Report on Crime Reduction Released
Prince George, B.C.- The Blue Ribbon Panel on Crime Reduction has put forth 6 recommendations to the Provincial Government to continue the decline in crime in B.C. The panel noted there are already effective programs in several communities in the province, including Prince George. Specifically, the report notes the efforts to focus on prolific offenders as being a positive move. The report calls for a province wide program. Here are the highlights of the 6 recommendations:
- A comprehensive, province-wide Integrated Offender Management (IOM) program that builds on the success of efforts to date, bringing together criminal justice agencies, local authorities, health services and the voluntary sectors – for use as an alternative to short sentences or to help offenders reintegrate with communities after serving their time.
- Make mental health and addictions services more accessible: the Panel urges the Province to:
» enhance the treatment options available in the community, including to offenders in custody
» increase access to Aboriginal-led treatment programs for Aboriginal offenders
» prioritize funding for programs focused on sustainable long-term recovery
» develop provincial guidelines and standards for addiction treatment providers
» establish a taskforce, representing relevant ministries and agencies, to identify ways to address the issues related to unlicensed recovery homes
3. Make greater use of restorative justice.
4. Support an increased emphasis on designing out crime through improved security, surveillance and planning. Some broader planning initiatives, including “crime prevention through environmental design” (CPTED) and urban renewal projects, can also have a significant impact on certain types of crime.
5. Strengthen inter-agency collaboration. There is clearly a need for a province-wide interagency collaboration model that supports the development of local partnerships. B.C. needs a structured and appropriately resourced body to lead this work. The Panel urges the Province to appoint a senior crime reduction leader to improve interagency collaboration across the wide range of crime reduction activities in B.C. As an important first step, the Panel recommends establishing an Interagency Community Partnership (ICP) pilot project in a designated community.
6. Re-examine funding approaches to provide better outcomes.
The Province has responded to the report saying it will consider “a regional, integrated community safety partnership pilot project that would bring together local, relevant government and non-government agencies in identifying and prioritizing community safety goals, focusing resource allocations and programs accordingly, and measuring and evaluating the outcomes.”
The Province has also said it will take action to collaborate between BC Corrections and provincial post-secondary
institutions to expand job training options for offenders and thereby better support their re-integration into society.
The full blue panel report can be accessed here.
Comments
Tools and Materials :
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Blah Blah Blah this and make a new that, my buddy needs a job so lets dream one up for him (six figures will do for a start). Seriously how about getting the judges to pass some serious sentences and the police get out of the cars and on the damn streets where they can actually be proactive instead of handing out case numbers for stuff they will never solve.
Too much talk and never any real action unless of course it’s going to earn an RCMP white shirt an at a boy ribbon for his collection. Mean while little piss ants run wild in the city at night and in the early morning doing whatever they like and nothing seems to get done about jacking them up and taking them out of circulation. Crime reduction starts with stopping the crime, not just talking about it….seriously!
“Seriously how about getting the judges to pass some serious sentences and the police get out of the cars and on the damn streets where they can actually be proactive instead of handing out case numbers for stuff they will never solve”
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IMHO, both of those are symptoms of systems that don’t have adequate funding to do what it is the public expects.
Sometimes you can’t do more with less. Sometimes you need more to do more.
good point NMG but when your number one it should not ben to difficult to improve the crime stats.
Cheers
It’s a sad alternative to actually working for a living when it’s better to be convicted for almost anything. Heck you get three square meals, housing, health care, dental care and you can learn darn near anything you like at no cost to you personally. How is that punishment for the crime you have committed?
I really think the system is broken, when the victims don’t see restitution for the acts committed against them. Feeling safe in your home, once your home has been violated, your stuff gone through and taken. What does the “criminal” get for the actions against honest “citizens”, a slap on the wrist for the most part and a paid vacation in a provincial or federal facility.
I think it has nothing to do with funding and everything to do with the bleeding hearts who feel compassion, and don’t feel the pain, that is caused by the actions of “criminals”. You break a law serious enough to warrant jail time, that means you are not following the rules of civilized society and therefore should be removed from the community until you do your time and realize that you need rehabilitation after your sentence has been served, not before it.
IMHO, both of those are symptoms of systems that don’t have adequate funding to do what it is the public expects.
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If we want to stretch our existing funds a little further, here’s what we do. Stop sending non-violent criminals to jail! It serves no purpose to have them serve time. You want them to pay for their crimes, put them to work in their communities.
Let’s say, for example, some elderly person gets defrauded out of her life’s saving and the fraudster gets caught but has spent all the money. What do we do? Put him in jail for 5 years at a cost of half a million bucks? No, put him to work scrubbing graffiti for 16 hours on the weekends and pay him minimum wage. But, don’t give him the money, pass it on to his victims.
Or garnish their wages and send that to the victims. Putting non violent criminals in jail is an unnecessary expense; leave them out and make them atone for their wrongdoings.
I’m with Professional, to easy for criminals toget away with everything repeatedly and have no consequences for it. They are in and out of the court system and whats even funnier is when they are caught again, they are usually known to police….now why is that! Quite crying for them and start with Tools and Materials :
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(Outwest) Love it
The system is broken because incarceration isn’t incarceration anymore, it’s a holiday at the spa to clean up, plan the next gigs.
Professional, been in court lately? Guessing not. I happen to have been going fairly often in the last few years to support my lady and it’s not the cops. They do their job, but once they get into court is when it goes stupid.
The lawyers are slime, judges are bleeding hearts. Examples. $100 fine for being caught smoking crack outside a pub.. Huge deterrent..lol. Normal dude walks up the stairs into the court room then once he enters the court he hunched over, mumbles his responses to the judge, whines and complains about not having enough time the previous 2 months to get his paperwork together so the judge gives him 3 more months to get it together. Lawyer representing guy busted for growing pot, can’t speak English so they have translator on the phone (Romanian fellow). They read one line at a time of the 6 pages.. The lawyer leans over to his buddy and whispers. ” watch this “. He then interrupts the judge saying his guy didn’t understand the second line of page 2, they were on page 5 btw. So the judge stops the proceedings till they can get a translator in court. Criminal let go for 6 months till back in court.. Wasted the entire morning of the courts time.
So many repeat offenders.. And another slap on the wrist..they will be back again for sure..more waste of everyone’s time.
Get a different judge almost everytime for same case, the judge then asks the parties involved to bring him up to speed on the case…the judges don’t even come prepared.. They are only in court for 4.5 hrs a day..
Harder sentences.. No fluffy living conditions.. Make jail a undesirable
We are a society that is really good at fixing things that are broken but we turn a blind eye to what has caused the break in the first place.
Cheers
Retired. If we are so good at fixing things broken then why so many repeat offenders ?
P Val, because slaps on the wrist don’t work.
The US has very stiff prison sentences for many crimes and yet they have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. I’d suggest that harder sentences aren’t nearly as influential as people think.
I think we need to focus on why people commit crimes in the first place and much of it can be traced to social problems. Work to improve the society as a whole and crime rates will come down. Not a popular solution for the “tough on crime” crowd I know . . .
The USA is a different society than us.. Not realistic to compare us to them.. The gun mentality they have increases the reason for stiffer sentences. It’s the ones who blame their upbringing etc for the reason they break the laws, biggest cop out there is.. Murder is wrong everyone knows that, doesn’t natter what you went through as a child or teenager.
NMG: “I think we need to focus on why people commit crimes in the first place and much of it can be traced to social problems. Work to improve the society as a whole and crime rates will come down.”
You sure said a mouthful without any actual specifics. Sounds almost like something a politician would say! lol.
How can we convince people to be more responsible parents ?
There is a growing movement toward the belief that punishing convicted criminals by sentencing them to jail time is the wrong approach.
Evidence to support this theory includes the generally high rate of recidivism among many criminals. Even life sentences or the prospect of execution for your crime does not prevent murder.
Most of us agree that prison does not seem to be a deterrent to criminals, and that imprisonment does not seem to cure most of them of a life of crime.
So, what to do? That is the big question.
Making jail a harsher, more punishing environment will not prevent crime, sure some of the smarter crooks (oxymoron?) will see the value in changing their lifestyle by going ‘straight’ but harsh punishments in jail will mainly satisfy the vindictive among us, it won’t cure criminals.
On the other hand billions of dollars are spent annually warehousing convicts, and its true, those convicts have more rights ‘inside’ than they do ‘outside’
Maybe the laws should change to make the criminal defense business unrewarding (monetarily)
There are no simple solutions.
metalman.
http://www.thewhig.com/2014/12/18/christmas-in-prison-is-a-very-special-time-too
JB, I look forward to full citations on your future posts, LOL :)
I can’t guarantee full citatiions. I blame society. :)
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