Community justice panel to tackle causes of crime
A new iwi community justice panel has been set up to try to reduce the causes of crime and reoffending in the Waitemata¯ police district area.
Police Minister Stuart Nash said Te Pae Oranga would be the country’s eleventh iwi panel, and now all three Auckland policing districts had access to the restorative justice initiative.
‘‘We can’t keep building American-style mega prisons every few years as the main feature of our justice policy.’’
The panel was launched on July 12 at Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland.
Nash said the trustees of the marae in Glen Eden had a history of leading innovative restorative justice programmes.
He said the panels were not a soft option and were open to Ma¯ ori and non-Ma¯ ori.
‘‘To appear in front of these you have to plead guilty first and foremost so you have got to accept responsibility for what you have done.’’
Nash said the people who would be dealt with by the panel were not high-level criminals, but those who had made bad decisions and who needed a second chance.
He said it would be down to police to decide whether people were put before the Te Pae Oranga panel.
‘‘The panel has real potential to reduce reoffending and victimisation in the Waitemata¯ , as well as keeping young people off the pathway of crime that leads to prison.’’
He said the members of the panel were respected community figures and would encourage offenders to deal with the issues that led to their crimes.
Waitemata¯ police district commissioner Tusha Penny said the panel would deal with low level crimes, such as shoplifting and driving offences.
‘‘Each year we’d like to see literally hundreds come through.’’
Penny said the initiative was about taking a whanau approach, and rather than putting offenders through the courts, people would be able to come back home to Hoani Waititi Marae.
‘‘We feel very grateful and privileged that iwi will work with us to make a difference for Ma¯ ori,’’ Penny said.
Two more iwi community justice panels will be launched in Tu¯ hoe and Northland in the next month.
‘‘The panel has real potential to reduce reoffending and victimisation in the Waitemata¯.’’
Police Minister Stuart Nash