B.C. mayors call on province to better address chronic property-crime offenders

Mayors of B.C.'s biggest communities are asking for help from the province to deal with chronic offenders, who they say are disproportionately responsible for an increase in property crime.

Earlier this month, the BC Urban Mayor's Caucus, which includes 13 mayors, sent a letter to the attorney general and the solicitor general. The letter, shared online by the opposition Liberals, urges the government to act on the big city mayors' concerns about chronic offenders.

"The letter details about 200 chronic or prolific offenders who collectively were responsible for about 11,600 files with police in communities across the province, just in the last year alone," said BC Liberal House Leader Todd Stone.

"When you think about that, that volume of crime that's taking place and most of these prolific offenders experience a revolving door of justice, catch-and-release, if you will."

Attorney General David Eby explained Tuesday the letter was in response to a meeting he had with the mayors in December. During that meeting, he said, he asked for additional details about what's happening in communities, which was why the letter was drafted.

Some examples outlined in the letter include a suspect who was arrested in Kamloops for an alleged robbery. The day charges were approved, the same person was allegedly involved in "a major police incident, suspected in a homicide and consequentially arrested 48 hours thereafter," the letter said.

The letter said that same person continued to have "ongoing police contacts, including a file where they brandished an axe at the homeless shelter" as charges have not been approved.

The letter also said Vancouver is dealing with what it calls "super-chronic offenders" who have an average of 54 convictions per person, totalling 2,152. Meanwhile, Abbotsford is monitoring 81 prolific offenders, which it said is an increase of 33 per cent from 2019.

"Any time someone is a victim of crime, whether it's property crime or violent crime, it's a really serious and profound impact on them and their feelings of safety. But it's also important as legislators that we look at provincial trends," Eby said Tuesday.

Eby explained 2020 saw the lowest level of property offences province-wide, based on population "since at least 2011." It also had the lowest overall number of offences since 2013, he said.

"I don't dispute that the pandemic has dramatically changed crime patterns, that we see this concentrated in downtown areas where people have not been and it's moved away from residential areas apparently, because we're seeing a very low number of offences," he said.

"We need to do the work to find out what is happening and respond accordingly."

Along with increased health supports for those who need them, the mayors want the province to push for stricter bail conditions and consequences for prolific offenders and increase investment in the BC Prosecution Service and community courts.