Abstract
This chapter is focused on police-led diversion of offenders from the formal criminal justice process. Over the last 50 years, there has been increasing interest in the potential of diversion programmes, initially for young people, more recently for adults as well. Diversion has become associated with the Community Policing movement in policing. It has also been criticised for being a ‘soft’ option for offenders. The aim of this chapter is to explore the case for and, where appropriate, against police-led diversion, drawing on the best evidence available. The analysis shows how the evaluation evidence has developed and, with systematic review, becomes more persuasive. Starting from a brief overview of the history of police-led diversion, the chapter reviews that evidence base. It explores how the evidence suggests the most effective ways to use diversion. There is an assessment of the challenges of successful implementation, which has received increasing focus in the most recent research. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the importance of diversion in the reform of the criminal justice system.
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Neyroud, P., Neyroud, E., Kumar, S. (2022). Police-Led Diversion Programs: Rethinking the Gateway to the Formal Criminal Justice System. In: Jeglic, E., Calkins, C. (eds) Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77565-0_30
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