Practice Goals/Target Population
Police-initiated diversion programs are pre-court interventions or strategies that police can apply as an alternative to court processing or the imposition of formal charges in situations involving minor delinquent behavior among low-risk youth. Examples of these strategies include a caution, a restorative caution, or a final warning or reprimand. The essential ingredient across these different intervention types is that police initiate a diversionary scheme for youths to help them avoid a criminal record and the negative consequences that accrue from such a record. These alternatives are often combined with an additional program element such as referral to a treatment service provider.
This approach is designed to reduce reoffending by minimizing youth contact with the criminal justice system and diverting them toward services that address their psychosocial development and other needs that contribute to their at-risk behavior. Diversion programs provide police with a corrective response to minor delinquent behavior that does not require formal processing. Such programs are often used primarily for young people convicted for the first time or at a low level.
Practice Components/Key Personnel
Police-initiated diversion may be known by other names, such as police-led proactive prevention, police-led diversion, or pre-charge diversion. The essential features of police-initiated diversion involve police officers initiating and leading a diversionary intervention to help youth avoid a criminal record and the potential negative consequences that may result from formal system processing.
At a minimum, diversion program participants include the police officer, the youth in question, and the youth’s parents or guardians. Victims (if any) are generally not involved in the process. Instead, police officers provide a general explanation to youth and their parents about the legal and social ramifications of continued delinquent behavior. Some variations of this practice include programs that do allow for victim participation, such as cautions or restorative cautions, which include structured discussion between the victim(s) and the youth. These programs typically involve a script with certain questions to structure discussion between the person who committed the offense and the affected parties. Cautions also involve connecting the youth to other interventions and services.
Other variations of police-initiated diversion include final warnings and reprimand schemes, which use assessment-based approaches to evaluate the seriousness of the offense. Depending on the gravity of the offense, a reprimand or final warning may result in a referral to a multi-agency team for further assessment and placement in a behavioral treatment program
Practice Theory
The causal logic underlying diversion programs is supported by labeling theory and differential association theory (Wilson and Hoge 2015). Labeling theory suggests that the stigmatizing effect of labeling a youth as delinquent may create expectations for future deviant behavior and increase the likelihood of future delinquency (Bernberg et al. 2006). Diverting youth from the criminal justice system before they are labeled as “criminal” may therefore reduce reoffending.
Differential association theory posits that youth learn values, attitudes, and techniques of criminal behavior through interaction with delinquent peers (Sutherland 1939). Youth served by diversion programs are presumed to have less exposure to delinquent peers, compared with youth who are directly involved in the juvenile justice system. Interventions that minimize interaction with delinquent peers are likely to be more successful at reducing delinquency than those in which youth are exposed to delinquent peers (Wilson et al. 2018).
