Police: Restorative Justice and Crime Prevention in Local Communities

The emergence of restorative justice is the result of one of the developments in criminal justice attitudes and crime-oriented thinking over the past two decades. Restorative justice is a balanced and holistic approach to crime situations and by using means such as mediation, strives to not only provide for the benefit of all victims affected by the crime, but also to provide the grounds for rehabilitation and socialization of the offenders. Realizing the goals of restorative justice requires actors who, while being acquainted with the foundations and goals of restorative justice, also believe in its principles. Undoubtedly, the police, as one of the most important institutions responsible for responding to the criminal phenomenon and as the first institution to refer victims after the crime, play an important role in the implementation of restorative plans. In Community policing prevention of crime, the police, in addition to using the tools defined in the criminal justice system, uses the co-operation and participation of social and governmental institutions to control the perpetrators. The results indicate that the mediating role of the police will reduce the offender's re-tendency to commit crimes by a process-oriented approach and by utilizing the capacities of the local community, with the potential to influence his or her individual and social circumstances. In other words, the more process-oriented the tendency of the police to mediate, the more likely the crime will be prevented, and conversely, the more the police focus on the results and the size of the files, the more likely the crime will be prevented by the offender.