ABSTRACT
Introduction Restorative policing is a complex and heated area of study. This is not unusual for restorative justice applications, particularly in areas like domestic violence and sexual assault, but the fervour of debate initiated by the introduction of conferencing within the realms of policing has been unmatched by other applications within criminal justice. In part, as the preceding chapters have shown, this was (and still is) due to the perceived risks associated with increasing the unfettered and largely unchecked discretion of police officers in holding a monopoly over dealing with crime. However, we contend that this overlooks the particular nuances of restorative policing and that of operational policing environments. As such, the purpose of this book has been to, first, survey the landscape of restorative policing over a 25-year period during which its use and influence over criminal justice has waxed and waned and, second, to situate this discussion within a criminological discussion about neo-liberal responses to crime control, particularly that located within the policing literature. Usefully, comparative analyses of restorative policing raise fundamental questions about how societies do justice and this is why the comparative case study approach was adopted. It is by no means a complete review of restorative policing but it is an attempt to address the lay of the land and to offer an exploration of the role of restorative thinking and practice set against a backdrop of turn of the millennium crime control. The aim has been to chart the emergence of restorative policing and to identify trajectories in thinking and doing restorative policing. In our view, the book provides a platform for those new to restorative policing to start with as well as a reference point for those well versed in these debates to challenge and adapt ideas that have been put forward. The approach taken by the authors has sought to draw together a broad range of restorative policing literature that is often only drawn upon in a partial manner. As such, it has not been the aim here to generate new knowledge, but to critique the field as it stands and to explore appropriate ways of studying this topic. Because of this, the book now concludes with the identification of the topics we think are of the most urgent need of research if restorative policing is to situate itself within the everyday parlance of restorative justice and policing scholars
and practitioners. The chapter first reviews the key empirical and theoretical conclusions from the book before exploring some of the core themes that have emerged. These themes are then situated within the context of other contemporary academic debates to inform the proposed research agenda which takes up most of the final part of this chapter.
