It was with reservations that members of Burnaby’s public safety committee voted to support six recommendations outlined in a recent provincial report on crime reduction strategies in B.C.
The report, Getting Serious About Crime Reduction, was recently sent to B.C.'s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton, members of the public safety committee heard at its meeting last week.
The report is the result of nearly two years of consultation by a Blue Ribbon Panel on Crime Reduction led by Abbotsford South MLA Darryl Plecas. The provincial panel met with community stakeholders including police agencies and city staff to develop a provincewide crime reduction plan.
The city’s public safety committee and the Burnaby RCMP were among the stakeholders that provided feedback and input to the panel.
"In our brief to the panel, we highlighted the challenge around prolific offenders and getting them off the street and also mental health and addiction – the need for more mental health and addiction services," Margaret Manifold, senior social planner, told the committee.
The city also provided several suggestions on successful crime reduction initiatives that could be applied provincewide, including assigning a dedicated Crown counsel to handle cases involving prolific offenders to "ensure consistent sentencing for offences and breaches."
Some committee members, however, felt the panel was a waste of resources and believe it's unlikely the provincial government will even act on any of the recommendations.
"Did we need a Blue Ribbon Panel to go out for six, seven months and take another year to write a report to find out what we already know?" said Coun. Pietro Calendino, chair of the public safety committee.
Coun. Paul McDonell echoed Calendino and pointed out that nearly a decade ago another panel came up with similar recommendations related to prolific offenders in an effort to keep them behind bars indefinitely after multiple charges – yet the offenders continue to be released back on to the streets, he said.
"We see people going into the courts with 80, 90 or 130 charges that they're convicted on, and they rotate back into the system," McDonell said. "I don't agree with three strikes you're out, but 120 strikes might be OK."
Burnaby RCMP Chief Supt. Dave Critchley said there is a law that could keep prolific offenders in prison for longer but it is rarely used.
"So it's very difficult, and I haven't seen it, for somebody who's an habitual offender to go away for a long time because the Crown is successful in saying that, 'you're a problem,'" Critchley added.
The other recommendations in the report include making quality mental health and addiction services more accessible; making greater use of restorative justice; supporting an increased emphasis on designing out crime; strengthening inter-agency collaboration; and re-examining funding approaches to provide better outcomes.
Deputy city manager Lambert Chu said while the recommendations have some merit they are rather general – especially when it comes to costs.
Despite the committee's concerns, members approved a staff request to send a letter to the Ministry of Justice in support of the panel's recommendations. Staff has also been directed to provide the minister with the city's comments and concerns in regards to the recommendations.
