Department of Justice
www.justice.gc.ca
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Winners
Sergeant Jim McEntegart
Constable Sandy Goudie
Constable Geoff Pittman
Constable Gavin Moore
Clara Winters
RCMP—Hopedale Detachment
The Hopedale Detachment RCMP members were nominated for their work with Community Justice Forums (CJFs) in an Inuit community located in northern Labrador. CJFs support police discretion at the front end of the youth justice process and use community-based conferencing as an alternative to the formal court system.
Community Justice Forums offer a controlled, safe setting in which the offender, the victim(s) and supporters are brought together to decide how to deal with a specific incident of offending. In the presence of a community member who has been trained as a CJF facilitator, participants agree on a response to the incident. The Hopedale officers then work with the youth to follow through with the response.
The forums contribute to the Hopedale community by promoting respect for societal values—such as accountability, appropriate behavior, cooperation, responsibility and teamwork—and by helping the community to respond to youth in conflict with the law. The officers arrange for community members to be trained as facilitators and actively educate the public on the effectiveness of the forums. Police officers in Hopedale have a strong belief in the system and have used a CJF themselves following one incident in which the windows of the Hopedale Detachment were broken by a youth.
The youth benefit from the alternative to the court system, by learning to understand the impact of their actions on the community and to take responsibility for those actions. In addition, relationships have developed from the forums that help youth have greater respect for police officers in their community.
The members of the RCMP Hopedale Detachment have invested countless hours of personal time to make the Community Justice Forum program a success. While providing youth with an alternative justice option, Sgt. McEntegart and his team are helping promote the traditional values of Inuit justice and culture in the community.
Contact:
Hopedale Detachment RCMP
(709) 933-3820
