Police ditch fines for hate crimes and cannabis warnings under new approach

POLICE are ditching fines for hate crimes and warnings for cannabis possession in favour of restorative justice and education.
Supt Steve ChapmanSupt Steve Chapman
Supt Steve Chapman

Supt Steve Chapman said the move aimed to reduce demand for South Yorkshire Police resources through early intervention.

He added: “As a police force, and certainly in Rotherham, we want to get away from dishing out tickets.

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“They have a monetary value but often don’t get paid, so we want to invest in more long-term solutions around education.

“If the enforcement part is required, then it’s absolutely right and proper that we do it. But if we can do early intervention, the problem-solving, to reduce the demand, that’s the way we want to go.”

All Rotherham officers have been given restorative justice training to find resolutions, such as a hate crime offender meeting the victim to apologise.

Supt Chapman said: “Where you wouldn’t want to take somebody to court but might want some reparation or some form or apology, all officers have received that training.

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“They assess the victim, assess the perpetrator, bring them together in the right environment and really start to tackle that root cause behind this behaviour.

“We are no longer going to be giving out fixed penalty notices for these types of behaviour, whether it’s public order or whatever else.

“We’ll not be giving out formal warnings for cannabis, we’ll be looking to do this community resolution, this early intervention, this education.”

Some 42 of the 2,000 crimes a month committed in Rotherham are hate crimes. Successful outcomes are reached in 14 per cent of cases, short of the 20 per cent target.

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But response times of 15 minutes for emergencies and an hour in priority cases are mostly being met, leading to an increase in satisfaction levels among victims.

Supt Chapman visited one Rotherham school which had used restorative justice to bring together a group of young people.

He said: “Twelve youths who didn’t really understand each other’s cultural differences had caused some significant problems, both in and out of school. 

“They have been brought together and over the last 12 weeks and have found a place where they can understand each other and be more tolerant.”

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More than 150 staff connected with the taxi trade attended a hate crime awareness event in the summer.

Future events for takeaway and delivery workers are planned.

Rotherham Council leader Cllr Chris Read said: “It’s really important that people come together and see different people’s points of view. 

“Slapping a £50 fine on somebody is a short-term deterrent but actually doesn’t help us to solve some of the deep-seated challenges that we face.”