The Washington Post recently reported on the DC Peace Academy program to train mediators to address challenges facing the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods.

Capital News Service reported by April 19, 2021, all violent crime in DC numbered 961 cases, but by April 19th of this year, the number had increased almost 28% to 1,230 cases and citizens are pressuring for programs to reverse this rise. In a statement, Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to get guns off the streets and to work to prevent crime before it happens.

One study recommended that the District train and increase the number of violence intervention workers. In response, a new academy was funded by “Peace for DC,” a nonprofit founded by restaurant owner Roger Marmet after his son was killed by a stray bullet in 2018. The first cohort of 25 people will receive 13 weeks of training for mediating conflicts and “engaging one-on-one with those most at risk of committing crimes.” The objective is to train 150 people by the end of 2023.

The training in negotiation and conflict resolution skills is being developed in large part by local community leaders. Some refer to the cohort training as learning to be “violence interrupters.” Whatever they’re called, a program developed by local communities to provide conflict resolution for their district must be supported.

Mediation programs in the courts are a benefit to the community, but so are iniatives that address conflicts within neighborhoods before they become disputes that could lead to violence.

These days, online dispute resolution platforms resolve millions of consumer disputes. Increasingly these programs are being used in the courts and offer some form of third-party mediation. Ethan Katsh uses the term “digital justice” to describe consumer disputes and negotiations that employ technology to resolve problems, such as being harassed on Twitter or challenging negative reviews on Airbnb.

Worldwide, countries are beginning to use artificial intelligence or digital justice in their judicial processes. In Estonia, artificial intelligence adjudicates small claim disputes under a certain dollar amount, and in Canada artificial intelligence is used in some areas of the law, such as strata (as condominiums are known in British Columbia) property disputes and motor vehicle claims below a certain amount.

But no country has done more to digitize its justice system than China. Its far reaching Smart Courts Initiative includes internet courts; tracking of sentencing and judgment outcomes; hearing recording storage; facial recognition to verify litigant’s identity; blockchain-based systems to authenticate evidence; and more. Much of the development of China’s systems has been built by major tech firms like Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent.

According to the Zheng province government website, parties register with their mobile phone, describe the dispute and upload materials. Mediators conduct an online video session, and if the parties reach resolution, they apply for judicial confirmation of their online agreement.

Rather than fully automated decision platforms for negotiation, the design most likely favored in Western cultures will be platforms that evaluate options for outcomes and suggest options leaving it to the human participants to resolve the disputes themselves.