The effective use of mediation skills and techniques enables police to defuse potentially difficult situations and demonstrate sensitivity toward disputants. By facilitating communication between the parties, especially where they have a continuing relationship, agreements may be reached without official legal action, thereby saving the police and the courts time and money. Barriers to police using mediation directly include traditional police incentives to arrest lawbreakers and punish offenders as well as police tendencies to act authoritatively and impose their decision to resolve a conflict. Police referrals to mediation centers promise to reduce police processing of minor disputes and achieve more effective resolutions to conflicts. Problems in such referrals include the absence of police criteria for such referrals, the development of a police incentive system for such referrals, and provisions for ensuring compliance with a mediation agreement. 4 notes, 28 references.