Whereas communities across British Columbia are facing unprecedented costs and public safety impacts caused by the revolving door of prolific offenders being released into communities; And whereas senior levels of government have not taken adequate steps to protect communities from prolific offenders that have been released or are out on bail: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM advocate to the Attorneys General for Canada and British Columbia to address the severe impacts that local governments across British Columbia are experiencing with prolific offenders being frequently released and re-released into local communities, including: - supporting the widespread use of GPS monitoring of prolific offenders out on bail; - seeking guidance from senior levels of government on how local governments can effectively communicate the communitys concerns to courts considering bail and sentencing of prolific offenders; and - communicating to senior levels of government that local jurisdictions cannot afford to allocate taxpayer dollars to fund the increased policing and community costs resulting from the revolving door of repeat prolific offenders being released into communities; And be it further resolved that federal and provincial governments work with UBCM and BC local governments to review and support options to exempt local governments for the full public safety costs resulting from and associated with Crown Counsels decisions to continually release repeat prolific offenders into BC communities.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General In British Columbia, only the courts can place someone on electronic supervision. As such, BC Corrections supervision, monitoring and enforcement activities are restricted to the conditions the courts place on a person. For people on court-ordered electronic supervision, BC Corrections uses GPS-enabled technology, which allows for curfew monitoring and supervising geographic conditions such as no-go zones. While this technology cant stop someone who is determined to commit an offence, it builds on other supervision tools like risk and needs assessments, home visits, curfew checks, public notifications and programming. It is also important to understand that an individuals whereabouts are not actively monitored in continuous real time, unless BC Corrections is assisting police to locate an individual who is suspected of breaching their conditions. Regarding the impacts of repeat offending on communities, a two-year evaluation of the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative ReVOII has found the program is delivering results and helping people make meaningful change. In the first 18 months after entering ReVOII: police interactions for all offences involving accused individuals dropped nearly 50 percent and violent offence interactions declined by 56 percent; dedicated Crown counsel approved ReVOII cases faster, in appropriate cases, sought detention more frequently 84 percent versus 67 percent, and secured higher remand rates 75 percent versus 56 percent; and, individuals spent more time in provincial custody 48 percent versus 32 percent reflecting closer supervision and stronger accountability. In addition, a pilot based on the ReVOII model has launched in three communities to address repeat chronic property and public disorder offences and connect individuals to supports that break the cycle of reoffending. A Community Impact Statement can help communicate a communitys concerns to courts considering bail and sentencing for accused individuals. Written by an individual on behalf of a community, a Community Impact Statement describes the harm or loss that an offence has caused to a community. Local governments may wish to engage this mechanism to convey concerns and impacts to the Court.