Restorative justice in Prince George got a boost this morning as Western Financial Group donated $6,000 to the Prince George RCMP’s program.
The program was launched in November 2015 and takes a holistic approach to crime in the community.
“Restorative justice is about healing damaged relationships and that’s why it is important to include everyone that has been affected by that incident,” says Linda Parker, Community Policing Coordinator for the Prince George RCMP.
Liaison officers refer people to the program, which brings perpetrators and victims of crime together with volunteer facilitators to create a consensus agreement. Parker calls it a community solution to a community problem.
“We have the ability to deal with incidents in a very timely matter. It’s not the justice system, where you have significant delays, where you have a victim who may not have a satisfactory outcome, where their voice is not quite as strong.”
Most of the program’s participants have been youth affected by petty crime but Parker says, as the program progresses, more adult participants and more serious crimes can be included.
“We are not restricted to youth. We’re not really restricted by the offense either because restorative justice can be used for petty crime but it can also be used for more serious offenses in conjunction with the existing justice system.”
Western Financial Group’s donation will go toward training more volunteers and covering expenses incurred by the process.