Making more offenders answerable to their victims through our Restorative Justice programme

Three and a half years ago, you asked us to crack down on anti-social behaviour. We have reduced the number of recorded anti-social behaviour incidents by more than 8,000 (16 per cent). Highlights include: • investment in council-led Community Safety Partnerships to tackle local problems • extra enforcement powers extended to 350 people from 40 organisations to crack down on anti-social behaviour • making more offenders answerable to their victims through the Restorative Justice programme • providing the funding for more local policing, more community policing, Town Centre Teams and more rural policing We are delivering against our priority in our Police & Crime Plan to crack down on anti-social behaviour. Here we look at the powerful impact our Essex Restorative & Mediation Service has on people’s lives…

“There has been a continued growth in the successful use of restorative justice both to help victims recover and to reduce reoffending among perpetrators. This year there has been an increase in referrals to the Service of five per cent with a total of 447 cases dealt with over the year. The success of the programme is also shown by the continued positive feedback from participants. This remains high with 94 per cent of participants being satisfied with the experience and 81 per cent reporting that the process had a positive impact on them. Promisingly this year there has also been an increase in the range of cases referred to the Scheme with increases in crimes types such as theft offences, public order offences, harassment and malicious communications offences. Cases involving a death have also increased from three referrals in 2017/18 to seven in 2018/19. As a result of the increasing use of restorative justice in these more serious situations, a small number of facilitators received extra training in handling sensitive and complex cases so they could effectively manage cases involving death and abuse. This continued growth shows the potential of the scheme both in terms of the impact it can have in changing behaviour and reducing anti-social behaviour but also in supporting reducing reoffending in more serious offences. The scheme is also an excellent example of the positive impact of volunteering with all referrals to the Essex Restorative and Mediation Service undertaken by a dedicated and well-trained team of volunteers. During the last year, volunteers carried out almost 2,000 hours of restorative justice work. This really strengthens our relationships within the communities we serve and makes the Service one of the most cost-effective schemes in the country.”

To find out more about Restorative Justice in Essex go to https://www.restorativeessex.co.uk/