NCJ Number
114728
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1988) Pages: 513-532
Date Published
1988
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Diversion in England and Wales is largely a matter of unfettered police discretion.
Abstract
Current forms of diversion include informal police caution, formal police caution; reparation, mediation, and conciliation schemes; and special programs for specific offender groups (e.g., alcoholics, the mentally ill, environmental offenders). As practiced, diversion from prosecution may have the effect of net-widening and may result in more prosecutions, may lead to the 'diversion' of innocent suspects, may result in abrogations of the accused's rights, and may result in substantial disparities in the handling of offenders. In addition, some diversion schemes may entail conditions or reparations that exceed what is justifiable in relation to the seriousness of the offense. In addition, there are several impediments to diversion: There is a lack of variety in alternatives to prosecution, the most common being a police caution; prosecution may be required for the offender to obtain needed treatments or medical services, diversion may be viewed as a 'let-off' by the offender and as a sign of the weakness of police authority; and police are part of the prosecutorial function within the adversarial system while social work and probation services have but an ad hoc involvement in diversion. Diversion will continue to be limited until it can either become expressive in its aims, which would largely defeat the purpose of avoiding stigma or more utilitarian. 58 references.