BC calling in experts to help deal with ‘catch-and-release’ criminals


A former VPD deputy chief and an SFU criminologist will focus on reducing random stranger attacks and property crime

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BC will hire two experts to investigate how to deal with prolific offenders who cause “highly visible disorder and chaos” in communities, Attorney General David Eby said Thursday, in an attempt to stop what critics call the government’s failed “catch-and-release” system.

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The expert panel was panned by BC Liberal MLA Todd Stone who said victims of unprovoked attacks deserve more urgent solutions than a report in four months.

Doug LePard, a former Vancouver police deputy chief and former chief of Transit Police, and Amanda Butler, a Simon Fraser University criminologist, will have until September to report on ways to deal with repeat offenders who randomly attack people, target businesses and tax police resources .

Their focus will be how to reduce property crime and reduce random stranger attacks, Eby said at a news conference Thursday. They will also look into whether offenders struggling with mental health and addictions issues can be forced into mandatory treatment as part of their sentencing.

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Random and unprovoked attacks have made headlines across Metro Vancouver and Victoria and have been cited by the BC Liberals as evidence that the NDP is soft of crime.

One recent case is in Victoria where a woman walking her dog was pushed from behind by a stranger, sending her head first into a building and leaving her with head and facial injuries. Victoria police are still looking for the attacker.

Many repeat offenders also have serious addiction and mental-health issues, Eby said, but that “does not mean people have to accept criminal behaviour, vandalism or violence in our communities.”

Some of those individuals are unlikely “to take up voluntary supports,” Eby said, which is why the experts will look into ways to make addiction or mental health treatment a compulsory part of sentencing.

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Citing figures from Vancouver police — which investigated four unprovoked stranger attacks a day in the city between Sept. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021 — Stone said that means hundreds more people could be randomly assaulted in the time it takes the panel to complete their report.

“That’s not good enough,” he said.

The government could have taken immediate measures, Stone said, such as requiring provincial courts to order stricter bail conditions or appointed a prosecutor whose sole focus is on prolific offenders.

“It just simply reflects an attorney general that’s soft on crime and unwilling to take the bold action that’s required to keep people safe in their communities today and that’s totally unacceptable,” Stone said.

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Eby said provincial prosecutors are hamstrung by federal law, including provisions that require police and courts to ensure that an individual be released at the earliest opportunity instead of being held in jail.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, one of 13 urban mayors who wrote to Eby in April imploring action on prolific offenders, said he’s encouraged by the expert review intersecting criminal justice and mental health.

“The enforcement-only approach is not working,” Basran said at the press conference Thursday. “We know people aren’t going to receive the help they need in prison. This is an important step toward getting people the help they need but also returning a sense of safety in our community.”

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One of the examples cited in the BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus letter is the case of a Kelowna man who has been the subject of 346 police files since 2016 and has 29 convictions for property crime and assault offences. The mayors say the offender is routinely released with conditions, only to reoffend.

“The catch-and-release system has had an impact on our residents’ sense of safety,” Basran said.

The experts will consult with local governments, police officers, prosecutors and First Nations.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said he’s grateful the province is taking an “expert-led and compassionate” approach to prolific offenders.

Vancouver residents are “frustrated by the outsized impacts a small number of repeat offenders have had” on communities, he said in a statement.

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For example, 40 people in Vancouver are responsible for over 6,300 incidents, Stewart said. Most of those people have extreme mental-health, substance-use, and housing challenges.

“Complex care housing and the right supports are needed to get to the root of the issue,” he said.

The BC Liberals have spent the past week in question period hammering the NDP for being soft on crime, citing cases where prolific offenders carried out random and violent attacks on unsuspecting citizens.

In one case, a repeat offender attacked a mother and her 11-month-old child in Surrey on Dec. 15. The man, who pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, has a criminal record including 23 assault-related convictions, 14 convictions for breaching probation and 17 for uttering threats. He was under three different probation orders at the time of the offense.

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While Statistics Canada data shows violent crime such as assaults in cities like Victoria and Vancouver has remained steady and has not spiked during the pandemic, the Vancouver Police Department has been dealing with unprovoked attacks on strangers which draw headlines and cause people to fear for their safety .

The department said the unprovoked attacks on strangers represent a 35 per cent jump since 2019.

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