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The Community Justice Forum pre-charge model of Restorative Justice sanctioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) operates under three basic processes in British Columbia:
(1) The first is police-based, where police officers refer, coordinate, and facilitate. This is a simple, quick, and economical process, often preferred by smaller communities where referrals would be manageable.
(2) In a mid-sized community the program can be community-based, where police refer cases; a community volunteer coordinates the program; and, trained community volunteers facilitate the forums. In this structure, a registered society is usually established to oversee the program.
(3) A third structure, adapted by the Nanaimo Royal Canadian Mounted Police Detachment, is the forming of a partnership with an existing non-profit organization, Nanaimo Region John Howard Society (N.R.J.H.S.). Trained community volunteers facilitate the forums, monitored by a paid coordinator of the Society. The volume of cases referred in a larger urban area of 85,000 people, such as Nanaimo, required innovative strategies.
The Nanaimo CJF Model
The Nanaimo R.C.M.P. entered into partnership with the Nanaimo Region John Howard Society in July 1997 to implement Restorative Justice utilizing the Community Justice Forum model. This pre-charge process deals with offenders who admit to the crime and who have little or no criminal history. Police and Crown prosecutors can make direct referrals to the program. Crown prosecutors can refer offenders based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the Provincial Criminal Justice Branch and the John Howard Society. The Society's program coordinator ensures the offender meets the program criteria and that the victim agrees to the process.
This program has proven to be an effective means of dealing with offenders so that they, their families, the victims, and the community can feel that justice is being carried out and future criminal activity is reduced.
The goals of the program are to:
* reduce repeat offences by offenders.
* shorten time between the offence and its consequences.
* increase of proactive policing.
* encourage community participation in a meaningful way.
* provide victims with a sense of justice having been done.
The facilitators are Community Justice trained and certified volunteers from the community who are committed to the program. They are people who have demonstrated an ability to facilitate conflict resolution. Privacy legislation...