At Acorn House on 12th March, 19 people (pictured) attended a Restorative Justice workshop hosted by Police Area Commander Yvette Hitch and led by Ann Jansen-East of  Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service.

The workshop focused on what works in restorative justice, featuring powerful testimony from two women with direct experience of the process following abusive relationships.

Testimonies were also provided by Arif Masters of Zainabiya Centre and Cory Bond, formerly of YMCA MK.

At the end of the workshop, Area Commander Hitch pledged to:

• increase the number of cases in MK where a restorative justice approach will be used (where appropriate)
• ensure all her officers and staff have input from Ann Jansen-East
• meet with members of the Citizens:mk Fight Against Hate campaign team to discuss the costs and benefits of growing police use of restorative justice in MK, especially looking at what has not worked in restorative justice approaches elsewhere and what could be done differently in the MK context.
• attend the Citizens:mk Accountability Assembly on 24th April (if available).

Future discussions will include examination of what does not work in restorative justice and what could be one differently in the MK context?

Area Commander Hitch said:   “I felt the event was really useful in terms of highlighting  how victims can be empowered by the process and how offenders gain an insight into the effect of their behaviour on others.”