'Creative' plan coming to address repeat property offenders, B.C. minister says
British Columbia's attorney general says he is poised to announce a “creative” plan to help tackle repeat offenders who cause “chaos” in communities.
David Eby said the plan is the result of meetings with concerned municipal leaders, but he provided few details.
“We're working with mayors, in particular, to make sure that the response we have addresses their concerns,” the minister said in an interview on Tuesday. “The goal of this effort will be to be creative within our provincial authorities to address this small group of offenders that are causing an outsized amount of chaos.”
Eby made the comments following Opposition accusations in the legislature that the attorney general was soft on crime and they demanded results to curb the crime rate.
“There is chaos taking place on our streets all over this province, and it's on this attorney general's watch,” said Liberal house leader Todd Stone. “He has tools at his disposal, and he's choosing not to implement them. People don't feel safe in their communities.”
B.C.'s Urban Mayors' Caucus wrote to Eby last month, saying communities are facing critical issues connected to criminal activity by repeat offenders who are routinely arrested but often released.
The mayors said police data shows most offences are committed by a small number of highly active, prolific criminals.
The caucus represents 13 mayors from urban communities across British Columbia: Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Prince George, Richmond, Saanich, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria.
Among the data from the mayors was: Abbotsford Police monitoring 81 prolific offenders with between 10 and 29 convictions each, and Vancouver often dealing with 40 prolific offenders who have an average of 54 convictions each.
The letter from the mayors included a report from Kelowna RCMP about one offender who has been the subject of 346 police files since 2016 “and received 29 convictions for property crime and assault offences. The offender is routinely released with conditions and subsequently reoffends.”
Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth are expected to announce the details of the crime plan on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.