RT Article
T1 Police and Crown Prosecutor Use of Restorative Justice and Diversion for Adults and Youth in a High-Crime Area
JF Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice
VO 64
IS 4
SP 21
OP 46
A1 Weinrath, Michael
A2 Broschuk, Braeden
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1839600292
AB This research assesses the use of diversion and restorative justice (RJ) referrals by patrol officers and Crown prosecutors in a high-crime urban community. Of interest was the influence on referral of legal factors such as prior criminal history and offence severity and the potential impact of extra-legal factors such as age, gender, and Indigenous ethnicity. Data on 1,000 eligible offenders during a 6-month study period were analyzed. About 15% of eligible cases were referred. Police and Crown were not as aggressive as desirable, with the police passing on some eligible low-severity cases later referred by prosecutors. As prior criminal history increased referrals declined, with a more pronounced impact at the patrol officer level. In bivariate analysis, age, gender, and marital, student, and unemployment status exerted small effects, but these were non-significant in multivariate analysis. No evidence of ethnic disparity was found. Crime types of less serious violence and lower property, as well as prior convictions, had moderate bivariate effects, and these persisted in multivariate analysis. Although most cases referred had a limited criminal history and involved minor crimes, police and prosecutors did refer a few involving serious violent offences and prior convictions, showing potential for greater use of RJ.
K1 Alternative measures
K1 Diversion
K1 déjudiciarisation
K1 justice réparatrice
K1 mesures de rechange
K1 Police Discretion
K1 pouvoir discrétionnaire de la police
K1 pouvoir discrétionnaire du procureur
K1 prosecutor discretion
K1 Restorative Justice
DO 10.3138/cjccj.2022-0034