Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Don L. Johnson, prosecutor/restorative justice practitioner from Minneapolis, said the system has reaped benefits in his home town. - PHOTOS BY ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
INNER-CITY RESIDENTS' mistrust of security forces in Jamaica has been well documented for several years. Government is hoping to see some improvement in that area with the implementation of restorative justice.
The restorative justice system was the topic of the Gleaner Editors' Forum at the newspaper's North Street headquarters yesterday.
Don L. Johnson, an American prosecutor who was one of the panellists, has worked in the field of restorative justice in several major cities throughout the United States. He says relations between minorities and law enforcement in his home town of St. Paul, Minnesota, have improved significantly because of the system.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Carol Palmer, is optimistic this type of trust can be duplicated in Jamaica."It is a fact that there are issues of trust between communities and the police and the vigilante justice we see taking place in our society is a manifestation of that distrust," said Ms. Palmer. "But it's going to take some time ... It's not like a computer where you are going to set it up, get it connected and bam, you're off."
Ms. Palmer noted that widescale rehabilitation is necessary to mend fences between the parties.
"We're talking about changing value systems, changing attitudes and people's perceptions, then finding a common ground," she explained.
In tandem with the United States Embassy, the Government has established restorative justice "peace" circles in the Kingston neighbourhood of Grants Pen and Flankers in St. James. Both areas have been plagued by crime, with residents clashing with police in the past.
It has become an almost daily occurence in inner-city communities, mainly in Kingston, for residents to accuse security forces of harassment, physical brutality and murder.
Commanding officers in some police divisions, including Kingston West and St. Andrew South, have credited community policing for an improvement with residents in areas like Denham Town and Payne Land.
