Police Reform, Restorative Justice and Restorative Policing

Source: (2003) Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. 4(4): 335-346.

Restorative policing appears to represent the next logical step in community policing and police reform generally. The restorative justice model offers both new tools and new principles of intervention that assist police in the tasks of engaging community, forming meaningful partnerships, and building community capacity. Although there have been many success stories in the short history of restorative policing, challenges to implementation abound. Effective, principled implementation of restorative policing depends on a holistic, systemic vision that seeks to incorporate restorative justice principles in all aspects of policing. Goals for this systemic vision include developing restorative resolutions to crime and harm to the greatest extent possible, and to promote
community ownership of crime and conflict.
As case studies generalizable to other efforts to implement community policing, the papers in this issue move us closer to effective strategies for implementation of restorative policing. They also provide practical examples of the promises and challenges presented by these promising approaches. (excerpt)