In Praise of Mediation by Barbara Attard, Berkeley Police Review Commission Mediation changes lives. As a civilian oversight professional, focused on police accountability, I was a hard sell to resolving cases through alternative dispute resolution processes. However, after having seen mediation produce dramatic results, I stand converted. Because there is no definitive finding, both sides feel that they have lost, that they have not been heard, and that the process did not work for them. Very often, even in civilian oversight investigations, both officers and civilians find themselves dissatisfied with the process because police misconduct cases are hard to prove.
Mediation is different.
When the parties gain this knowledge, the other's behavior is put into a new context and it becomes comprehensible, it makes sense. They may not approve of what happened, but they can understand it. When mediation is successful, this understanding can, and often, leads to forgiveness and healing. It is difficult to convince parties in police misconduct cases that mediation is a good idea because they do not have an ongoing relationship with each other. The last thing they want to do is sit down with the other person and bare their souls.