Restorative Justice launched in Greater Manchester

Date published: 26 February 2010

Victims of crime are to be given more power to determine what justice will be handed out to their offenders.

In May, Greater Manchester Police is piloting restorative justice in its Tameside and in part in its Salford divisions, which will give victims of predominately low-level crime more say in how the offenders are punished.

Restorative Justice will see GMP officers working with victims of crimes such as shoplifting, criminal damage and anti-social behaviour to find alternative punishments to arrest and charge.

When an officer deals with a crime, they will work with the victim to determine whether a traditional approach or restorative justice would be appropriate.

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan, who is also the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for Restorative Justice, said: "This is all making victim satisfaction a priority and common sense policing. Restorative justice is part of an ambitious programme of change to make GMP a more efficient and effective force.

"If a victim wants to purse the traditional approach of arrest, charge and conviction then we will support them every step of the way. But that is not what every victim wants. Many would prefer to come face-to-face with a criminal and explain to them exactly what grief they have caused.

"It also means offenders can be held directly accountable to their victims and really appreciate what they have done and studies have shown that this personal interaction can really hit home, forcing an offender to face up to what they have done, repair the damage and not re-offend.

"This will also reduce the amount of first-time offenders who get criminal records when this is of little or no benefit to either themselves or their victims.

"Restorative justice will not be used without a victim's consent. It is all about listening to what the victim wants, putting them first and giving them satisfaction over how a crime is dealt with."

Alternative sanctions could include making an offender pay for goods they stole, asking them to undertake voluntary work in the community, cleaning up any graffiti or coming face-to-face with their victims to really grasp what effect their criminality has had.

Studies have also shown that restorative justice has significantly reduced reoffending rates. In Cheshire, re-offending rates for juveniles dealt with using restorative justice is 13 per cent, against the national average of 23.2 per cent.

By giving police officers more discretion to deal with low-level crimes, it will free them up to spend more time on the streets detecting crimes and protecting the public, rather than being tied up with paperwork.

Officers in Tameside and Salford will start training on how to help victims deliver restorative Justice next month, and if the pilot if successful it could be rolled out Forcewide by the end of this year.