The impact of a scheme that allows offenders to apologise to their victims and resolve their differences has been “lower than hoped.”
Neighbourhood Resolution Panels were introduced in the Bradford area last May to deal with low level crime and anti-social behaviour, and are intended as a way of dealing with crimes without resorting to the courts.
Some of the successful cases include an aspiring Keighley fireman who damaged three cars after leaving a pub, and a scuffle in the queue of a Bradford shop. But in 12 months there have only been nine successful panels, despite 37 referrals.
On Thursday, Bradford Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee will look at how the scheme, run by Bradford Community Safety partnership, has worked in its first 12 months.
The panels are run by one part time member of staff and 24 volunteers, and referrals are made by police, the council or social landlords. Of the 37 referrals in the past year, seven failed to reach a satisfactory resolution and 14 were deemed not appropriate for a panel. A further seven were resolved before going to conference.
A report by Jonathan Hayes, Community Safety Coordinator, says: “Whilst the number of referrals has been lower than hoped, the scheme compares very favourably to other schemes nationally.”
But he pointed out the way volunteers were trained has led to national praise. Funding will end next month, and the partnership are looking at ways to keep it going until at least March.
Crimes eligible for the scheme include small scale theft (under £100), criminal damage under £300 and neighbour disputes, and the area’s Youth Offending Team are looking to implement similar panels in the near future.
The Keighley incident started when a man and his girlfriend got into an argument at a pub. After leaving, the man damaged three cars in frustration. He was referred to the panel by police after he admitted the damage.
He hoped to join the fire service, and a police caution for criminal damage could have prevented this. He met with two of the car owners, paying each £120 in damages. They wished him well in his career, and advised him not to do anything so stupid again.
In another case, two women had got into an argument in a shop queue and one pushed the other into a row of shelves.
When the two met, the victim said she was afraid to go shopping in case the same thing happened again. The woman who pushed her apologised, and revealed she had been abused by her mother’s partner as a child, and seeing her mother shortly before entering the shop had left her upset and angry.