This is an extract fom our local Neighbourhood Watch bulletin:
A new way of dealing with offenders of low level crime and anti-social behaviour
Some offenders of low level crime and anti-social behaviour in Wiltshire and Swindon are now being held accountable for their actions within the community rather than in the court room. Wiltshire Police officers have been trained to use a form of restorative practice called Local Resolution which puts victims at the heart of the process by giving them a say in how justice should be delivered and involves work with partner agencies, such as local councils.
Wiltshire Police Local Resolution Project Manager Wendy Moore said: “Given the right conditions, officers are using their professional judgement and discretion to help create resolutions in line with victims’ wishes, such as by offenders giving verbal or written apologies, paying fair compensation and repairing damage they caused. All parties have to agree to the Local Resolution and if an offender fails to carry out their agreed actions they can be arrested and prosecuted.”
Since May 2010 more than 480 Local Resolutions have been carried out in Wiltshire, for example:
An employee who stole building supplies from his employer admitting responsibility and paying £400 back in full for the supplies. He was subsequently dismissed from the company.
A 16 and 19 year old cleaning off graffiti they sprayed on a car park wall while supervised by a council employee.
Police will still arrest and prosecute for offences where this is the right thing to do. Local Resolution is partly driven by the national Flanagan report into policing which said investigating of crime had become overly driven by a performance regime, rather than encouraging a common sense approach to resolving incidents. Wiltshire Police is following other forces which have run similar successful schemes.
These are clearly not fully qualified yet!
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Topic: U/T graffiti artists (Read 574 times)