‘SPEEDY JUSTICE’ PLAN REVEALED

In line with their colleagues elsewhere in the province, Ballymena officers have been recently trained in ‘Discretion’, the main benefits of which are three-fold...

*It challenges offenders to recognise the impact of their behaviour.

*Delivers a speedy, effective outcome tailored to the needs of the victim; and,

*Reduces administation/paperwork for police/courts.

In short, Discretion offers an alternative method of dealing with low level crimes such as minor shoplifting, minor assaults, graffiti and broken windows.

Where such an offence is reported to police and a suspect has been identified and meets certain conditions (eg admits the offence and is not a persistent offender), then the matter may be dealt with by Discretion.

The police officer will then offer ‘the victim’ the chance to have the matter dealt with in this way rather than sent to the Public Prosecution Service who will decide whether or not the case goes to court.

If Discretion is agreed upon, the views of the victim on the appropriateness of the outcome will be considered.

This could include, for example, an apology, repairing damage caused or paying for the item that has been stolen or damaged.

The police officer will offer the option of Discretion to the suspect and the matter can be dealt with under the scheme if they agree and also comply with the agreed outcome.

Commenting on the scheme, Ballymena Neighbourhood Inspector John Allen told The Times: “This means reducing the amount of time officers need to spend in the station and around criminalising individuals for a one-off incident when they could, instead, be out in the community”.

He added that Discretion is not a criminal conviction, so the suspect will not be given a criminal record. However, details will be held on police records, which will be consulted by officers in the event of a further offence.