium E-Newsletter for April 2009: A leading Conservative think-tank, set up by former Party leader Ian Duncan-Smith, has called for an expansion of Restorative Justice conferencing, training of police in restorative disposals, a national Restorative Justice agency and a Restorative Justice Act.

Daly, Kathleen. Diversionary Conferences in Australia: A Reply to the Optimists and the Skeptics

Conferencing is probably a good idea. However, it is not as trouble-free as optimists argue nor as dreadful as skeptics fear. On items I can compare, my findings from a small set of cases in two jurisdictions in Australia are strikingly similar to Maxwell and Morris' (1993) major study of conferencing in New Zealand. (author's abstract)

Wachtel, Joshua. Restorative Community Policing in the UK: Dorset, Cheshire and Norfolk Constables Point the Way.

Police in roughly 50 percent of counties in England and Wales employ some form of restorative justice (RJ). Constables in districts including Dorset (southwest), Cheshire and Lancashire (northwest), Hull (northeast) and Norfolk (east) are actively making restorative practices (RP) their first line of defense — at officers’ discretion — for dealing with neighborhood disputes, first-time and low-level youth offenders, youth crime in schools, and some adult cases. (excerpt)

Cunningham, Teresa. Pre-court diversion in the Northern Territory: impact on juvenile reoffending.

A juvenile pre-court diversion scheme was introduced in the Northern Territory in 2000. Administered by police, it uses warnings and conferences to divert selected juveniles from the court process. This paper reports on an analysis of Northern Territory police records on 3,597 apprehended juveniles over a 5 year period. Findings showed that the great majority of juveniles (76%) did not reoffend within the first year after their initial diversion or court appearance. However, there were significant differences between juveniles who attended court and those who were diverted, both in terms of risk of reoffending and time to reoffending. Those who were diverted reoffended less than those who attended court and those who went to court reoffended more quickly. Property offenders who attended court were 30 percent more at risk of reoffending than violent offenders. Further work is required to see if the different effects for court versus diversion remain if prior offending history is taken into account. The significant differences in offending related to age, gender, Indigenous status and location confirm the need for specific responses to particular groups of juveniles. (author's abstract)

Smith, Roger and Hinks, Nigel. "Diversion in Practice: Northants Juvenile Liaison Bureaux"

Northamptonshire’s progressive work in juvenile justice has attracted national attention, and some misunderstanding. The authors describe their bureau approach to cautioning, seeking to avoid precipitous court appearances without falling into the traps of injustice, net-widening, excessive executive power or collusion with the police.