The police as gatekeepers of restorative justice - Perspectives of professionals, perspectives on professionals

Abstract

This article concerns the screening processes of the police-based National Danish Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) programme. Depending on police district and individual police officers, my data point to large variations in practice in the programme's routines of informing potential parties about VOM. The article's analytical points of departure are research on police discretion - in Scandinavian police research known as the police gaze - as well as the Goffmanian framework of roleplay and stigma. On this basis, I look into how the police gaze interacts with ideals of impartial mediation in the screening of cases for the programme. My data indicate that both conscious and unconscious casting practices influence which potential VOM parties are informed about the possibility of VOM. In this regard, the police perception of and access to data on an offender can be decisive. The Norwegian Mediation Service is included as a source of comparison with more impartial inclinations.