Warnings instead of charges

Leigh van der Stoep in the HoS reports:

First-time offenders caught shoplifting, drunk in public or smoking cannabis are being let off with warnings as part of an ambitious police programme.

The policy, trialled in the Auckland region for more than a year and now going national, means police have discretion to let offenders off when they are caught committing crimes that carry a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.

Offences such as shoplifting, breaches of liquor bans, possession of cannabis and disorderly behaviour fit the criteria.

For a warning to be issued offenders must also be remorseful for their offending and the victims must consent.

A warning is entered into the police system against a person’s name, and a trip to court and potential conviction are avoided. If the offender is caught a second time, the matter is elevated to the courts.

Seems entirely sensible. This should have happened years ago.