News
BRAC and Youth Justice Agency cooperate on retail theft conferencing ( 5/08/2008)
Ballymena Retailers Against Crime, who deliver the Radio Link and safer Town initiatives in Ballymena on behalf of the Town Centre Bids Partnership, have teamed up with the Youth Justice Agency to support the youth conferencing process that takes place when a young person has been caught committing retail theft.Aideen McLaughlin, an Assistant Director with the Youth Justice Agency, explained what happens when a youth is referred for conferencing.
”Youth conferencing is a restorative approach which brings together the young person, family, victim and community to discuss the impact of the crime. During the conference, the young person is required to face up to the consequences of his/her actions and the victim often learns why they have been targeted. The conferencing process offers the young person the opportunity to make amends to the victim and together they can agree a plan of action which repairs the harm and contributes to the prevention of re-offending.”
The Youth Justice Agency is keen to encourage Managers of retail premises to take part in the youth conference. Participation by victims is voluntary and retailers are quite often reluctant to become involved for a number of reasons including ‘time involved’, financial loss, and in some cases a reluctance to engage with the victim.
Following an approach from the YJA to BRAC Development Manager, Trevor Parker, arrangements were put in place by the BRAC Management Committee to have a committee member attend the conference and represent the victim (retailer) when required.
Trevor commented “BRAC feels it is important to engage with this excellent deterrent work as one young person deterred from this type of crime has the potential to save £100’s if not £1000’s of pounds in loss to the retail community over a period of years”
An important element of the Youth Conferencing process involves the young offender making reparation for the harm caused and this is another area where BRAC has been able to provide assistance to the scheme. Trevor further commented that “BRAC has been able to identify several retailers who would be prepared to have the young person work voluntarily on the premises as part of the reparation plan. This not only represents payback to the retailer and community but also enables the young person to appreciate the consequences of retail theft from the owner’s perspective and the damage they have caused.”
Trevor further added “Retail Crime is now costing the UK economy over 2 billion pounds a year which equates to every single household having to pay just under £100 per year extra on goods to cover these losses. In Ballymena we have had tremendous success in reducing retail crime by working with partners such as the Youth Justice Agency and this current initiative is another example of good practice and co-operation”
Aideen McLaughlin from the YJA also added “We are delighted to work with BRAC and really appreciate the support that they provide to the youth conference process in Ballymena, both in terms of representing victims and identifying reparation opportunities. This is central to the overall success of the scheme and hopefully provides longer-term benefits to the retailers themselves. “
Notes to Editor
Ballymena Retailers Against Crime Management Committee have developed the highly successful Radio Link scheme in Ballymena and deliver Safer Town Projects on behalf of the Town Centre Business Improvement District Partnership.
Contact: Trevor Parker, Development Manager at 02825646050 or email bracmanager@talktalkbusiness.net
Youth Justice Agency
The Youth Conference Service received just under 2,000 referrals across Northern Ireland in the past year. Overall victim participation rate was 57% and of those, 93% expressed satisfaction with the outcome and would recommend the youth conferencing process to others. A recent research study by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) found that the reoffending rate for young offenders who have completed a youth conference is less in comparison to other court sentences.
Contact: Aideen McLaughlin, Assistant Director, Youth Conference Service at 028 9031 6419 or e-mail aideen.mclaughlin@nio.x.gsi.gov.uk
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