July policing under the spotlight at Ardoyne meeting

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CRJI took part in a multi-agency meeting held today at Holy Cross hall, Ardoyne which looked at problems in the policing of the recent July 12th Orange parade through the area.

There was a protest held by around 30 people outside the venue protesting at the PSNI’s presence at the meetings. The protest was entirely  peaceful and relatives of two local men from the area recently jailed handed out letters outlining their opposition to the meeting.

The meeting proceeded and the PSNI responded to a  number of concerns related to their policing of the July marching season and a number of protests and counter protests.

Residents had raised the firing of plastic bullets, differences in the policing of the nationalist and unionist communities, and the conduct of police during raids and searches carried out after July 12th during a heated multi agency meeting held in the hall a fortnight ago.

The PSNI today gave more information on a number of questions raised during that meeting. It was clear that the residents and community workers at today’s meeting feel that much more remains to be to be done.

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said her party had written to the Public Prosecution Service to find out how the community could be better informed on the issue of bail conditions and probation orders of known offenders.

Police then briefed the community on a number of successful drugs raids in Ardoyne and the Oldpark areas.

Residents then quizzed the Housing Executive about how they would proceed if anyone was found to be in breach of their tenancy by allowing drugs to be sold from their homes. The Executive representative outlined the procedures and said it would be writing to the police for a full report on the latest arrests.

There was also a discussion about ongoing problems facing residents suffering from anti-social behaviour coming from the Bone Hills area. Police said they had received a number of call-outs to the area close to the derelict Park Inn.

The Housing Executive gave commitments that it would look into delays in carrying out repairs to a number of homes in the area because of a change of contractor. This issue was raised by a resident from Jamaica Road as well as Oldpark Councillor Danny Lavery.

Residents from Jamaica/Havana said they would be organising a meeting with the Housing Executive and Belfast City Council around the proposed erection of a bollard in Jamaica St which some residents now say they are opposed to.

The bollard was originally demanded by residents to stop cars being used in a pedestrian area which could be dangerous for children.

The issue of horses running wild in the Ligoniel area was then raised. There were questions about the welfare of the animals in question.

However, serious concerns were raised about the safety of children living in an area of Ligoniel where the horses regularly gallop through unsupervised.

Police and the other relevant agencies committed to dealing with the problem.

The multi agency group will reconvene early next month.

CRJI Backs Efforts for Community-led Policing in New Lodge and Tiger's Bay

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CRJI joined community activists from Tiger’s Bay and the New Lodge areas this morning Friday 17 August at a meeting on York Road to discuss proposals to shape community-led policing.

The meeting included members of the New Lodge Safer Streets and the Tiger’s Bay and Mountcollyer Policing & Community Safety Partnership as well as Intercomm’s John Loughran.

“This is part of the follow-up to the recent residential organised by the groups in Bangor in July to look at tackling crime and anti-social behaviour across our communities,” said CRJI’s Seán Mag Uidhir.

“We have been sharing experiences of how crime and anti-social behaviour impacts on deprived communities.

“Criminals don’t respect interfaces and we are looking to see how best we can work together to reduce crime and fear or crime.

“There is a lot of good work being done in our communities which goes unsung but which improves people’s quality of lives.

“This initiative is looking to build on this work and to develop joint approaches to tackling problems, which affect communities like ours all over the world.”

Lord McNally on Future of RJ in the CJS

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Speech by Lord McNally on ‘The future place of restorative justice in the criminal justice system’

Good evening. Thank you for the invitation to speak here today.  I am very pleased to be contributing to this discussion with Lizzie Nelson of the Restorative Justice Council and Javed Khan of Victim Support, both very important partners in our work to promote restorative justice in the criminal justice system.

My focus today is the Government’s approach to restorative justice in England and Wales.

I am an ardent supporter of the principles of restorative justice.  It offers an opportunity not only to assist the rehabilitation of offenders but to give victims a greater stake in the resolution of offences and  in the criminal justice system as a whole.  Victim-led restorative  justice can allow us to make inroads into the re-offending cycle – with the triple benefit of victims avoiding the trauma of future crimes, the  tax payer not having to foot the bill of more crime, and a rehabilitated offender making a positive contribution to society.

As many of you know far better than me, the evidence for the  effectiveness of restorative justice is promising. Analysis conducted by my department of a number of restorative justice pilots showed that 85% of victims who participated were satisfied with the experience and  there was an estimated 14% reduction in re-offending. The Government is therefore committed to making use of restorative justice in more areas, and in more circumstances across the criminal justice system.

Crucially, increased use of restorative justice needs to be rooted in  local needs and responsive to local crime and re-offending.  It needs to be driven by how practitioners, victims and communities want to respond to crime in their area.  This is part of a move towards localism where  we accept different areas will have different approaches. To ensure  restorative justice is delivered in the way most appropriate for each area, we are working with valued partners like the Restorative Justice Council to provide local areas with the tools to make greater use of restorative justice with confidence.

Therefore, as part of our response to lower level crime, over 18,000 police officers have been trained in restorative practices and we are working with 15 local areas to develop Neighbourhood Justice Panels which will bring together the victim, the offender and community representatives to respond to low-level crime by using RJ and other reparative processes.

Further up the system, over £1 million is being provided to train prison and probation staff and volunteers and develop guidance, and we are providing over £600,000 to Youth Offending Teams to provide training to Youth Referral Panel members to deliver more restorative and reparative panels. Provisions in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act which received Royal Assent on 1 May will also allow courts to make wider use of Youth Referral Orders which are focused upon restorative and reparative outcomes.

All of this work is geared towards enabling local areas to build the capacity and capability to develop and deliver RJ practices which are effective and victim focused.

We also believe there could be a place for restorative justice before the sentencing process for offenders who admit guilt and are able and willing to participate alongside the victim. Pre-sentence restorative justice would inform the court’s decision about what the right type of punishment should be. At this stage, we need to learn more about how this would operate, and hope to work with one or more local areas to test pre-sentence restorative justice out.

To ensure that restorative justice is delivered to a high standard, we funded the Restorative Justice Council’s ‘Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practice’, and last year the Ministry of Justice and the Restorative Justice Council launched a National Register of Restorative Justice Practitioners and professional qualifications accreditation.

This allows criminal justice staff and voluntary sector organisations supporting victims to recommend properly trained individuals who can safely and effectively support victims to participate in restorative justice.

We cannot hope to achieve our aims without the crucial involvement of victims.  So I am particularly pleased about our continuing work with Victim Support. One of the key purposes for expanding the use of restorative justice must be to give victims a greater stake and voice in the resolution of offences and in the criminal justice system as a whole.

The Government published its response to the consultation, ‘Getting in  Right for Victims and Witnesses’ yesterday. There we recognised that,  despite the improvements that have been made over the last two decades,  victims still too often feel they are an afterthought for the criminal justice system.

We are committed to ensuring that victims get the support they need to  deal with the immediate aftermath of a crime and, over time if need be,  receive further help, which may include compensation, to put their lives back on track.

To realise these ambitions the Government has committed to reviewing and updating the Victims’ Code and the use of the Victim Personal Statement as well as the process for dealing with complaints when something has gone wrong. We will prioritise, as part of this review, how the offer of a restorative approach can be incorporated in a revised Code and whether the Victim Personal Statement could be used as a way of a victim signalling their interest in restorative justice.

The Government has also committed to make offenders pay reparation to victims for the harm they have caused. This may be financial – through court ordered compensation paid by the offender to the victim – or indirectly, through revenue raised from the Victim Surcharge which is spent on support services.

We are also providing Victim Support with £38 million in funding per year until 2014 so it can invest in services that are victim focussed; we have put rape support centres on a secure financial footing for the first time, with 65 centres around the country receiving total grant funding of nearly £3 million a year until 2014; and we have further guaranteed funding of £2 million a year for the next two years to fund specialist support for adult victims of human trafficking.

The next significant step in this context has been the Government consultation on community sentences.  I’m very pleased that this included a substantial section on reparation, looking at how we can ensure that restorative justice is more regularly used in the sentences of the court and what more we can do to strengthen the role of victims in it.

The consultation closed on 22 June, and we are still busy working through the responses.  However, it is clear from initial analysis that there is considerable practitioner enthusiasm for greater use of  restorative justice.  And I hope to see some constructive proposals that build on what we’ve achieved already.

Our vision, therefore, is for a criminal justice system which understands and addresses the issues involved for victims, offenders and wider communities, responds intelligently and is more effective. We want a system that focuses relentlessly on tackling reoffending, helping offenders lead law-abiding lives and supporting victims. This is why we will continue to work with organisations across the sector to improve  best practice, tackle capacity hurdles, extend the use of restorative justice and firmly establish its place now and for the future in the Criminal Justice System.

Trocaire Event

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On Monday the 6^th August, 2012 I attended an event organized and hosted by the Irish Charity Trocaire. There were about 12 other people invited to listen to a talk by Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish. Izzeldin is a medical doctor by profession who has overcome much adversity in his life growing up in Palestine and living through the conflict. His biggest test came as he lost three of his daughters in an Israeli Army bomb attack. It was evident to see the emotional loss of this man and his understanding of what has happened as he described each life as a “world” in its own right and how he was dealing with the memory of his children.

This man was seriously impressive, his humility and strength shone through the awfulness of what had happened to him, yet the absence of bitterness was for me very powerful. His insight into peace making had clear resonance with the Irish Peace Process with his emphasis on equality, respect and freedom.

He demonstrated that he was not a victim but a survivor who had a clear view of what needed to be done, he spoke passionately about the fight for peace and that non-violent methods were his weapons. A truly inspirational person he spoke of humanity, of the need for human collectivity and the connection between one human and another. The understanding, that for the people of Israel to feel free, safe and secure then the Palestinian people will also need the same and that this can only be done together.

It was his insight into the others needs that was striking in that he genuinely felt for those who had even oppressed him and visited so much hurt on to him, yet for them he wanted only the same rights as himself. He spoke often in medical terms and spoke of the newborn baby who when born is born free but only later imprisoned. He talked about the need to look at the causes and not just the effect. He meant everything he said which was great to witness, as there is nothing more engaging than listening to someone who is passionate about what they do and more importantly why they are doing it.

Izzeldin also shared a wonderful story with us, he has written and published a book, “I shall not hate”. He gave a draft to his 18year old daughter to read. She still lived with him at the time. After reading it his daughter e-mailed him saying she was now starting to know her father, this even though he had reared her for 18 years. Proximity doesn’t build relationships but sharing who you are does, so thank you Dr Izzeldin for sharing your time with me, truly compelling.

Engaging with Policing

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The backdrop to CRJI engaging with the criminal justice system was a highly politicized and emotionally charged landscape. The historic decision to engage with policing across the political, social and major institutions that bind the Nationalist/ Republican communities together was and continues to be momentous. The decision to engage was not taken lightly; indeed the final step came nine years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and seven years after the Patton commission reported on the way forward for policing in the North of Ireland. These are and were huge political questions of the time but for Community Restorative Justice Ireland what did they mean.

CRJI from the outset was always of the view that when policing was resolved to the satisfaction of our politicians then and only then could we engage. The decision to engage was bigger than the view of a community restorative justice organisation. We also knew that policing would be a difficult issue for many reasons for the Nationalist/Republican community to deal with not least because of the historical and political significance this issue held.

However, CRJI had been working in the community from1998 with a particular focus on the issue of punishment violence emanating from the various Armed Groups. From 1998 to 2006 CRJI made 350 positive interventions that were evaluated by professor Harry Mika, a leading American criminologist. What became clear as we were doing this work was the absolute need for policing, we were not only encountering punishment violence but a plethora of criminality including serious sex crime and murder which quite frankly was not in our, the communities gift to deal with.

These serious issues only hardened our resolve in moving in the direction of engaging with policing and if truth were told we had come to that conclusion long before the politics had been resolved around the policing question.

It is vital to understand that when we speak of engagement we mean trying to shape policing on the ground so as it can deliver an effective service to and for the communities in which we work.  This is what we were hearing in the many homes we visited over the years as members of our communities were grappling to come to terms with the impact of crime and anti- social behaviour.

Equally our own belief that punishment was not the answer to the many ails in our communities which manifested themselves in poverty, educational under achievement, unemployment and so on. The outward effects of this were drug and alcohol abuse, violence in the home & community and a sense of hopelessness that was prevalent among particular groups of working class young people. Can anybody seriously make the argument that these issues could be shot away or imprisoned?

CRJIs view is that these issues won’t be solved through punishment of whatever kind. We believe that it is the behaviour and the underpinning causes of the behaviours that need to be changed and tackled. This is the big question for society, how do we collectively impact on the behaviours that fuel crime and anti social behavior?

CRJI is promoting joined up approaches in the Criminal Justice world through multi agency working. We have developed our own capacity to this end, we are now a government-accredited organisation and can lead the community engagement on these issues but in a sense what we are doing is firefighting.

We would be advocating for early interventions with families who need support.  We would advocate that restorative approaches to conflict management be ciriculimed and embedded in our education system and the really big issue is that we begin to build a society based on the principles of social justice and inclusion, that's the challenge for us all, are you up for that? CRJI is.