Restorative Justice/Community Conferencing

In 1994 our community was experiencing a rise in juvenile crime and traditional criminal justice responses had not generated a very impressive record of success. The Woodbury Police Department responded by establishing a juvenile diversion program at the local level.

Our program is a restorative justice concept. We engage the victim, offender, offender parents, and affected community members in a direct dialog meant to restore the victim, repair any harm done, reintegrate the offender to the community and help bring closure to the incident.

Our formal conferencing process is based on the Family Group Conferencing model developed in Australia in 1991. Australia borrowed the idea from New Zealand where the Maori tribe had a long established tradition of conferencing. Specially trained officers and citizen volunteers facilitate conferences involving victims, offenders, offender parents, affected community members and supporters for victims and offenders. Offenders explain what happened and why; victims explain how the crime affected them, emotionally, physically and in terms of damage or loss. Those invited to the conference use a consensus process to reach an agreement on how to repair harm and prevent future incidents. This agreement is designed to repair harm to the victim and reintegrate the offender to the community. The offender must complete the agreement in a timely manner to complete the process.

The conferencing concept tries to keep cases in the community. Cases qualify for conferencing based on the following criteria:

• Offender must admit the offense
• Offender's past record
• Seriousness of the offense
• Attitude of the offender
• Attitude of the offender's parents

The program has helped cut juvenile recidivism in half, get more restitution for victims of juvenile offenses, and generally has satisfied all involved in these cases to a far greater degree than traditional prosecution.

In 2006, the city added a new initiative in the area of domestic violence using a slightly different restorative practice known as "circle process," but it too relies on community volunteers. The initiative focuses on families in the early stages of domestic unrest in hopes of finding solutions to prevent the usual increase in activity and intensity common with this issue.

To volunteer, or for more information on the Community Conferencing Program or domestic violence initiative, contact the Woodbury Police Department at (651) 714-3600 or by e-mail at police@ci.woodbury.mn.us.