Responding to London Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan
This is a blog by our CEO, Sara Dowling.
Why me? has responded to the London Mayor’s Police and Crime plan consultation making the case for the greater use of Restorative Justice to help deliver its objectives of reducing violence and criminal exploitation, increasing trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and improving the Criminal Justice System and supporting victims.
In our response we have:
1. Welcomed the Mayor’s commitment to continued funding of the London Restorative Justice service. However, we have argued that that the current system is not working and more needs to be done to increase access and dismantle barriers. It is not enough to simply fund the service, there needs to be a coordinated programme of activities and engagement, supported by structural and policy changes, that examine and tackle barriers to its use, so that more Londoners can benefit from this transformative tool. Despite being a right under the Victims Code of Practice for all victims of crime to be given information on Restorative Justice, research shows that less than 6% of victims of crime recall being told about it.
2. Highlighted opportunities to embed Restorative Justice within the criminal justice agencies and partners in London to help meet the Police and Crime plan’s objectives including:
Reducing Violence and Criminal Exploitation – Greater systemic use of Restorative Justice within Violence Reduction Units and to tackle violence is needed as a method to address the root causes of violence. By facilitating dialogue between offenders, victims and communities, harm can be repaired and reoffending rates reduced.
Increasing Trust and Confidence in the MPS – Comprehensive training programmes about Restorative Justice should be provided for all police officers and staff who have contact with victims of crime. This will support staff to offer all victims of crime a referral to the local restorative provider, in a way which allows them to best understand the opportunity available to them. In addition, training and support should be provided so that Police Officers can use Restorative Justice when dealing with neighbourhood disputes and anti-social behaviour.
Improving the Criminal Justice System and Supporting Victims – There needs to be better and more information to victims about their entitlements under the Victims Code of Practice. We call for an enforceable, automatic right to a referral to the London Restorative Justice service for all victims of crime, so that trained Restorative Justice professionals can make an assessment rather than the Police. This should be made available to everyone, regardless of who they are, or the type of crime they experienced.
3 Called for greater use of Restorative Justice after Road Harm
We’ve called for MOPAC to explore the underutilised potential of Restorative Justice in dealing with bereavement and serious injury as a result of road harm to strengthen their commitment to support victims of road crime. The Criminal Justice System does not support healing of bereaved families and injured victims. Instead road crash victims are routinely let down by criminal justice outcomes, and suffer aggravated trauma trying to navigate the justice system. Restorative Justice can change this by putting victims at the heart of the process, to ask questions that are not dealt with in court. Restorative Justice helped Andy find forgiveness by giving him the answers he needed, after the death of his son in a collision.
You can read our full response here.
Take action: If your Police and Crime Commissioner is consulting on their local Police and Crime Plan please use this as an opportunity to call for greater use of Restorative Justice. See our 10 Asks campaign for more information about what Police and Crime Commissioners can do to strengthen Restorative Justice in your area.