Restorative Justice and Police Decision Making: Initiatives in Three Police Forces in England

• In Event: Policing in Europe

Abstract

This major project has mapped the delivery of restorative justice at the level of police decision making in three police force areas in England. Some restorative justice is available from police officers carrying it out themselves (‘street RJ’), and following referrals to local community panels, Youth Offending Teams and voluntary sector providers. However, this provision is patchy and officers are not always confident or trained in relation to restorative justice. Following this fieldwork and drawing upon lessons from work in Belgium and Northern Ireland, the three forces have mounted initiatives to improve delivery, quality and availability, which have been evaluated. The paper considers the challenges of implementing quality provision in relation to policing, which is implicit in the government’s statutory requirement that all victims should be given information about the possibilities for restorative justice.

Authors

• Joanna Shapland, Centre for Criminological Research, University of Sheffield

• Adam Crawford, University of Leeds

• Daniel Burn, University of Leeds

• Emily Gray, Sheffield University