Security and democracy under pressure from violence

This book puts violent crime into an objectice context so that we can make better sense of it and understand what we are currently confronted with. The author first stresses the importance of gathering reliable statistics to qualify and quantify crime. He then provides a general perspective of how European institutions are responding to the situation. He covers issues such as the rise of the influence of the police, police partnerships in crime prevention and complementary / alternative forms of justice set to offset the failure of Europe's traditional justice systems. Restorative justice focuses on mediation, dialogue, the human rights of both victim and offender, and aims to mend the rupture between the offender and the local community. -- Council of Europe.