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"The public wants to be involved": A roundtable conversation about community and restorative justice
from the report by Robert V. Wolf for the Center for Court Innovation:
When participants were asked to list the goals of community engagement, six areas attracted broad support:
1. Empowering communities
While the concept of giving community members more power is a key ingredient of many initiatives, the nature of the power varies. In San Francisco’s Neighborhood Courts, community volunteers have the authority to determine guilt and can even dismiss cases while volunteers on Atlanta’s restorative justice panels can only adjust the terms of a sentence handed down by a court.
For defenders, empowerment involves education—specifically educating the public about the role of defense organizations and navigating the justice system. “Our goal is to help people understand what we do and clarify our role and to trust us,” said James Berry, of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. “We don’t feel an obligation to promote the police or prosecutors, but we do have an interest in helping people to understand what we do and how we help to balance the equation.”
Jan 22, 2013 Police, Government, Process, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
'Quick' justice on rise as offenders make amends
from Raymond Brown's article in Cambridge News:
A disabled bike thief and a Cambridge University student are among hundreds of offenders to be dealt with by police using “quick” justice.
Chief Constable Simon Parr said police were increasingly using restorative justice to deal with low-level crimes, saying some victims preferred it.
Nov 01, 2012 Police, Government, Community, Region: Europe, Country:England&Wales
Ford appointed to Genesee Justice coordinator post
from the article in The Daily News:
Shannon L. Ford has been appointed to fill the position of Genesee Justice program coordinator, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The position was created after a vacancy was left by the resignation of the assistant director.
Oct 30, 2012 Police, Government, Practice, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Rare legal settlements demand officers pay too
from the article by Steve Mills in the Chicago Tribune:
To settle a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the Chicago police, the city recently agreed to pay Harold Hill $1.25 million.
What never became public was that, to reach the settlement late last year, two detectives in the case that sent Hill to prison for 12 years for a rape and murder he insisted he did not commit agreed to contribute, too. It was not much next to the total settlement — $7,500 each — yet it apparently meant something to Hill.
May 04, 2012 Police, Conflict, Community, Country:USA
Restorative Justice in the Greater Manchester Police
....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.
Mar 09, 2012 Conference, Region:Europe, Country:England&Wales, Government, Community, Policy, Diversion, Conceptual, Police
MHA salutes Dennis Wittman
from Paul Mrozek's article in The Daily News:
Dennis Wittman said Tuesday he didn't do anything special in his 25 years of leading the county's Genesee Justice program.
People who attended the Mental Health Association of Genesee County annual meeting heard a different recounting of Witman's career. Wittman received the Constance E. Miller Award, given to a person who shows a strong commitment to mental health treatment in the community.
...."I believe he has gone above and beyond. If you know Dennis Witman, you know that he's excellent," said Kathy France, former board member with the Mental Health Association, the organization that presented Wittman with his award.
May 20, 2010 Police, Government, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Police apologise over child murders probe
from the article on BBC News:
Scotland's largest police force has apologised for a series of failures in its handling of a double child murder.
Strathclyde Police said that it was "extremely sorry" for the way Giselle Ross was treated after the deaths of her sons, Paul, six, and Jay, two.
The children were murdered by their father Ashok Kalyanjee at a beauty spot in the Campsie Fells in May 2008.
Mar 31, 2010 Police, Apology, Offender, Community, Region: Europe, Country:England&Wales, Conflict
True community policing means restorative justice
from the entry by Macleay for Oakland Mayor 2010:
Community Policing has become one of those "assumed good things" that we all are supposed to support. But what do we mean by community policing? Does it mean we should be happy with just having a police officer at a community meeting, or on the street? Is a beat cop the whole story? Is there a role for the community beyond being informants?
My view of Community Policing has to do with merging community values and existing statues. Local communities need to be involved in helping community youth become aware and understand what is acceptable and what is not.
Mar 02, 2010 Police, Government, Support, Community, Policy, Politics
City programs honored during excellence awards' 20th anniversary
from the press release by Cherie Duvall Jones:
The Awards for Municipal Excellence will be celebrating 20 years of success as it honors eight innovative city programs during [the National League of City's] Congress of Cities and Exposition, this week in San Antonio.
“These eight Awards for Municipal Excellence cities have improved the quality of life for their citizens by developing creative solutions to pressing local problems,” said Donald J. Borut, NLC executive director. “I congratulate them for establishing model programs that can serve as positive examples for other cities.”
Nov 23, 2009 Practice, Police, Community, Government
Harvard scholar versus Cambridge police
by Lisa Rea
Most of us have heard all about the police incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of Harvard Square. A Harvard scholar by the name of Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his home after a neighbor called the police concerned someone was breaking into the house. This occurred at 12:30pm after Gates had just returned to his home from an international flight to China.
Aug 04, 2009 Police, Minority, Correspondent:Lisa Rea, Guidelines, Community, Policy, Conflict
