Royal Canadian Mounted Police and restorative justice in British Columbia: Exploring the potential

…The research will address two questions:

Are there developments or strategies that if implemented would increase referral rates to RJ programs by RCMP members in British Columbia; and are there potential negative consequences to encouraging an increase in referrals to RJ programs in British Columbia? 

To address these questions the research will examine what factors inform a police officer’s decision to refer a file to their local RJ program, in particular files involving youth. The investigation will explore which elements weigh most heavily into the decision-making process; whether an officer is persuaded by external or internal influences or both; if there is opportunity to address those factors and if doing so would it result in an increase in referrals initiated by the RCMP in BC to RJ programs in BC? The research will also explore to what extent individual  officers’ values impact their decisions to refer to the RJ programs. 

Objectives:

• To gain insight into what influences a RCMP member’s decision to refer to their local RJ program 
• To understand what role, if any, understanding of the YCJA impacts an officers decision to refer a file to RJ
• To learn what, if any, role the local RJ programs may have in encouraging an increase in referrals
• To observe if there are valid concerns to increasing file referrals to RJ programs by RCMP members