Police would not prosecute small-time offenders if they signed a contract to stay out of trouble, under a radical plan mooted by Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan.
Under the proposal, offenders would enter a contractual agreement with police that could include a raft of terms including rehabilitation for substance abuse, counselling, issuing an apology or anger management for a set time.
If the offender stayed out of trouble, police would cease prosecution. If not, the charge would stand.
Mr O'Callaghan, who mooted the plan at the Public Health Association of Australia conference in Perth on Tuesday, said the contract could only go ahead if the charged person admitted the offence and agreed to a contract within 24 hours.
Only minor offences such as disorderly conduct, anti-social behaviour and property damage would extend to the stay-out-of-trouble contracts.
Mr O'Callaghan said the proposal was similar to one in the United Kingdom called Turning Point in the West Midlands, which had seen a slight improvement in repeat offending statistics.
"The issue here is, even if you get a slight improvement, the cost reduction in the court system is very, very significant. And it also means that people committing stupid offences or lower order offences don't get a criminal record and get a chance to get on with their lives," he told radio 6PR on Wednesday.
Mr O'Callaghan said police did not need additional laws to bring in the initiative, as officers already used discretion for minor traffic offences by issuing warnings and not always pursuing charges.
He hoped to set up a trial in select remote Kimberley communities by early next year.
"My view is this is a trial and we need to see how it works and then we need to report back to the community, and say 'hey, what do you think about this'," he said.
"What we are trying to do is get a more constructive outcome for the offender. This is not just about saving money, this is about getting constructive outcomes from people so they can actually turn their lives around.
"We want to trial this in a limited mode in Western Australia. I'm not going to just bring it in across the board and have everyone doing it. I need to see how it works... I need to, you need to and the public needs to be convinced that it makes a difference."
WA Police Union president George Tilbury slammed the scheme, saying the move would be more time consuming for officers.
But he conceded he was open to a trial so long as it was a worthy initiative.
"You've got to make sure you've got all the mechanisms in place to ensure it's a good system and it works," he said.
"The (State) Government and the community want a strong police force and us to be tough on crime – is this sending the wrong message?"
He said the courts already had significant diversionary scope for offenders and questioned whether the plan was an attempt to skew or reduce crime figures.
